CEBU CITY - More than 3,000 job vacancies are up for grabs in the upcoming jobs and business fairs happening Wednesday at the Cebu Trade Hall of SM City Cebu. The activity is part of the celebration of the Department of Labor and Employment's 88th founding anniversary. DOLE-7 director lawyer Marion Sevilla on Tuesday called on applicants to take advantage of this opportunity, whereby they have an option not to go out anymore and travel far but apply within the comforts and safety of their homes since the event is blended. Dubbed as "Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan: A Blended Jobs and Business Fairs," it would offer several job vacancies both locally and overseas. Of the 3,146 jobs available, 1,545 of which are for local employment and around 1,601 are needed abroad. Since the event is blended, Sevilla said applicants are still welcome to go to the physical venue for a limited face-to-face job fair. She called on the applicants to be ready with their vaccination cards as only the fully vaccinated ones could join the limited face-to-face job fair. "We want to as much as possible be adherent to the minimum public health standards and the guidelines set forth by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. So encourage everyone, especially those joining us physically at the venue to follow the rules and guidelines set," she said in a statement. Apart from preparing for the usual pre-employment requirements, applicants joining the job fair physically are advised to bring their own ballpoint pens, sanitation kits, face masks, and cellular phones. To minimize the congestion of people and not to attract traffic, DOLE-7 will be using QR (quick response) Codes, which will allow users to access information about the job fair immediately such as the job vacancies posted. "In this case, job applicants will not have to go to a shopping area anymore just to check for job postings as what is being normally done in the conduct of job fairs before the pandemic came. This time, after scanning the QR Code using their respective cellular phones, they can individually check what job vacancies are available and those that might interest them," said Ma. Teresa Tanquiamco, officer-in-charge of the DOLE Technical Support Services Division-Employment Workers Welfare Division. For local employment, the top five positions needed are customer service representatives, sewing operators; inbound travel sales representatives; and financial account specialists/officers. The top five job postings overseas are factory workers; housekeeping/general cleaners; general nurses; waiters/waitresses; and company drivers. All applicants, joining whether virtually and physically, must register online atbit.ly/signup-dole-jobfair-region7. "Interested applicants are enjoined to access the assigned job fair link and pre-register today," Tanquiamco said. The e-jobs for local placement is being undertaken in collaboration with the digital portal of Workbank, Inc., an online job posting site that partners with DOLE-7. The overseas job fair, on the other hand, is being closely coordinated with the POEA, who maintains a separate online site,poea.gov.ph-whereby applicants are advised to register first before they could join the overseas job fair. (PNA) }