THESIS ABSTRACT

1. Title: A Tracer Study of the Employment Status of PUPQC Graduates Batch 2005

2. Background of the Study:

The PUP-Commonwealth Campus was established in 1998 under the administration of

ZenaidaOlonan. Prof. Doris B. Gatan has been the Director of this campus and Ms.
CleotildeServigon is its Campus Admission Officer. Its primary purpose is to provide
opportunities for the financially depressed families to develop the living condition of the people
through democratic access to education.

As one of the best extensions of the PUP, Main Campus the Polytechnic University of the
Philippines Quezon City is creating a promising and rising university across the Quezon City
which is now developing its facilities and strengthening its faculty for targeting accreditation for
the better quality education it offers.

This tracer study of PUPQC Graduates of 2005 is conducted to give significant feedback
and to reconnect graduates to their alma mater.

The researchers are conducting this study to trace the PUPQC graduates of Batch 2005,
to know the demographic profile of the employment profile of the respondents.

Tracer study is a method which is primarily intended to locate graduates of academic

institution, past recipient of scholarship grants, former participants and among other situation in
order to collect data and update information about this type of people.

Some studies track down graduates in order to seek and develop continuous feedback
from their alma mater. This kind of study is also geared to generate or influence decision making
and planning of a certain institution with regards to the development of the curriculum. It is
likewise regulating document efficiency and support on the demographic profile of a certain
institution that can be measured through the quality of graduates.
 The researchers will try to prove that Polytechnic University of the Philippines Quezon
City is successfully contributing to the nation’s economy including business management
industry, teaching industry and information technology industry.

3. Statement of the Problem:

In this study, the researchers will try to find out if the graduates of PUPQC Batch 2005
are successful with the career they had chosen.

General Objectives:

1. What is the General profile of the respondents in terms of the following:

1.1 Sex
1.2 Civil Status
1.3 Present Location
2. What is the educational attainment of the respondents in terms of the following:
2.1 Educational Attainment
2.2 Professional
2.3 Professional Examinations Taken
2.4 Reason/s for taking Bachelor’s Degree
2.5 Post Graduate Studies Attended after College
2.6 Trainings Attended after College
3. What is the Employment Profile of the Respondents Status in terms of the following:
3.1 Employed
3.1.1. Present Occupation
3.1.2 Name of the Company
3.1.3 Nature of Industry
3.1.4 Place/Area of work
3.2 Unemployed
3.2.1 Reason/s for not (yet) employed
4. What was the first job of the respondents in terms of the following:
4.1 First job after college
4.2 The time span stayed in the first job
4.3 Tools in finding the first job
4.4 The interval of time landing in their first job after college
4.5 First job relation in their course
4.6 The relevant of the curriculum to the job
4.7 Reason/s for changing job

4. Procedures and Research Design

Instrumentation

The researchers will make use of survey questionnaires as the data-gathering tool for this
study. Questionnaires will be distributed to 2005 graduates of PUPQC.

In-person distribution, e-mail questionnaires, facebook messaging and telephone will be

used by the researchers to collect data. Through In-person distribution the researcher scheduled a
specific time to locate the respondents in their residences basing on the addresses which
Registrar was given. E-mail questionnaire and facebook messaging were conducted over
electronic mails sent over through computers this will be done for those respondents who were
not able to answer in-person distribution because of some reasons.

The telephone questionnaire has little to recommend beyond speed and low cost. It will
be conducted over the phone. The researchers administered survey to the respondents who are
not capable of answering through e-mail and in-person distribution (Portillo et. Al, 2003).

Questionnaires will also be give respondents time to think about the questions and their
responses, thus producing more accurate information period. It can also eliminate the problem of
geographic limitations because this can be e-mailed. The instrument will be developed based on
the objectives of the study. The instrument is composed of several parts which will help the
researchers in gathering the necessary data needed for the study.

The questionnaire will include the personal information and the contact confirmation of
the respondents. The employment profile which includes employment status and participant’s
job information will be included.

The questionnaire will have close ended questions which are answerable by yes or no
selections in which the respondents could choose more than one response for the reason that the
information will be more accurate.

Data Collection Procedure

The researchers gathered the primary data on the 1st week of July. The researchers got the
list of PUPQC graduates from the Registrar Office.

The secondary data are the books, theses, newspapers, were already gathered as they visit
the National Library, The Quezon City Library and the PUPQC Library and have the data
photocopied. Articles from websites were also gathered.

The researchers started distributing the survey questionnaires on the 1st week of August
up to last week of the said month.

5. Statistical Formula Used

The statistical treatment of data that will be used in this study is through percentile and
frequency method. The researchers will get the frequency of the respondents’ demographic and
employment profile. This will determine the frequency by adding all the answer of the
respondents to a certain question. (Out of 50 respondents, 44 are employed and 6 are
unemployed and never employed: the 44 respondents who are employed and 6respondents who
are unemployed and never employed are the frequencies).
 The researchers will get the percentage by dividing the frequency to the total numbers of
respondents multiplied to 100% (frequency/total respondents x 100%). e.g. 44 are employed
respondents/50 total numbers of respondents x 100%= 9%…. 88% are employed.

