UP CLOSE: Rommel Romero on OJT Connect which provides much-needed work experience for students

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00:00On-the-job training, or OJT, is a crucial aspect of professional development, providing

00:06individuals with hands-on experience and skills in a specific industry, and especially in

00:11the Philippines where opportunities for work experiences are limited, especially in rural

00:16areas.

00:17Now, these areas often face significant challenges in accessing quality education and training

00:22opportunities.

00:24And to tell us more and help us understand further about OJT matters, we have here tonight

00:29Mr. Rommel Romero, tech founder of OJT Connect.

00:37Good evening, Rommel, and good morning to you in California, I understand.

00:41Yeah, yeah, definitely good morning from San Diego, California.

00:47It's pretty early, but, you know, I'm here.

00:49Amazing.

00:50Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us here tonight on Up

00:53Close.

00:54Oh, no, it's a pleasure to be here.

00:57Thank you for having me.

00:58All right, we're very excited to talk about OJT Connect for a few minutes today, and we'd

01:03like to jump right into it.

01:05What is OJT Connect?

01:07Tell us more about it, its goals, and the inspiration behind it.

01:11Well, OJT Connect, our, you know, our primary mission is to address the issue of job placement

01:19in the Philippines.

01:21We believe in opportunity and providing a relevant work experience to benefit students

01:27upon graduation so it could give them a boost for employment.

01:31And when I talk about employment, I mean relevant employment that pertains to their studies

01:36or majors.

01:38Okay, when you say OJT, are we particularly targeting just graduate students, or can we

01:46also perhaps give opportunities to the students who are currently still trying to get that

01:51degree or maybe even senior high school graduates?

01:56The platform is generally open for everyone.

01:59It could be for on-the-job training students going through their OJT deployment, or alumni,

02:05or any individual who's looking to pivot their career.

02:09You know, the platform is just to provide that opportunity for anyone.

02:14So it kind of shows the valuability of experience and where you could go from it.

02:21Okay, I'm very curious because from a creator's point of view, it always stems from maybe

02:27something personal in their lives.

02:30What kind of inspiration led you to create something like OJT Connect, which the Philippines

02:34very much needs?

02:38You know, oh my god, I don't think we have enough time, Sean, for me to explain it.

02:41You know, personally, it's just through experiences being Filipino.

02:45I know I wasn't raised in the Philippines, but I observe a lot.

02:51So it all stems from these things that we have in our culture where we hear about sacrifice

03:02and even the term OFW, there's always sacrifice within our culture.

03:08And I believe it stems from opportunity and going back to the Philippines and also realizing

03:15working with university students and universities and seeing the difficulties and the challenges

03:22individuals face upon graduation and attaining a job that they studied so hard for.

03:28So something like this, it stems from all the way back from my experiences learning,

03:36knowing more about my culture, and until now, working with universities.

03:41And I think it's time for someone to kind of challenge that.

03:44This is what I'm trying to do.

03:46Well, Ramel, you actually targeted a lot of pain points for job seekers across the country.

03:52I mean, one of the biggest, I would say, hurdles for job seekers is the lack of opportunity.

03:59And we're so happy that OJT Connect sort of is that pathway, that career pathway to connect

04:05not just students, like you said, but currently current students and even alumni.

04:11So when you go on the site, can you walk us through it?

04:15Is it as simple as a job site where you upload your resume and employers come and contact you?

04:23Yeah, it's as simple as that.

04:26We like to use an example as any job website that's main focus is on the job training.

04:33So candidates could log, applicants could log on, create a profile and upload their

04:38resume and the transactions just exactly the same way as a job website.

04:43They go on and they apply and employers will review their application and conduct the interview

04:49process from there. And hopefully they hire a candidate.

04:54And it's completely free. You know, this is definitely, this is a passion project of mine.

05:00OK, so when anybody that joins OJT Connect gets an account of some sort,

05:06do you also provide any kind of support for these individuals?

05:10Are there like resume building tips maybe or interview tips or maybe TED-esque talks kind of thing?

05:21Yeah, yeah. So that's what we usually do for universities.

05:24So what we do, we do these workshops.

05:27We've done a couple when I was in the Philippines with a couple Polytechnic University of the

05:30Philippine campuses, but we've been doing them virtually.

05:33So we conduct a formal workshop to help them build a resume.

