Journal of Critical Reviews

ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 11, 2020

EMPLOYMENT TREND OF GRADUATES OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION MAJOR IN MARKETING OF THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS,
ACCOUNTANCY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY
Ma. Teresa S. Alvarez
Faculty, Department of Accountancy, Isabela State University, Echague, Isabela, Philippines

Received: 17.03.2020 Revised: 22.04.2020 Accepted: 15.05.2020

Abstract
In today’s ever changing economic condition and highly competitive labor market, the school in the Philippines is challenged to produce
fittingly educated college graduates necessary to make sure the continuity in the country’s development. A tracer study is a simple tool
designed to measure the relevance of vocational training. It is seen as management tool for planning, and monitoring of training
programs, i.e which course to add, change or phase out. They provide information for pragmatic changes and review of training curricula.
They also help to monitor the delivery of training (wiki.answers.com) and minimize possible deficits in a given educational program in
terms of content, delivery and relevance and for further development of the institution in the context of quality assurance
(www.tec/tracerStudy). This can be used as a marketing tool as well.(wiki.answer.com). To provide students with broader education,
more undergraduate programs were offered. The college of Business, accountancy and Public administration offers program Bachelor of
Science in Business Administration with majors Marketing Management to cater the needs of the students who wants to pursue a degree
tailored to their skills and capabilities, to contribute for economic growth and for the nation’s progress. The graduate tracer study will
help in assessing the graduate’s employability and in identifying the different factors that will serve as a basis for improving the college
instruction and services to the students. It further aimed to gather inputs about the BSBA-Marketing Management program that could be
used to improve its quality education.
Keywords : business administration, Employment trend, tracer, marketing management graduates,

© 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.11.52

INTRODUCTION
The employment trend study covered all BSBA Marketing Determine the graduate’s assessment on the quality and
Management graduates employed in different industries , public/ relevance of their education, trainings, and skills competency
private sector and banking, private practice, franchising, in the from university in relation to the needs of the industry; and
province of Isabela and other nearly provinces. improve their employability.

Based on the Slovins formula, the study was able to survey about The study follows the content-input-process-product model of
247 graduates out of 650 total populations as respondents under Dan Stufflebeam using the client -need -assessment approach.
the BSBA Marketing Management within the specified duration The quality of output is determined by the employability of the
of the study. graduates, curriculum relevant to the industry needs and their
competitiveness. The quality, methods and relevance of the
By gauging group of graduates from the BSBA Marketing content/input and process is determined by the graduates
Management program, discipline, level of education, or a assessment of the usefulness of their college training, assistance
combination of these for comparative analysis, Schomburg from students services, extension service and general admission
presents examples of issues which can be addressed in tracer to their present jobs and the alumni’s perceived determinants of
studies. the quality of education at the university including support
facilities and their exposures during college.
The overall objective of the study is to determine the where
about of our graduates of the Isabela State University-Main RESEARCH METHODS
Campus, under the College of Business, Accountancy and Public In the conduct of the study, the researcher made used of
Administration BSBA- Marketing Management. graduates to get descriptive type of research design, wherein it describe the data
feedbacks regarding the institution input on the quality of and characteristics of what is being studied. Research objectives
education and training they obtained from the university, and are clearly designed in this study, Fluid Surveys (2014). A total of
use the information in determining areas of improvement such 247 BSBA-Marketing Management graduates based on the 650
as courses or subjects to be offered to strengthened the program total graduates from SY2013-2017 using the Slovin’sformula and
and also determine the in-service training needs of students to they were identified using the random sampling technique. A
enhance their capability especially in terms of their structured, survey questionnaire was used on the social media
employability and competitive advantage over the other as well platform and other digital means to collect information from the
as better actual work performance. respondents to achieve research objectives. Data collected were
subjected to basic descriptive statistical tools such as frequency
Specifically, it aimed to 1) Determine the profile of BSBA percentage, proportions, mean and ranking.
Marketing Management graduates in terms of their: status of
employment, type of employment, job title, eligibilities including
their income; 2) Determine the reasons/factors that contributed
to their deployment and causes of the delay in their first job; 3)

Journal of critical reviews 313

 EMPLOYMENT TREND OF GRADUATES OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAJOR IN
MARKETING OF THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, ACCOUNTANCY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, ISABELA STATE
UNIVERSITY

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION of the graduates have not passed/taken any government
examinations. While 28 or (11.33%) of the graduates have
Profile of the respondents passed/taken any government eligibility examination and the
The result of the survey (Figure 1A) reveals that 165 or (66.8%) rest of the respondents, 48 or (19.43%) have taken and passed
are employed, 58 or (23.48%) are overseas Filipino workers non -professional eligibility examination. The possible reason of
while 18 or (7.29%) are newly terminated that causes their the result could be that, some of the employment/employer of
unemployed status and 6 or (2.42%) were self-employed. This our graduates do not require eligibilities, though it is evident that
result shows the marketability of our graduates in the BA our graduates are encourage to take non- professional
program particularly the marketing major which describes in the examination during their senior year to be used as employment
result of the survey. initial entry eligibility.

