And the country’s premier State University cannot be dropped out from the list when it comes to staging this kind of an endeavor.

"There comes a point in our lives where we all have to make important decisions in our lives and for us young ones, finding the right job, or better yet, finding our career is one of the those monumental decisions we have to make," says University of the Philippines Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (UP JPIA) president Jay Jay Perlado.

With that in mind, the said student organization has again joined forces with the UP Office of Counseling and Guidance (UPOCG) and the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) and organize the yearly University Job Fair at the UP Diliman’s Bahay ng Alumni last January.

Aptly titled UPgrade this year, the 17th installment of the weeklong, university-wide recruitment event transformed the venue to an "employment bazaar" that provided the opportunity for both the prospective employees and jobseekers to meet under one roof.

"The year’s theme aimed to establish doable quality programs that bring together partnerships between the academe and leading trade and business sectors," says UPOCG director and UJF ’06 chair Dr. Rosalinda de Mesa. She added that the event served as a venue for the country’s top students to interact with representatives of prestigious industries.

"Through the University Job Fair, we offer the graduating batch of 2006 choices that can help in crafting a better future not only for them but for the whole nation, as well," says Perlado.

Packed with industry orientation series, job hunt basics seminar series, personality development talks, a power dressing seminar, and cultural presentation and fun games, the UJF lured would-be new graduates not only from UP Diliman, but also students from other higher education institutions and the still unemployed, helping them learn a little bit more about different companies that exhibit in fair before applying for specific jobs.

UJF co-presentors eTelecare, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Maersk Sealand, Deutsche Bank Group Knowledge Services, Kaisa Consulting, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, and Wyeth Philippines oriented students on possible career paths in various industries in a series of hour-long talks imparted by the companies’ respective representatives. The series intended to guide students on what it takes to belong to the industry they are eyeing for and familiarize them about actualities that they may encounter when they get into practice.

Major sponsors PDI, People Support, Dell, Inc., Building Care Corporation, Universal Robina Corp., Multimedia Exponent, Pfizer, and Filipino Journal handled the series of hour-long talks on job application guidelines, techniques and strategies not usually learned in the classroom, like creating an effective resume, acing an interview and pointers during qualifying exams. The series aimed to place UP students ahead of other job hunters.

Students were likewise familiarized and taught the basics of corporate fashion by representatives of sponsoring apparels and cosmetic companies, complete with a make-over presentation that showed the attendees on how to improve different aspects of their appearance. The latest trends in corporate attire were also staged through a fashion show that showcased the clothing line of the sponsoring companies.

According to UP Student Affairs vice chancellor Elizabeth Enriquez, the UJF has not only grown bigger and more exciting for graduating students seeking employment opportunities after graduation and organizations looking to hire the most promising young people who can help steer their companies through an increasingly 21st-century environment.

"It has also become an event that allows observers to see the direction that today’s business and industry are taking," she says. "In the course of the exchanges between the students and the recruiter, it is apparent that organizations today are more streamlined, requiring people to have the ability to multi-task, thus expecting prospective employees to possess multiple competencies and the creativity and flexibility necessary to cope with the demands of the new organizations."