05:37And I want and, you know, I come in and I actually give them, you know, real life,

05:41you know, I guess exposure to the realities of how we interview here.

05:47And I'm completely organic when it comes to it.

05:51So, you know, we do that support for college students.

05:57When it comes to individuals who are alumni and so on, we do have content out there

06:02in terms of like our social media and, you know, other avenues of marketing to kind of,

06:09you know, help those individuals understand and get them prepared for,

06:14you know, once they submit an application.

06:18Okay. Speaking of addressing needs in different areas of the country,

06:23how does OJT Connect aim to bridge the gap between students or, as you said,

06:28any aspiring job seeker with local and international companies?

06:32You mentioned it's as simple as uploading your resume, but, you know, sad to say,

06:37I mean, you're Filipino, you've been in Metro Manila,

06:39and we are one of the densest cities in the world.

06:42So a lot of all the job opportunities are here.

06:45So I like what you're offering.

06:47You're talking about remote jobs, right?

06:49Remote OJT opportunities.

06:52Mm-hmm. And that's the beauty of it.

06:55In this current stage in our world, everything is done remotely.

07:00So, you know, and a lot of the companies that are located in the United States,

07:05in Mexico, who are using the platform, a lot of them are tech companies.

07:09So they understand and they're used to, you know, having employees remotely.

07:15So it's definitely beneficial for the company that's abroad.

07:19And, you know, the individuals in the Philippines that are,

07:23you know, using the platform or who are hired.

07:26Okay. Are there any, perhaps, maybe future plans to address the job market gap,

07:32perhaps, in rural areas in the Philippines?

07:34Because those are the people that leave their hometown, you know, as they say,

07:38OFW opportunities, or maybe, you know, try to tough it out in Metro Manila.

07:44How does OJT Connect aim to address these potential challenges?

07:49So it all starts with the OJT deployment.

07:52And, you know, we have to be, I guess, in reality,

07:57if it's already difficult for alumni, especially in the more rural campuses,

08:02to attain a position.

08:03Imagine the difficulties of students going through their OJT deployment

08:08to attain a relevant on-the-job training position.

08:13So those are mainly the challenges that these students in the provincial areas

08:19that are, sorry about my words, but that's what they're experiencing.

08:25So with OJT Connect, you know, we're there to provide that remote opportunity where,

08:32you know, funds aren't needed to travel to the city for their on-the-job training.

08:37Everything is done remotely.

08:38So at the end of the day, this is definitely beneficial for those students

08:43or individuals in the province, just to gain that six,

08:46three to six months of relevant work experience.

08:50Okay. Very, very interesting.

08:53For potential job seekers and students and individuals listening to us right now,

08:59what kind of jobs are we looking at?

09:00What kind of industries?

09:04Currently, right now, we do have a lot of tech companies using the platform.

09:09But the beauty about a tech company, it encompasses a lot of positions.

09:14Of course, there's specific positions like software development, IT.

09:18But when it comes down to business development, marketing,

09:21those all encompass various majors or various talents, right?

09:27You don't necessarily have to go to school or have a degree in marketing

09:31or communications in order to be a social media marketer or to help with this development.

09:36So even though a lot of the companies that are using the platform are tech,

09:40there's so many positions that in detail the growth of tech and the growth of a platform.

09:45So I encourage anyone who majored in anything to apply.

09:51Because at the end of the day, regardless of what major you have,

09:55what matters the most is the work experience.

09:59Okay. I'm sure that you've had some success stories already.

10:02When was OJT Connect founded, by the way?

10:04When did it launch, if I may ask?

10:07It actually launched when I was in the Philippines.

10:09So I was in the Philippines in March,

10:11and that's when we officially launched in the springtime in March.

10:16So from there, we launched at most of the Polytechnic University campuses.

10:21And now our reach is from Pangasinan all the way to possibly Mindanao.

10:25So in the span of how many months, it actually grew quite significantly.

10:30All right. We're very excited for future developments of OJT Connect.

10:35And future other programs, since you are a tech founder.

10:39Please do invite all our viewers to join you in OJT Connect.

10:45I'd love to have them.

10:46So, you know, with simple ojtconnect.com, definitely take a look, you know.

10:52Thanks for joining us tonight.

10:53Romel Romero, tech founder of OJT Connect.

10:58Hey, thanks for having me.

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