Figure 1. Frequency distribution and percentage of graduate’s employment status (A), type of employment of graduates (B),
job title of the BSBA Marketing Management graduates (C), and Professional Government Examinations/Eligibilities Passed
by the BSBA Marketing Management graduates.

The status of appointment reflects the security of tenure our The monthly income/salary received by the respondents reveals
graduates expect for their performance as employed. Figure 1B the position they hold in the company/industry where they are
shows 128 or (51.82%) of the respondents are on Job Order connected. In a way, it also reflects the quality of graduates,
basis, 68 or (27.53%) are permanent while 51 or (20.65%) are which ISU is producing. Table 1 shows the monthly salary range
on contractual/ casual basis. The results shows that most of our of employed graduates from the College of Business,
graduates are on a Job Order basis since most company or the Accountancy and Public Administration. About 96 of the
industry cannot afford to give permanent position to its employed graduates or 38.87% earns not more than Php 20,000/
employees. Based on the study conducted by Hillary Thomas monthly salary. 58 or (23.48%) received Php 30,000 above.
Wandera, entitled "The Impact of Short-term Work Contract on While the data also demonstrate that 34,32 and 27 or
an Organization: A Case of KENYA Forest Service." As the (13.76%),(12.96%) and (10.93%) remunerated with salary
numbers of companies shift to the short-term labor market in an between Php 20,000-29,000 and Php 14,999 respectively. It
effort to improve their global market competitiveness. Such could be noted that no graduate (0%) had ever been given a
companies vary greatly in the orientation, socialization and salary bracket below Php 10,000. The result of the survey simply
recruitment of short-term employees in their approaches to describe the competitiveness of the graduates of the BSBA MM.
human resource management. Most of those who are OFW occupies higher position, to name a
few, there were store managers, Restaurant and Food store
The employment profile of the graduates reflects the quality and managers and supervisors. Though the data demonstrated a
relevance of the course offered by the university in terms of the clear variance of monthly income distribution among the 247
employability of its graduates. Figure 1C shows that 159 or respondents and that probably most of these graduates have not
(64.37%) of the graduates are employed as Sales Associates, 36 been promoted yet thus receiving either a hiring scale for entry
or (14.58%) as Sales Supervisor, 32 or (12.96%) as Sales Cashier, level positions of the succeeding rank that is appropriate to those
while 18 or (7.29%) as Store manager/sales manager and 2 or employed within the lower to middle key positions.
(.81%) as Operation Manager. It is noted that based on the result,
most of our graduates are employed in connection to their Table 1. Monthly Salary Range of Employed BSBA MM
degree sought. There are some who now occupied higher Graduates.
position such as sales supervisor and operation Managers. Salary Range per month Frequency Percent
The data on the Eligibility of graduates (Figure 1D) shows the (n=247) (%)
quality of the graduates in terms of their ability to pass Php 10,000.00-14,999.00 27 10.93
government examinations. Table 4 shows that 171 or (69.24%) Php 15,000.00-19,999.00 96 38.87

Journal of critical reviews 314

 EMPLOYMENT TREND OF GRADUATES OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAJOR IN
MARKETING OF THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, ACCOUNTANCY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, ISABELA STATE
UNIVERSITY

