Tan, Harold, Uichico, Jonathan, Valdez, Venisse, Villegas, Michelle Career Connectors

Group name: Career Connectors Field of focus: E-commerce Explain the idea: The group proposes the development of an online career website for Filipino professionals, entitled MyCareer. This website will guide the prospective employees in the various stages of career development. First, proper career assessment will be done to assess the current knowledge, skills and abilities that a client possesses. With the information gathered from the assessment, the group intends to create a home portal where users are able to gain information, interact and find opportunities in the different corporations that match their knowledge, skills and abilities. The website will emphasize ease of communication between prospective (and current) employers and employees, through the provision of a user-friendly interface. Furthermore, the website will have career counsellors who will be available 24/7 to provide support and guidance to clients, helping each career professional to plot out and plan their chosen career paths. The website will also have real-time tools that track the various careers that are available in the Philippines, providing vital and concrete information so that people can make informed choices regarding their careers. Moreover, the website will also have a social networking component where professionals in the same career path can interact with one another, allowing for sharing of stories and ideas with one another to further career development. This career website is critical going forward in the future due to intense competition in the job world today. In todays cutthroat world, millions of people are losing jobs and finding it difficult to get on the right track with their chosen career fields. Through this website, proper direction and ample opportunities will be provided to users of this website. What is unique or special about this idea? This idea is unique because it pushes forth a holistic view of career development, guiding users from initial assessment to career advancement and success. Furthermore, this website is special because it imparts the importance of communication and connection among career professionals so that they can be able to develop and improve in their craft. Furthermore, this website espouses the importance of seeing careers as an intrinsic part of our life, with the career counsellors and fellow professionals motivating the users to find motivation and joy in their careers, so that our careers will be seen as something that we love doing rather than as mundane work that we need to do on a daily basis.

How might you push the unique/special elements of the idea further? In order to maximize the community aspect of this career website, we would be integrating various communication applications in the website to better facilitate interaction among the users. The website will be employing chat rooms with different themes to allow similar-minded professionals to interact with one another. Subsequently, the website will also develop a forums section where people can post threads regarding their experiences and stories in their various careers. Additionally, the user interface of the home pages of the users will be tailored in such a way that people will be able to easily make posts and comments in the home page, facilitating easy communication among users. Furthermore, the website will make use of real-time video conferencing tools that will allow users to communicate with one another, facilitating possible job interviews on-the-spot. Furthermore, there will be a messaging system that will allow users to send messages to one another easily. Finally, a mobile version of the website will be co-developed so that users can easily communicate with one another while on the go.

Tan, Harold, Uichico, Jonathan, Valdez, Venisse, Villegas, Michelle Career Connectors
What are the benefits and risks of this idea? Benefits Provides career assessment tools that will help prospective employees to discern what career path to take. Provides easy access to job opportunities for people Risks Since the website is community-based, lack of support from the various companies and corporations in the Philippines is a significant risk. Additionally, lack of qualified career counsellors can be problematic for the website. The site requires intensive training and development for the career counsellors so that they would be able to properly disseminate accurate and relevant knowledge and skills to the clients (thus, manpower needs are high). Since it is a website, it is also at risk for attack from hackers who attempt to steal private information from users. Another important risk in the project is the lack of users who will adopt the career website. This website requires a high number of users to be truly effective. The website is also at risk for unscrupulous employers and employees who intend to use the website to promulgate their illegal activities. Good security checks must be made to ensure that unscrupulous users would be banned from the website.

Availability of communication tools within the career website can help motivate and encourage employees Career planning tools provides direction to employees so that they can maximize their knowledge, skills and abilities Community aspects of the website helps users see their careers as something that they love to do rather than daily mundane tasks that they are forced to do.

One-stop destination for career needs helps in organizing the life of a career professional so that they can perform optimally in their jobs Information about careers in the Philippines is easily accessible so that people can make good decisions about their career paths.

