Balik Bayan Success Story

Santy
Finance Manager
E-commerce Company
 

Santos Delos Santos (Santy) has been working overseas for almost five years in external audit. Now, he is extremely glad to have found a job back home in the Philippines, so he can take care of his mom and finally be with the love of his life.

Santy started his overseas career in Singapore in April 2015. He then moved to Luxembourg in 2016 as a better opportunity came along. While working abroad broadened his skills and experience, he still missed his home. He wanted to spend more time with his mom, finally turn his long-distance relationship with his partner into something more, and start up his own coffee shop business.

However, there were a few things that concerned him regarding finding a career back home. “I was concerned with having a lower salary back in the Philippines as that won’t allow me to manage my current house loan. Also, the traffic in Manila is so crazy that I need to find a job that is near and accessible to where I live,” said Santy.

After several months of looking for job opportunities, Santy’s friend, who was also supportive of his plans to head home, referred him to Robert Walters. Shane Garcellano, International Candidate Manager at Robert Walters Philippines, then reached out and shared with Santy the company’s Balik Bayan campaign, which targets overseas Filipino professionals who are interested in finding jobs back home.

Shane explained the local market situation to Santy, and provided him with a list of available opportunities for finance manager roles in the Philippines. Santy was then directed to Maxine Giray, senior consultant in the accounting and finance division at Robert Walters Philippines, who helped him with his entire job seeking journey until he finally landed a job that he liked. 

Santy was really amazed with the whole process, and shares how working with the Balik Bayan Campaign and Robert Walters had stood out compared to his other experience.

“First of all, I didn’t expect the level of involvement of Maxine. Our continuous communication from salary expectation to interview schedules, and even providing tips for the interview with the hiring manager, were excellent. I never once doubted Maxine, and here we are with me finally signing my contract.” 

Santy adds, “Being not physically present to apply for a job has been quite tough for me as it usually takes a while before companies in the Philippines respond to my applications. I am very thankful to Shane because with the Robert Walters’ Balik Bayan campaign, I was able to find the right job in less than a month.”

Santy has officially started his new work since March 2020. Despite the challenging Covid -19 situation, he had a smooth remote onboarding process. He saw how everyone at his new workplace is coping with business as usual, and being with his loved ones right now made him see that he has indeed made the right decision to return home. 

To find out more about our Balik Bayan campaign, feel free to contact Grace Sampan at grace.sampan@robertwalters.com today.