Relational Culture and the Filipino

If a reasonable, pleasantly-mannered Filipino is looking for a job, then chances are, the train of events will go like this:

1) He’ll first try and look for a job himself, by going to all the job openings and interviews he can go to. Chances are, in our current economic realities, there will be many job openings, but few, if any that will be good in terms of salary and job description. And the problem is, those that are will probably be full of people applying for the job, too.

2) Once the person realizes that finding a job is either an exercise in idealism over reality, or a classic denial of the self, he’ll go to the next best thing: his network of friends and relatives. At the most blatant, a relative or friend will offer a job. At the most subtle, a friend will talk to a friend, and that friend will give a tip on a job opening that isn’t being advertised, or the job offer will be made privately, so that essentially the job is a shoo-in for our Filipino.

3) Years down the line, our Filipino will be the one on the other side of the coin, ready to help his friend or relative get a job.
Does that sound… wrong? Well, welcome to the “relational culture” of the Filipino.


Go to the Philippine Online Chronicles for the full article


Photo: “Handshake,” by Aidan Jones, c/o Flickr.com