What issues or stumbling blocks can you anticipate that might make it difficult or impossible to implement your idea? There are three main stumbling blocks that are present in this project. The first major stumbling block is the security risk inherent in making a website. In the current technological era, numerous hackers and identity thieves are lurking in the internet, trying to steal private information from users of websites. These hackers can use viruses, trojans, malware and spyware to get information from the clients of the websites. Another potential stumbling block that must be addressed is the possible lack of support from corporations and companies in the Philippines. Numerous companies in the Philippines have their own recruitment strategies. As such, they might not be amenable in joining the career website that we intend to build. Finally, another probable issue is the presence of unscrupulous employees or employers who intend to use the website to perform illegal activities. Since the internet is free and open to all, it is at high risk for the entry of people who intend to perform dastardly activities through the website.

Tan, Harold, Uichico, Jonathan, Valdez, Venisse, Villegas, Michelle Career Connectors
What actions might you take, for each stumbling block listed above, in order to prevent that stumbling block from killing your idea? In order to the address the possible attack of hackers in the website, the company intends to enlist the services of I.T. security specialists who will develop security protocols to combat the threat of hackers and spammers. Through a dedicated I.T. security team, the company would be able to adequately monitor and respond to possible attacks against the website. In order to address the possible lack of support from prominent companies and corporations in the rmore, Philippines, the company will aggressively advertise and market the website as the premier destination for budding and respected career professionals in the Philippines. We will be emphasizing to the companies and corporations that the website would be able to help them quickly assess and make informed decisions regarding recruitment and selection of prospective employees. Additionally, we would be emphasizing to corporations that the website will allow them to cut down on recruitment costs, which would allow them to funnel resources to other company activities. Finally, the company would address the issue of unscrupulous employees and employers by making use of a flagging system that would allow users to inform web administrators of the presence of unscrupulous users. Furthermore, a feedback system will be implemented so that the web administrators would be cognizant of what users are doing. Once negative reports of a user has been authenticated and verified, the user will be banned from the site. Through these protocols, it is hoped that the entry of unscrupulous users would be minimized. Which people, groups or organizations (if any) should you bring into this implementation in order to facilitate its successful implementation? In order to facilitate successful implementation of this idea, the company intends to obtain the services of experienced web development specialists who will be engineering the code of the website. Furthermore, we would be enlisting the help of web designers to be able to facilitate ease of use for users and make the website aesthetically appealing. The company will also enlist the services of an web security specialists who will be able to monitor and respond to the security vulnerabilities that might arise during the course of the sites operation. Furthermore, support from all the companies and corporations in the Philippines should be garnered so that the site may prosper. Finally, support will be gathered from the Department of Trade and Industry, a government agency that will help finance the projects development. What authorizations must you obtain (if any) to implement this idea? Include any legal licenses or certificates that might be needed. Authorization must be obtained from the various corporations and companies in the Philippines to put company information and details in the website. Furthermore, the company is required to verify and reserve the availability of the company name with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Subsequently, there is a need to deposit paidup capital in an authorized agent bank (AAB) to obtain the bank certificate of deposit. Subsequently, there is a need to notarize the articles of incorporation and Treasurers affidavit with the notary public. Furthermore, the company should be properly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Afterwards, payment of documentary stamp taxes needed, and there is a need to obtain community tax certificate from the city treasurers office. Moreover, barangay clearance is needed. Finally, the mayors permit should be obtained at the Licensing section of the mayors office. Furthermore, there is a need to register for taxes at the BIR and to register with the social security system (SSS) and PhilHealth.

