TESDA Grads Showcase Skills in Jobs Abroad

(PNA) — Success stories of graduates of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have proven that gaining the needed skills in the industry is the stepping stone in reaching one’s dream.

Three TESDA graduates — Henry Basilan, Ryan Cordova and Argie Roque — have showcased the skills they gained and further honed by their TESDA training in their respective careers abroad.

Basilan took up Machining NC II and eventually received his National Certificate II. Given the opportunity offered by a shipping company, Basilan immediately grabbed the chance which enabled him to sail to many foreign ports.

Realizing a tough competition as a Filipino seafarer among other nationalities, Basilan decided to put up his own business in the country which gave him an opportunity to enroll in a college course.

In April this year, he got his diploma on Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering under the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Aside from the said achievement, Basilan also took the TESDA assessment as he plans to be a trainor and assessor who would mold the career path of future machinists and seafarers.

Meanwhile, Cordova found it hard to work in construction without having the necessary skills.

“I asked myself, am I destined to be stuck in this job? Without any skills, I will always be left behind by my colleagues,” he said.

Hence, Cordova took a course in Industrial Automation and Mechatronics and eventually obtained a National Certificate III. He gained a job as a production shift supervisor in a company.

After his father died, he decided to seek for a job abroad. At 21, he was hired in Riyadh wherein he was tasked to upgrade the machines, a work which needed high technical expertise.

“What guided me in accomplishing the task were all the learning I received from my tech-voc course,” he said.

To date, Cordova has been promoted as Senior Automation Engineer, a title given to him even though he is not a graduate of an engineering course.

Landing in jobs not fitted for his course was also experienced by another TESDA graduate, Roque who finished a three-year course in Medical Technology.

Knowing that he wanted to learn something new, Roque took up Food and Beverage course under a TESDA scholarship.

Roque obtained National Certificate II and eventually found a job in a fine-dining restaurant which offered him the opportunity to work abroad.

He said that through TESDA, he has found his niche in the industry and is now working as a demi chef or the assistant to the executive chef in a restaurant in Macau. (PNA) SCS/JDM