Php 20,000.00-24,999.00 32 12.96 Based from the results of the survey (Table 4), among the
Php 25,000.00-29,999.00 34 13.76 reasons cited by the graduates for causing the delay in their
Php 30,000.00- Above 58 23.48 employment was; for the most cited reason/s were: delay in the
Mean Php22,499.62 issuance of school credentials with 58 respondents, delay in the
issuance of needed documents such as Brgy clearance, NBI, and
the like ranked 2. Stiff competition for the job with 45 are
Reasons/factors that contributed to their deployment and ranked3, whileno immediate vacancy ranked 4 with 40
causes of the delay in their first employment responded and available job is not in line with their field of
As shown on the Table 2, that 208 or (84.23%) of the graduates specialization responded 38 or rank 5. The remaining reasons
landed their first employment in less than one year after were the lack of financial support for job hunting, early marriage,
graduation, while 33 or (13. 37%) at one (1) year to (2) years not emotionally ready delay in taking/passing the CSE
after graduation, and 6 or (2.4%) 2-3 years after graduation. The examination and health reasons.
common reason given by the respondents based on the interview
was that the industry has a vast need for the BSBA Marketing Table 4. Reasons for delay in deployment.
graduates. Though, new graduates need to compete for the REASON/S Frequency Rank
available jobs with older graduates who have already equipped (n=247)
themselves with the much needed qualifications for the job. This Delay in the issuance of 58 1
explain the preparedness of the BA graduate to compete with the school credentials
other graduates from other institution, thus shows the quality, Delay in the issuance of 48 2
capability and competitiveness of the graduates as contributed needed documents
by the education and trainings they received from the ISU-
Tight Competition for the 45 3
College of Business, Accountancy and Public Administration.
Job
No immediate vacancy 40 4
Table 2. Time Spent Searching for First Job/Employment (Yrs)
Available job/s are not in 38 5
TIME SPENT Frequency Percent
line with the field of
(n=247) (%)
specialization
< 1 year 208 84.23
Lack of financial support 23 6
1 year to 2 years 33 13.37
for job hunting
2 years to 3 years 6 2.4
Early Marriage 19 7
Mean 1.10 years
Not emotionally ready 14 8
Delay in taking/passing 3 9
To validate the data on how the graduates land their job, the
the CSE examination
respondents were asked to inform the researchers about the
manner by which they were hired in their current profession.
The data in Table 3, identified the three significant factors that
Relevance of the education and trainings attended, student’s
helped the graduates to land a job from the highest to the lowest
level of competency
rank were; (1) equipped with the necessary knowledge and skill
Table 5, shows that our graduates believe that the trainings they
contributes to their educational qualifications and degree sought
had from the university were very useful to their present job,
with 153 respondents, followed by (2) Job fair sponsored by
with more than one-half with 168 respondents (68.02%) of
DOLE with 65, (3) Recommendations from relatives and friends
graduates surveyed claiming that they were all useful and
with 53, (4) through online application, (5) media advertisement,
relevant in their current job. More than twelve percent (27.12%),
(6) through referrals by government employee/office, followed
with 67 respondents, also claimed that the trainings they had in
by (7) friends former employers, (8) through the assistance of
the university were very relevant while 12 respondents (4.86%)
the ISU placement office, (9) recommendations from politicians
claiming such trainings is fairly relevant to them. Not one of the
and (10) recommendations from former teachers/professors.
respondents perceived that the trainings they had was not useful.
Table 3. Factors that aided the BSBA Graduates land a
Table 5. Perceived Usefulness of College Training to Present
Job/Employment.
Job.
FACTORS Frequency Rank
Relevance Frequency Percentage
(n=247)
(n=247) (%)
Educational Qualifications 153 1
Very Relevant 67 27.12
Assistance of the ISU’s 16 8
Relevant 168 68.02
Placement Office
Fairly Relevant 12 4.86
Government Employee 22 6
Office Numerical Rating 82.3
Score
Media-advertisement 36 5
Descriptive Relevant
Recommendations from 53 3
relatives and friends
The data presented in Table 6 indicates a very high stance of the
Recommendations from 11 9
BSBA MM graduates in outing importance to competency skills
politician
by the time they are employed. The grand mean of 4.6 indicated
Recommendations from 20 7
their strong agreement to consider a number of criteria needed
former Teachers
for them to evolve in practicing their profession in various types
Personnel Office of the 26 5 of agencies and organizations, such as in industry and private
company sector. Among the criteria pertaining to competencies, their
Job Fair/DOLE 65 2 highest score was attributed to the following skills namely;
Former Employer/s 5 10 Critical thinking skills, Human relations, Core values formation
On-line applications 48 4 which all received a score of 4.7. As regards the other
competencies need on the job, the respondents posted an

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 EMPLOYMENT TREND OF GRADUATES OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAJOR IN
MARKETING OF THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, ACCOUNTANCY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, ISABELA STATE
UNIVERSITY

average of 4.6 to personality development, Entrepreneurial skills, Faculty 221 89.47

