I received feedback from some readers that indicated these posts on making a living in the Philippines are not as popular as my simple, first-person accounts of just plain daily life here in Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines.

So I certainly promise to focus in that direction in the coming year, but more than 70% of my readers come here from searches … and to sum up all the various searches in just one sentence, it would probably be ‘how to make a living in the Philippines?’.

Many are even more pointed in this direction, centering around ‘how to find a  job in the Philippines?’.

Since I do know quite a bit about living in the Philippines, and since I make a nontrivial income while living here in the Philippines, and since I know quite a bit about foreigners working in the Philippines, I really feel I need to answer these queries from time to time.

Also, since it’s very close to Christmas, I thought I would give every reader a free gift.  So here it is, short and sweet.

How to Find a Job in the Philippines: My answer to this is simple.  Don’t do it.  There are two general types of jobs here …. the normal, everyday type that are marketed to Filipino job candidates.  You don’t want to chaw3e these for several reasons:

• Pay is very low by Western standards
• Benefits are virtually non-existent.  Even in the most advanced industries like those centers around IT, companies typically hire through temp agencies and subcontractors just to make sure the benefits aren’t there.
• To get a work visa, and in some cases even for those who hold a permanent residency visa, you must show that a Filipino can not fill the job.  This is not only challenging in most cases but totally unfair … how many times do you hear a fellow American bitch about ‘foreigners’ coming to the US and ‘stealing’ jobs.  Turning the tables is hardly a decent solution.
• In the year 2009, a job is a bad investment, in any country.  You might want to read this essay on why you should never have a job. Today and tomorrow things are going to be tighter and tighter and more than ever a job is a bad investment of your time.  If you’re young you likely think you are going to live forever, but you aren’t.  You’re running out of time.
• Last but certainly not least.  In general across the entire would of industry and commerce there is one pretty consistent constant … whatever your salary you are making three times your salary for your employer.  Yes, that’s right, on average you make your boss three times whatever he thinks you are worth.  So are you so untalented that you should work for one third of your value?  I don’t think so

So if you aren’t going to find a job, then what’s my solution?  I’m sure we both like to eat.  The answer there is relatively simple … set up your own source of income.  Start your own business off line, or, the way I recommend most emphatically, set yourself up in one or more online income activities.  It’s simple (if you keep it simple), you can get started for little or no investment and it is the growth industry of the next decade.  It’s also highly portable … you can start wherever you live now, you can move your income with you to the Philippines, or you can travel and still maintain an income.  I’ve highlighted many ideas here in PhilFAQS before and I will in the future.  But I promised you a free gift, here it is:

Learn to effectively use the Internet.  And read what you find on line.  I’ve been writing about the Philippines, researching issues about living in the Philippines and advising, conversing with an even occasionally arguing with like-minded folks for more than 9 years now.  Know the single most common missing ingredient I’ve noted between those who know and do and those who sit in the sidelines asking plaintively ‘What about me’?”.

The ones who don’t get anywhere are the ones who don’t effectively use search, don’t search internally on sites they frequent, don’t keep bookmarks and notes for future reference, and don’t read the information people have already written.

It isn’t education, it isn’t having money in the bank, it isn’t some factor of luck, and (at least in my case), it surely isn’t being born smart … it’s a simple skill, search, read, and take notes.  If you want to move here to the Philippines, make your own plan and follow it.  If you want a job here … or back there in the US … search, read, take notes and then take action.  If you want to start your own business, on line or off, in any country, search, read, take notes, make a plan and take action.  Free Tools:

• Search: www.google,com
• Get news Every Day: www.google.com/reader
• Put all your Email in One Place: www.gmail.com
• Keep Notes: http://www.google.com/notebook
• Store Bookmarks: del.icio.us

Hope no one feels I have been to harsh here, I frequently get those kind of comments, but simple and direct is who I am.  Remember a famous saying of Henry Ford:  “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

I think you can.  Do you?

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