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More OFW Friendly Law Passed in South Korea

South Korean Parliament passed Act 11276 on February 1, 2012. It is a revision on the Act on Employment of Foreign Workers.

The law will be in effect on July 2 this year.

This law will provide foreign workers including Overseas Filipino Workers the following Benefits:

1.  It will allow foreign workers who wish to return to South Korea after completing their contracts from six months to three months.

2.  Returning workers will be exempted from retaking Korean language test and employment training.

Requirements:

1. Foreign worker should have no record of transfer of workplace during the employment except for justifiable cause.

2. There is still a shortage of workers in the sector he is employed in.

3. They should already have a new work contract before returning to Korea.

There are currently 24,000 Filipinos workers in South Korea in the field of manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fisheries.

 

How to Avoid Illegal Recruiters

A lot of people still become victims to illegal recruiters. Illegal recruiters mostly, like to exploit applicants who are in a real hurry or who are in great need to work abroad.  It is a sad fact but it is true. The reason for this maybe because when you are in a hurry, you would no longer check the background of the recruiter.

People who are not in a hurry can also become victims of illegal recruiters. When the recruiter has been recommended to you by a friend or a relative, you would no longer check the facts because you trust your friend or your relative.  Sadly, a lot of illegal recruitment cases that made it in the news, the applicants were victimized because it was their relative who recommended the recruiter.

As a rule, always perform background checks on your recruiters especially if you are meeting them for the first time.

How to Avoid Illegal Recruiters

1. Check if the recruiter is licensed by  POEA

Go to http://www.poea.gov.ph/cgi-bin/agSearch.asp. Type the name of the agency. If they appear in the search then they are a licensed recruitment agency. If they did not appear then you are probably dealing with an illegal recruiter. If you type RRJM in the search box, you will see the name of our company plus our addressed and our main contact person. We’ve been licensed since 2002. We will be ten years in the business this coming June.

This is probably the only check you need to make.  If the recruiter has no license from the POEA then they have no business trying to recruit workers from the Philippines.

2. Avoid recruiters who transact with you outside their offices or visits you directly at your home

All transactions must always be in the recruitment office and they must give you a receipt. If a recruitment agency representative insist in transacting with you outside their office, then you must perform background check.

a.  Again go to POEA website and check if they are a licensed agency.

b. If they are licensed, check the representative. Call their main office and check if they really work there (Of course, don’t get the address and telephone from the representative. They will probably give you a fake address if they are an illegal recruiter. Instead get it from the POEA or a phone directory).

I’m pretty sure that you will find out that they are not really an employee. But even if they are it is not a standard for recruitment agencies to transact at home or outside the office. So you better find yourself another agency.

3. Avoid direct hiring

I have a lot of friends who got employed abroad through direct hiring. But still this route is risky and this is often the scheme that Illegal recruiters use. The current POEA  rule is that foreign companies can only get Filipino workers if they place their job orders through a POEA Licensed recruitment agency. This rule is imposed to protect Filipino Overseas Workers from becoming a victim of human trafficking and illegal recruiters.

There a lot more legal recruitment companies than illegal ones. But it is those unscrupulous few that gives the whole industry a bad name.  We hope you follow the advises we have given here so that you can be more secure as you search for your perfect Job Abroad.

Goodluck!

Presidential Awards for OFWs Now Accepting Nominations

The Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO)  is accepting nomination for the “Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas”. Individuals or Organizations who are Filipinos or Foreign may now submit their nominations.

Nominations can be submitted to:

1. Philippine Embassy 2. Philippine Consulate 3. Commission on Filipinos Overseas 4. Online at http://www.2012presidentialawards.cfo.gov.ph/index.php/nomination-form.html

Deadline for submission is on June 15, 2012

Categories

1. Lingkod sa Kapwa Filipino Award –  To be given to Filipino associations or individuals  who exceptionally or significantly contributed to local reconstruction, progress and development.

2. Banaag Award –  To be given to Filipino associations or individuals who who contributed to advancing a cause of or benefited Overseas Filipinos Communities or Sectors.

3. Kaanib ng Bayan Award – Foreign Individuals or Organization with significant or exceptional conception to Philippine Reconstruction, Progress and Development, or Benefited Community or Sector in the Philippines or Abroad.

4. Pamana ng Filipino AwardFilipinos Overseas who brought the country honor or recognition through the excellence or distinction through the performance in the pursuit of their work or profession.

If you know an individual or organizations who deserve these Awards CFO is encouraging everyone to nominate.

 

 

Work Abroad Tips: Increase your Salary by Developing Leadership Skills

If you want a better salary than what your job  offer – one of the most effective way is to develop your leadership skills.

If you notice already leaders are always paid higher than ordinary employees. You must have wondered why when all they do is just sit on their desk and boss you around the whole day.

In reality, they are perceived to be of higher value because they offer much more than their technical skills. They are also being paid for their sound judgements (that can help a company reach its goals).

While we ordinary employees are concentrating on our assigned task to earn our salary, leaders are making sure that the company is going in the correct direction. When the company is in the right direction it will grow. As the company grows, it can hire more people and provide better compensation and benefits.

That is the value of leaders.

How to Start Becoming a Leader

1. Find out the reason why a task needs to be done. When you are assigned to do a task, don’t just do it. Ask yourself or do a little bit research why the task needs to be done. What is your boss trying to achieve?

2. Come up with a more efficient and effective way to achieve the assigned tasks. After you have found out the reason for a task, you can also come up with a faster way or more effective way to do it. Or you can suggest an alternative task that will help you and your superior meet the goal better.

If you become good at this two skills, your superior will get the impression that you really know what you are doing. And they will trust you more.

Soon they will not only assign you a task but they will be asking your opinion. And that is the start of you becoming a leader.

As you develop this they will entrust you with goals instead of simple tasks. And they will assign to you people that can help you reach those goals. And in their eyes your value has also increased.

Good luck!

Job Hunting – How to Handle Rejection

Sometimes you are looking for a job and it does not turn out well. And you take this personally. Some ask themselves, what do I lack? What is wrong with me? It really hurts their ego.

Well, If you think you are properly skilled in your profession and you have a good attitude, sometimes there is really nothing wrong with you.

The issue may simply be your skills does not match what the employer is looking for. And this has got nothing to do with you. It is simply, you and the employer do not match.

What you can only do in this case is to just look for those employers who are looking for what you can offer. Or try again when they have an opening that exactly matches your skills or profession.

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