Infotech no longer the ‘IT’ field

This year’s graduates should look for jobs in law, healthcare and journalism if they want good pay, according to an online publication’s salary report.

The three specializations have overtaken information technology-related jobs in average monthly compensation, the online job hiring site Jobstreet.com Philippines said.

The 2017 Jobstreet.com Fresh Graduates Report released last month showed that new hires in the legal services such as contract analysts, paralegal clerks and legal researchers take home an average monthly income of P27,124, while their counterparts in the healthcare sector like medical technologists, nursing aides and occupational therapists get P23,216 a month.

Content writers, translators and junior brand writers earn a monthly average pay of P21,777, catching up with the average salaries offered by IT specialists, which dipped slightly to P21,703 from an average of P22,567 in 2015, the report said.

The study used salary data from the last quarter of 2016 and a survey of 644 employers in February this year.

Shift in preferences

One of the biggest findings of the study was the shift in employer preferences in hiring newbies, Jobstreet.com Philippines country manager Philip Gioca told a news briefing.

Employers now look at attitude, more than experience, when considering new applicants, Gioca said.

The next primary considerations are the applicant’s field of study and asking salary, he said.

Last year, employers highly valued new applicants who had acquired experience through internships and part-time employment.

Gioca attributed the change to the entry of millennials into the workforce.

With the fast turnover among new employees who are leaving “at a very fast rate,” attitude now becomes a main consideration, he said.

The salary report also listed the other fields in the Top 10 that offer the highest-paying jobs for new graduates: education, actuarial science/statistics, training and development, banking/financial services, and public relations/communications and advertising/media planning.