As part of Far Eastern University’s (FEU) Career Fair 2025, the Institute of Arts and Sciences (IAS) Student Council (SC) offered free NBI Clearance and PhilHealth registration and IDs as part of their Ready, Set, Work (RSW) initiative at the Arts Building Rooms 208 and 303, last July 16 and 17. 

In an online interview with FEU Advocate, IAS SC President Kyte Percia shared that this initiative was tailored-fit to help students who are starting their career ventures by making the government processes more convenient. 

“We’re creating programs that can actually help students in their professional and career journey… This initiative serves as a pre-employment one-stop shop para sa pag-process ng (for the processing of) government-issued IDs and clearance because these are the requirements kapag mag-a-apply ka ng trabaho (when applying for a job),” he explained. 

Moreover, Percia highlighted the importance of the given service to the graduating job seekers. 

“Because we know naman na sometimes for most of fresh graduate job hunters, ito talaga ang nagpapahinto sa application process nila na wala pang valid ID (having no valid ID slows down their application process),” the IAS SC President said. 

Graduands from IAS were given a 25-percent slot prioritization, but the services were also available for the whole Tamaraw community under a ‘first come, first served’ basis. 

Supposedly scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. last July 16 and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. last July 17, early cutoffs of services were observed due to high demand.  

Additionally, according to the IAS SC President, initiatives like the RSW are necessary in bridging the gap between the classroom and the real world. 

“Dapat, even before pa sila grumaduate, may direction na, may guide, at may support system na available for them. Minsan, the biggest hurdle is not just landing the job, but [knowing] how to start,” Percia expressed. 

According to the Facebook post of IAS SC last July 15, the NBI Clearance will be available for pickup at the FEU Main Campus within the month, while applicants were able to get their PhilHealth IDs on the same day. 

In addition, the standard P130 fee for the NBI Clearance was waived for first-time job seekers, in accordance with Republic Act No. 11261 or the First-Time Jobseekers Assistance Act.

The Career Fair is an annual initiative of the FEU Career Development and Placement Office to prepare graduating Tamaraws for their upcoming career ventures. 

- Julliane Nicole B. Labinghisa

(Photo by Alexandra Louise Borbon/FEU Advocate)