What Good is a Filipino College Education? Part 2

In a previous look at the benefits of a Filipino college education I showed all the great jobs one can get with a diploma in the Philippines such as gas station attendant and Dunkin' Donuts delivery truck driver. Now it is time to look past those wonderful jobs. It's time to look outside the country because that sheepskin certifying you have a bona fide Filipino college education is a magic ticket out of this joint.

If you study hard and ace all the exams to earn a degree in any sort of hospitality course the door is open for you to work as a waiter in Dubai.  Serving rich Arabs in a hot desert country thousands of miles away from your family and friends, what's not to like? According to the this source the average  monthlysalary for a waiter in Dubai is approximately 1,500 AED which is equivalent to 20,700 Pesos. 

If you want to know what being a waiter in Dubai entails you can read a job description here. It sure isn't a walk in the park. But if you studied for a degree in hospitality then learning the ins-and-outs of a restaurant is not so far out of your league. Be thankful you didn't end up like Randy De Ocampo.

In his report, Dicang cited the case of one Randy de Ocampo who had requested POLO assistance about his situation. 

Ocampo complained that on June 30, 2012, he sent a copy of his passport via e-mail to a friend in Kuwait and after just three days, or on July 4, 2012, he received his commercial visa by courier under the sponsorship of Al-Wazan United Company for Trading and Contracting. On July 27, 2012, De Ocampo arrived in Kuwait on a one-month commercial visa. 

Dicang said De Ocampo did not report to his sponsor because he could not make up his mind about working with the company as a masseur under its branch Philippine Spa. 

“He said he realized that this was not the kind of employment he wanted for himself, he being a forestry graduate from the University of the Philippines. Soon, we received a report that De Ocampo’s visa had expired,” Dicang said.

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/52930/filipinos-warned-against-working-in-kuwait-on-commercial-visas

What a crisis of conscience for Randy! Should he waste his degree in forestry to work at a salon in Kuwait? But it was too late as he was already in country before he decided he did not want to work as a masseur. How did he end up in the position of choosing to become a masseur in Kuwait anyway? Must be one heck of a story.

On the other hand you could get a job in the field you studied like Gulliver Banares.

Gulliver Banares, 35, took the 14th place prize and flew in the day before from Selangor, Malaysia where he works with BGMC Corp. Gulliver, who earned a Mechanical Engineering degree at Adamson, has been an OFW for six years and comes home twice a year for a maximum of 10 days each vacation. He and wife Esmeralda have two daughters, 16 and 11. It was perfect timing that Gulliver was in town for a home leave.

https://www.philstar.com/sports/2019/12/24/1979470/worth-all-hard-work

Gulliver has been an OFW for six years and only comes home to see his family 20 days each year.  That means in six years he has only seen his family 120 out of 2,190 days. It is true that a man has to do what he has to do to take care of his family but spending only 20 days a year with them is rather awful. That is hardly any time to spend with one's family. Dad is basically an absentee father. He better be careful he has not been made a cuckold.

Finally let's not forget the nurses. A nursing degree will open doors that would otherwise remain sealed shut for eternity.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1088631

"They need 30,000 nurses, hospital workers, medical workers. That's a big number," Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in an interview Wednesday. 

He, however, clarified that the 30,000 job offers are not solely for Filipino health workers. 

"They want us Filipinos. In their order of preference, number one is the Philippines," the DOLE chief said.

30,000 foreign workers is bad for Germany but great for Filipinos who are the German's first round draft pick. This is no place to lament the fall of Germany and the rest of Europe. Why not take every advantage you can if someone is willing to give it to you? But how easy can it be to be a Filipino in Germany? Many Filipinos do not speak English as good as they claim. Nose bleeding, anyone? Navigating German accented English, not mention actually learning German, will be an extra task on top of all the regular nursing duties.

But I hear it's worth it. From what I am told most freshly graduated nurses work a year-long internship with no pay! That is slave labor. No wonder there is a shortage of nurses in the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1072188

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is planning to decrease the deployment of nurses to other countries, Secretary Silvestre Bello said on Wednesday. 

Bello said they are looking at the possibility of lessening the number of medical professionals, including nurses, being sent overseas. 

"All the while, I thought there is an oversupply of nurses. But I just learned that those graduating with nursing degrees and have passed the Board only train for two years and will go (abroad)," he added. 

Bello said the government should do something by increasing the salaries of nurses for them to stay in the country. 

"In order for them to not want to work abroad and just stay here, we should also consider increasing their salaries. And the President appears amenable to giving them that," he said.

Having been to several hospitals I can guarantee it's not only the pay that is pushing nurses to seek work abroad.  It is also the horrendously unsanitary working conditions.

If you are a college student remember just slug on through it. Don't give up. Get your sheepskin and get out of here!