PHINMA Education (Rizal College of Laguna and Union College of Laguna) signed a partnership with SM Mart Inc. (The SM Store) that will open employment opportunities for the Alumni; provide necessary skills, gain knowledge and a lot more through webinars and career talks. The ceremony was held at the Headquarters of The SM Store in MOA complex Pasay City, June 16, 2022 and was attended by (from left to right) Mr. Dexter B. Ramirez, Senior Manager Human Resources of SM Mart Inc.; Ms. Annabella A. Simbulan, Program Head of PHINMA Education; Mr. Eduardo Y. Arevalo, Chief Operations Officer of PHINMA Education Laguna network; Ms. Bernadette L. Tansingco, Vice President, Human Resources of SM Mart Inc.; Ms. Jhunelynn F. Napa, Linkages Manager of PHINMA Education Laguna network and Ms. Angelica D. Flores, Linkages Manager of PHINMA Education NCR.

The SM Store is the Philippines’ largest department store chain with several branches nationwide. Offers a great selection of menswear, womenswear, children’s wear, all kinds of beauty products, and things for the home. You can also find stationery, electronic gadgets, snacks, toys, hardware, and fun Philippine souvenirs here. Given that the company has several departments it only means that there’s a lot of employment opportunities. According to Ms. Bernadette L. Tansingco, Vice President for Human Resources of The SM Store, January 2022 was the onset of their mass hiring and there was a significant increase of manpower needs. They are looking for several positions to be assigned in  Customer Service, Counter; Back Office (Office of the Branch Management, Facilities Management, Warehouse, Customer Relations Services), and Support positions (Accounting, Treasury, Human Resources, Store Consignor, Visual Display, Engineering, Information Technology and Training.

PHINMA Education is a mission-driven, for- profit institution that strives to make lives better by providing accessible and quality education to youth mostly from low-income families. Alumni will definitely benefit from the job opportunities that The SM Store is offering. As quoted by Slyvia Mathews Burwell “Job Training empowers people to realize their dreams and improve their lives”.  One of the ultimate goal of PHINMA Education is to help the students look for a decent job so that they can support their families and become productive members of society.

This partnership agreement will not only limit on providing jobs but also teaching the current students some best practices, technical and soft skills, and some industry skills that they will learn from the career talks or webinars Resource speakers of The SM Store. Students will gain more confidence and be fully prepared in the world of work after graduation.