Friday, August 13, 2010

Channeling Dean Carlota: Cutting-Edge!

Overheard in Netopia Trinoma one time:

Miss: Kuya, painternet.
Kuya: Okay na po yan, ma'am.
Miss (holding a usb flash drive): Pano ba 'to? Pasaksak naman.

(Kuya takes the flash drive from the client's hand and plugs it to the USB port. Then leaves.)

Miss: Kuya, pano na?
Kuya: Ma'am okay na po yan, iopen niyo na yung folder.
Miss: Pano ioopen yung folder?

(Kuya returns to the unit and makes a few clicks.)

Kuya: Ano po bang bubuksan niyo?
Miss: Yung bio-data ko. Ayan o. Ieedit ko yan.
Kuya: Ayan, open na ang Word.
Miss: O pano ko ba gagamitin yan? Maga-apply ako ng trabaho eh.
Kuya: Mag-type na lang po kayo.
Miss: Pano?

Kuya diligently stands by the client's work unit and helps the client finish her resume for the rest of the period.

Seriously? I wonder how one can expect to land a job in this competitive job market when one cannot even "Open a Folder" and use Microsoft Word. I looked at this girl about to submit her resume. She looked decent, about my age. She was donning a corporate attire and clutching several other folders. She didn't look like she just hopped on a bus from a remote barrio who just saw a PC for the first time. She even had a flash drive. So I was quite surprised to hear that she didn't know how to open, let alone use MS Word.

In the last year alone, NSO reported an increase in the number of jobless Filipinos to 2.855 million. The statistic does not even account for the number of the underemployed. i.e. professionals, license-holders, degree-holders who slug it out in the call center industry just to make ends meet. All of them like, like this girl, are mere predators in that jungle out there.

Cutting-edge advantage, I can hear Dean Carlota's words during my Puboff class. You need cutting-edge advantage in order to survive. That's what I wanted to tell this girl as Kuya of Netopia tutored her all throughout her session as how to use Microsoft Word. I didn't mean to sound condescending, but I pitied her. This is one instance perhaps when one can no longer blame the government for the poor performance of one of its citizens in keeping up with the fast-paced modern world and blame it on the decline in the quality of education. I have always believed that we can blame the government collectively for its failure in rendering basic services to its citizens, but we can do something individually. Internet shops are everywhere and an hour of usage costs only around P10. So perhaps one cannot attribute lack of computer proficiency to inaccessibility. Poor morale, lack of industry, lack of interest, maybe?


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