Oral and written communication skills while a score of 4.5 was Facilities 225 91.10
attributed to those skills that relate to the following: Information a. Library
technology skills, problem-solving and research and extension b. Laboratories
skills. c. Physical Plant
Student Services 208 84.21
In general, one can glean from the results that the majority of the a. Career Guidance
graduates put primary importance to skills that reveal their b. Housing Dormitories
ability to use critical/logical reasoning, ability to relate to others c. Job Placement
through human relations or interpersonal skills, relating to d. Academic Counseling
others in harmony. This implies that the expected attributes of e. Research Services
these young professionals have been deeply influenced by the f. Extension Services
university in terms of advancing not only their cognitive and g. General
intellectual skills but also their way of handling people and Administration
situations. Hence, this could promise a manifestation of success
Note: Respondents were allowed to give multiple responses
on the part of the university and the graduate themselves in
upholding the school’s vision-mission and goals. According to
CONCLUSION
Harvey and Howard (1999) cited in Treleavan and Voola (2008),
Based on the summary of the findings, the following conclusions
graduates success in their jobs depends more on their personal
are drawn: 1) The employability rate of the BSBA Marketing
attributes than on narrow discipline specified degrees.
Management graduates was quite strongly predicted since they
Furthermore, Barrie, S.C. (2004) indicates that the personal
were all practicing in their chosen profession. From the result, it
attributes will directly relate to the graduates employability.
could be deduced from the findings that the graduates stand a
greater chance for future promotion, salary increase, more
Table 6. Level of Importance of the competencies/ Skills for
benefits and privileges.2) Government examination has in some
the Marketing Management graduates.
industry not a priority, But to be of advantage to other
Competencies/Skills Mean Verbal Interpretation graduate’s, an examination of any kind is encourage for their
Critical thinking skills 4.7 Very Important employability, promotion and retention in their current job or
Human Relations/ 4.7 Very Important positions.3) The facilitation of school issuance of documents is of
Interpersonal Skills great importance especially for the newly graduate to facilitate
Personality Development 4.6 Very Important their easier job placement. 4) The conduct of training relevance
Entrepreneurial skills 4.6 Very Important to their field has a great impact on their performance in the work
Information Technology 4.5 Important field. 5) The assessment of the stakeholders on the quality of
Skills education partake by the students in the institution is of value
Problem-solving Skill 4.5 Important address to the curriculum of the program. While on the basis of
Core values formation 4.7 Very Important the respondents’ perceived suggestions and recommendations,
Research and Extension 4.5 Important the following are hereby recommended: 1) Graduates should be
Skills encouraged to take the Civil Service examination or any related
Oral and written 4.6 Very Important government examination to strengthen their qualifications and
communication skills increase their chances for employment and promotion. Though,
Grand Mean 4.6 Very Important now a days it is more advantage if you have any government
licensure examination passed as entry- eligibility. 2) Enhance
The result of Table 7 shows the indictors of the program’s Curriculum planning and development should place greater
strength and weaknesses as evaluated by the respondents. emphasis on multiple and practical skills acquisition or a practice
Results indicated that the curriculum/course content of the –oriented study to keep abreast with the technological and socio-
program BSBA had been considerably strong with 95.14% rate, cultural changes. 3) Trainings and seminars conducted by the
followed by facilities such as library, laboratories and physical college should include Personality Development and
plant with 91.10%, Faculty with 89.47%, Methods of Instruction Entrepreneurship that can enhance their personalities and boost
with 85.82%, and Student Services such as career guidance, their self-confidence to deal with other people and to present
housing dormitories, job placement, academic counselling, themselves properly in the workplace and developing their
research services, extension services, and general administration entrepreneurial skills to be more competitive and self-reliant. 4)
with 84.21%. The respondents appreciate the curriculum as well It is a big factor to consider the fast issuance of school credentials
as the course content of their degree, so much that it matches and documents of the graduates which may help them in
what the industry need for a graduate of BSBA MM. The applying for their job, moreover, assistance from the office of the
university facilities such as library, laboratories and the physical student’s affairs to keep posting job advertisement from the
plant shows the manifestation on the quality of our graduates the industry. This research will be interesting for future research to
college produce. As to the faculty contribution, their capability look into the subject from a different method such as qualitative
and competitiveness could attribute on the exposure on and others.
trainings, research, extension and background of the faculty.
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 EMPLOYMENT TREND OF GRADUATES OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAJOR IN
MARKETING OF THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, ACCOUNTANCY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, ISABELA STATE
UNIVERSITY

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