WorkAbroad.ph

Site's statement

Jobboard Finder’s opinion

Summary: In 2003, WorkAbroad changed the way Filipinos looked for work overseas. For the past 15 years, it has been easy for foreign companies to recruit Filipinos and for Filipinos to find work in other places of the world. Today, a steady 2.20 million visits a month has enabled WorkAbroad to become the 120th most visited website. The group remains very active on Facebook for its 1 511 149 followers, but Instagram (19 500 followers) hasn’t been updated for a year and Twitter (8 842 followers) has been missing in action for two years! That doesn’t mean that WorkAbroad is any less active than before: with thousands of job offers and regular articles on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), on popular jobs overseas, on different countries, etc., it remains a useful tool for those looking to travel.

Design: The homepage is very busy (and mostly red and yellow). The search engine (keywords, country, jobs) requires a keyword to work, but you can also use the categories (jobs by country, jobs by agency, etc.) in the middle of the page or the featured companies (really hiring) to start your search. Flashing advertisements on the right-hand side remain on the screen through your website navigation. Success stories are also present on most pages (there are hundreds of them, and you can even post your own). The events section currently features a job fair in November but companies can also register their own event for exposure. As for the articles, they also appear on the homepage in three different categories: what’s hot? OFW benefits, tips and guides. The use of acronyms everywhere can become quite confusing, especially when registering (see below). Once in the job listing, there are no filters. The job offers include the publication date, the number of vacancies, the company name, location, the age, gender and experience of the desired candidate and the job title. Some offers also indicate the salary. The contact information and the POEA license number are visible for each job offers, which makes it easier to trust the information. At the bottom of the job offer, you can find similar jobs. On the side, the other offers from the same company are visible. Each job offer is radically different from the next, and company pages are also customized to reflect the company image.

The job board objective: According to the website, Filipino workers are in demand all over the world. For that reason, Workabroad has come to the rescue to make it easier to hire them.

Recruiter observations: When creating an account, required information includes whether your company is landbased or seasbased, a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) number, a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and an address.

Jobseeker observations: You can create an account with Facebook or an e-mail address. You cannot apply to job offers until you have reached the 50% completion of your CV. This means filling out the training, references, skills, education, etc. So it’s very long. If you don’t fit the requirements, your application will also be refused by the job board. I wasn’t the right nationality for one offer, and my experience was too low for another.

The job offers: There are 20 518 job offers (that’s 8 000 less than last year). The top locations are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. The job offers have expiry dates so even if they have been on the website for a while, you can be sure that the offers are updated regularly.

Reactivity: The “Contact Us” section tries to send you to the right section by asking questions. It recommends using Facebook or offers a contact form.

Special features: Job fairs; job alerts; “avoid illegal recruiters” pop-up; OFW Guide; #WorkAbroadXmasCarol contest; the app; the articles; OFW directory (useful information and contacts); success stories.

Verdict: It’s actually a rather laborious task to create an account. The jobseeker selection can be a good thing for recruiters, but it stops certain candidates from applying. This means interesting profiles that don’t quite fit the requirements won’t even get a chance to plead their case. WorkAbroad is an interesting website all the same, for the administrational information alone.

Written by Ali Neill

As the job board tester and blog editor for the Jobboard Finder, Ali works on job boards from all around the world and keeps a close eye on the recruitment trends thanks to a number of sources, including the website's social media pages.