42% of Pinoy fresh grads quit jobs in less than a year

Nearly half of fresh graduates in the Philippines ended up quitting their first job within 12 months, data released by jobs portal Monster.com showed.

Forty-two percent quit their first job in less than a year.

The primary reasons include the following:

•Professional development—72 percent

•Desire to earn more money—48 percent

•Need for more challenges—32 percent

The findings were the result of Monster.com's survey covering 1,115 fresh graduates and employers in the Philippines to uncover insights, challenges and expectations around the recruitment process for young local talent.

The survey revealed that 41 percent cited lack of industry knowledge as a great challenge in their first job.

The second biggest challenge revolve on issues with the boss—32 percent—and being ill-prepared for the working life—30 percent.

“Money is obviously a key concern for fresh graduates, and this makes sense—they are finally embarking on their career journey and will be excited about earning their first full-time wage," Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com-Asia Pacific and Middle East, said.

"But young talent would be smart to play down their salary hopes, and instead focus on what they can gain from experience in their first job. How can they contribute to the bigger picture, what skills can they learn, and what path might they have to grow ...” Modi said.

Employers must be mindful of young talents’ keen desire for leadership support to improve.

"Fresh graduates are aware that being given the opportunity to expand their responsibilities and competencies can lead to bigger and better-paying roles, which will help employers to retain and develop talent in the long-term," he said.

Twenty-three percent of Filipino job seekers agree that writing the career summary is the hardest part of writing a CV.

For job interview mistakes, 51 percent of fresh graduates say not asking questions is their biggest regret and 49 percent for not doing enough research on the company.

Twenty percent said focusing too much on salary is their biggest mistake.