6. Summary of Findings

This study aims to determine the general profile and the present employment status of the
respondents which are the graduates of Polytechnic University of the Philippines academic year
2004-2005 which includes all the necessary variables like: age and gender, present location,
educational attainment , professional skills, professional examinations taken and passed, reasons
for taking their bachelor’s degree, education and trainings attended after college, post graduate
studies, what made them pursue advance studies. The study also summarizes the employment
profile of the respondents which includes the variables: present employment status, and for those
who are not yet employed the reasons why they are not yet employed, present occupation, the
company and address, the nature of industry where they are working, place/area of work, their
first job after college, how long did they stayed in their first job, how did they find their first job,
length of time did it take them to land in their first job, the reasons for staying in their first job,
the relation of their course to their present jobs, the relevance of the curriculum in college, the
competencies learned in college that they find most useful in your job, their job position, reasons
for changing job and lastly their future career plans.

General Profile

The study consisted of 50 respondents from the graduates of Polytechnic

University of the Philippines academic year 2004-2005 out of 119 graduated in that time. In
terms of civil status out of 50 respondents, 38 or 76 percent are single and 12 or 24 percent are
married. In terms of gender it shows that most of the respondents are female which has 29 or 58
percent and 21 or 42 percent are the male. In terms of respondent’s location it shows that most of
the respondents are residing in the City (National Capital Region like: Quezon City, Caloocan
City, Marikina and etc.) which has 46 frequencies or 92 percent and 2 or 42 percent are residing
in Provinces and 2 or 4% are outside the country. In terms of Degree/Specialization, out of 41
respondents, 16 or 39 percent are BSEM, 14 or 34 percent are BSIT and 11 or 27 percent are
BBTE. In terms of their reasons in taking Bachelor’s Degree, most of the respondents answered
that the availability of the course of the chosen institution is one of the reason of taking their
bachelor’s degree which has the frequency of 17 or 22.07 percent. 14 or 18.18 percent of the
respondents reason out that it prospects immediate employment. Then, 11 or 14.28 percent some
of them answered the reason that they had a strong passion for the profession. Other respondents
reasoned that it is the prospect of their career development that has 9 or 11.69 percent. Then
some of them answered that the influence of parents/relatives which has the result of 8 or 10.39
percent. Other respondents said that the good grades in the subject area, good grades in high
school and no particular choice/No better idea are the reasons in taking their bachelor’s degree
which have the frequency of 2 or 3 percent. Others, includes the reasons; Inspired by the role
models, self-choice, program of scholarship and in-demand University which has the result of 1
or 1.30 percent. In terms of the professional examinations taken and passed, most of the
respondents are Non-Passers/Non-takers which has the frequency of 46 or 92 percent while 4 or
8 percent of the respondents are Passers/Takers. In terms of their reasons for taking post
graduates studies. According to the only one respondent who pursue post-graduate studies her
reason was for professional promotion. In terms of to those who undergo trainings after college,
out of 50 respondents no one or 0 or 0% answered that makes 50 0r 100 percent of the
respondents didn’t answer.

