Held on the 16th and 17th of September 2010 at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) in Pasay City, the 22nd Career Counseling and Guidance Fair was a great success. With double the number of exhibitors (click on download document) in a much larger venue, this year’s exhibit was a high point of the school year for high school juniors and seniors. Months prior to the event, high schools from Metro Manila and nearby provinces were contacted to pre-register and were given the incentive of easy entry to the exhibit hall through the introduction of the Express Registration system. Walk-in participants were also entertained through the manual registration.
Students were given passports to serve as their manual for the event. The booklet included the floor layout of the career fair, the seminar and activity schedules, and the logos of the exhibitors, which they must get stamped upon visiting the different booths. Students who have gone to at least 70% of the total number of booths could go to the Inter-Ed booth where they presented their passport for the raffle. Prizes ranging from memo pads and water bottles to free dinners and facials were up for grabs.
Aside from exploring college possibilities around the exhibit hall, several seminars were held simultaneously. The topics greatly varied, with talks on maritime education, film, information technology and multimedia arts, and features on the course offerings of the exhibitors. The seminars were held at the conference rooms on the first and second floors of the PTTC.
Several presentations were also prepared by the exhibitors. Production numbers from Adamson University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Emilio Aguinaldo College, FEATI University, iAcademy, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Manila Doctors College, Meridian International Business, Arts and Technology College, Miriam College, National University, Our Lady of Guadalupe Colleges, Saint Francis of Assisi College, St. Jude College, Trinity University of Asia, University of Perpetual Help – Dalta, and University of Santo Tomas kept the crowd at the lobby entertained from morning until afternoon. Cooking, bartending, and robotic demos were held at the activity area in Hall B, with FEU East Asia College, ICF @ FEU Makati, Our Lady of Fatima University, Our Lady of Guadalupe Colleges, Philippine Christian University, and University of Perpetual Help-Dalta showing off just some of the skills high school students can learn from their course offerings.
There were no glum faces at the two-day event as one might expect at a career exhibit. Free Cornetto ice cream was provided by Selecta, and free face painting and haircutting were offered by the University of Santo Tomas and Ricky Reyes Learning Institute, respectively. Profiles Asia Pacific gave the students the opportunity to take professionally designed online career matching tests for free. Students also took the liberty to write their shout-outs on the freedom wall beside the Inter-Ed booth. Many also had their pictures taken with the various school mascots present at the event.
Aside from learning about the different schools and courses that are available to them, students did not leave empty handed because many exhibitors had freebies. Inter-Ed, in celebration of its 30th anniversary, also prepared loot bags for teachers.
The event was a great success, with all exhibitors raring to sign up again for next year’s exhibit. The high school teachers and guidance counselors who went there with their students commented that the Career Counseling and Guidance Fair is a really valuable tool for their students to focues their choices for courses and college. The encouraging feedback from all the parties involved will serve as a starting point for another exciting exhibit next year.