Tan, Harold, Uichico, Jonathan, Valdez, Venisse, Villegas, Michelle Career Connectors
What are the anticipated cost and income potential of this idea? Anticipated costs: Website design and development (initial costs involving its development will be funded by the Department of Trade and Industry. IT security team P100, 000/month (5 people) IT development, maintenance and administrative team P100, 000 / month (5 people) IT web design team P40, 000 / month (2 people) Career counsellors- P1, 000, 000 /month (50 people) Web hosting: P10,000 / month Income potential: User registration: Users would be given options in terms of the membership plans. They can avail of either monthly, yearly or lifetime membership plans. The monthly membership plan will cost P250 each month. Meanwhile, the yearly membership plan will cost P2400 for the year. Finally, the lifetime membership plan will cost P5400. Given that the company estimates that there will be 10,000 unique members in each month for the initial year, the company estimates to earn P2,500,000 each month with the monthly membership plan. Using the yearly membership plan as basis, the company estimates to earn P2,000,000 each month. Finally, with the lifetime membership plan, the company is estimated to earn P1,500,000 per month. Advertisements: Additionally, the company estimates that advertisements in the website will be to garner additional income potential for the website amounting to P3,000,000 each month.

What milestones should there be in the development of this idea? Provide a detailed action plan for the implementation of your idea. Include timing information.

November 2011: Development and design of website will be underway )(1 month). Contacting of all corporations in the Philippines is underway (1 month). Company begins enlisting and providing training for career counsellors (1 month). The company starts contacting potential sponsors such as the Department of Trade and Industry who will help in jumpstarting the project (1 month). December 2011: Bug testing of the website and closed public testing of the website prior to operation. Tweaking of the website before becoming operational (1 month). January 2012: Website becomes open to public. February 2012: Estimate of 10,000 unique visitors to the website. March 2012: Estimate of 50,000 unique visitors to the website. April 2012: Estimate of 100,000 unique visitors to the website. June 2012: Estimate of 200,000 unique visitors to the website. July 2012: Estimate of 300,000 unique visitors to the website August 2012: Estimate of 400,000 unique visitors to the website September 2012: Estimate of 500,000 unique visitors to the website October 2012: Estimate of 600,000 unique visitors to the website November 2012: Estimate of 700,000 unique visitors to the website December 2012: Estimate of 850,000 unique visitors to the website January 2013: Estimate of 1,000,000 unique visitors to the website In the event the implementation does not go to plan, what is your escape plan? In the event that the implementation of the plan does not materialize, the company intends to open the website to the public for free as an open-source website. This will allow the website to remain operational and functional so that the holistic career needs of the public will continue to be met. Additionally, by making the website free to the public, it would open the doors for more people to gain job opportunities and career planning advice. Furthermore, by making it open source it would allow other developers the power to improve on the website, and

Tan, Harold, Uichico, Jonathan, Valdez, Venisse, Villegas, Michelle Career Connectors
tweak it to the changing times. In the event that the website does not materialize as intended, the company plans to continue making software and internet solutions that would provide valuable services to Filipinos worldwide. Present the communication plan. Whom, aside from the development team, will you tell about this idea and how? The project will be pitched to all the companies and corporations that are operational in the Philippines, so that the support for the website will be garnered. We will be telling the companies that giving support to the website will help them in the recruitment and selection of potential employees. Furthermore, with the help of the website, their financial resources that were initially for recruitment can be allocated to other important organizational activities. Furthermore, the companies should be counselled that the website will allow them to get to know their potential and current employees better, which would help improve company morale and improve camaraderie and performance. Furthermore, the project will be pitched to the Department of Trade and Industry so that financial support can be garnered. The website project will be touted as an invaluable tool in improving businesses and commerce in the country, since improved communication among employees and employers can help facilitate improved work performance. Finally, the website will also be pitched to internet bloggers and social networking sites. The website will be advertised as the one stop destination for the holistic career needs of Filipino professionals. The website will be touted as the website that makes people see that careers and jobs can be something that is communal, engaging and fun, rather than a chore that we dread of each day. Through word of mouth, the company hopes to be able to raise the internet traffic in the website.

Additional remarks The MyCareer website is primarily developed due to difficulty of finding jobs in the country. Through this website, it is hoped that people can be able to find and discover career opportunities. Additionally, the personal nature of career guidance provided in the website, will help point people in the right direction regarding their career paths. Finally, through the promotion of a community aspect, the website aims to make people feel that careers and jobs should not be seen as a daily grind that one dreads over, rather, careers can be seen as fun, interactive and communal in nature, replete with stories to share and dreams to build.