Employment Profile

In terms of their present employment status, out of 50 respondents, 30 or 60

percent are regular/permanent employees; 6 or 12 percent are contractual; 4 or 8 percent are
unemployed and 4 or 8 percent are temporary. Other respondents are either never employed,
self-employed and free-lancer. In terms of their reasons of not (yet) employed, majority of the
respondents answered that one of the reason was family concern why they are not (yet)
employed which has the frequency of 5 or 83.33 percent. And one respondent specified her
answer that she was waiting for the applied work in abroad which has the percentage of 16.67. In
terms of their nature of industries in where our respondents are employed, 19 respondents or
43.18 percent are working in service industry; 5 or 11.36 percent are working in the
telecoms/communication industry; 3 or 6.81 percent working in the trade, BPO and academic
industry; and 2 or 4.54 percent are working in the IT/Computer/Software, Banking/Finance and
Government. Other answers include Legal with 1 or 2.27 %, Insurance 1 or 2.27%, Textiles with
1 or 2.27%, Consultancy with 1 or 2.27%, Insurance with 1 or 2. 27%, Electronics with 1 or
2.27% and Textiles with 1 or 2.27%. In terms of the respondent’s place/area of work, with the
total of 44 or 100% of the respondents that are currently working, 42 or 95.5% are working
locally and only 2 or 4.5% of the total who are working internationally. In terms of respondent’s
place/area of work, with the total of 44 or 100% of the respondents that are currently working, 42
or 95.5% are working locally and only 2 or 4.5% of the total who are working internationally. In
terms of to their present job if it is their first job after college and it shows that 6 or 13% of the
respondents answered yes and 40 or 87% of the total respondents answered that their present job
is not their first job after college. In terms of the length of time they stayed in their first job
which shows majority or 28 or 58.3 percent of the total respondents stayed in a span of 1 to 6
months. The 1 year less than 2 years and 2 years less than 3 years both got the frequency of 7 or
14.6 percent. Others include less than a month, 7-11 months and 3 years. In terms of where they
find their first job out of 48 respondents, 25 or 52.08 percent as walk-in applicant, 11 or 22.91
percent are job referrals, 7 or 14.58 are through friends, other answers include through
Newspaper Ads and it’s the company that called him. In terms of the length of the time before
the respondents find their jobs. 30 or 62.50 percent of the respondents said that it took 1-6
months to find jobs, 8 or 16.67 percent answered less than a month, and 4 or 8.33 percent said it
took 7-11 months. Others answers includes 2 years-3 years,3-4 years, 1 year less than 2 years
and 5 years. In terms of their reason for staying in their first job, majority answered that it is
because of career challenge which has the frequency of 23 or 44.23. Then followed by the
answer salaries and benefits which has the frequency of 14 or 26.92. In related to special skills
got the frequency of 9 or 17.31, 3 or 5.77 of the respondents answered the proximity to
residence, then others got 3 or 5.77 percent. In terms of the job relation to their course and it
reveals that among the total of 50 respondents 37 or 74 percent answered yes, 10 or 20 percent
answered no that it’s not related to their course and 3 or 6 percent didn’t answer. In terms their
competencies learned in college that they find most useful in their job. 28 respondents or 27.45
percent rank highest the communication skills. The second rank is the Entrepreneurial Skills
which has the frequency distribution of 17 or 16.67. Human Relations Skills got the frequency
of 16 or 15.69 that rank as number three. Followed by Problem-Solving Skills which has the
frequency of 15 or 14.70 and the critical skills got the frequency of 12 or 11.76 that rank as the
last. In terms of with their job position, with the total of 44 or 100 percent, majority of the
respondents are in lower management position which has 30 or 68.2 percent. The middle
management position has 12 or 27.3 percent and the top management has 2 or 4.5 percent of the
total respondents. In terms to their reason/s for staying in their first job, majority of the
respondents said it’s because of the salaries and benefits that has the frequency of 28 or 45.90.
27 or 44.26 percent of the respondents answered career challenge; 4 or 6.56 answered the
proximity of the residence, others include needs to socialize more, to expand their knowledge
and skills, end of contract and vacancy of the job. And lastly, in terms of their Career Plans,
majority of the respondents answered to put a business which has the frequency of 22 or 35.48
percent 16 or 25.80 percent answered to look for a new job abroad. And some respondents
answered to look for a new job in the country with the frequency of 10 or 16.13 percent then, 6
or 9.68 percent answered to pursue higher education. Others will plan to take government exam
and some has no plans yet.

Conclusions

Based on the findings, the researchers arrived with the following conclusions:

1. Majority of the respondents are female.

2. The greatest number of respondents is single.
3. Most of the respondents residing in City (NCR) areas.
4. BSEM holding the highest number according to their Degree/Specialization.
5. Availability of the course offered by the institution got the highest rank for the
respondent’s reason of taking Bachelor’s Degree.
6. Majority of the respondents are non-takers/non-passers of Professional Examination.
7. Only one respondent pursue post-studies examination.
8. The reason of the respondent for taking post-studies examination is for professional
development.
9. All of the respondents have no response about undergoing training after they attended
college.
10. Majority of the respondents are regular/permanently employed.
11. Family concern is the majority reason of the respondents who are not (yet) employed.
12. The greatest number of respondents works in service industry.
13. Most of the respondents work inside the country.
14. Respondents who are presently employed responded that their present job is not their
first job after college.
15. Most of the respondents stayed in their first job in 1-6 months.
16. Majority of the respondents found their first job as walk-in applicant.
17. The greatest number of respondents found their first job after college in 1-6 months.
18. Career Challenge is the reason why the respondents stayed in their first job.
19. Majority of the respondents agree that their course is related to their present job.
20. Communication skills are the most useful competencies acquired in college.
21. Majority of the respondents are holding lower management position.
22. Salaries and benefits is the majority answer by respondents for their reason in
changing their job.
23. Most of the respondents plan to up a business for their career plans.
Recommendation

1. The Government especially the Commission on Higher on Education (CHED) and the
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) should pursue all the graduate to take
professional examinations for them to be able to land to an eligible type of job and to
heighten its mandate to regulate and supervise the practice of the professionals who
constitute the highly skilled manpower of the country and for the Department of Labor in
Employment(DOLE) in strengthening their mandates and coordination of their response
to critical issues in Philippine Employment and Job Markets.

2. The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Quezon City, Administrative Officials to

organize seminars, symposium, lectures and trainings to the graduating students of the
university focusing in finding jobs after college and through channeling to other
departments of the government and other companies for helping the graduates finding
their jobs after graduation.

3. The parents should fully support their children from studying in their bachelor’s degree
up to finding their careers after graduation.

4. The graduates should aim for reaching higher job position in their respective jobs, for
them to be able to be honored that they are competing in the world of professionals with
excellence.

5. The future researchers of the same study should have all the drive to trace the graduates
in timely and systematically manner for them to arrive in a very satisfactory result.