Get Paid to Blog and Tweet for Election Candidates Where?

Posted on January 5th, 2010. Written by Rico.

Are election candidates actually looking for employees—not volunteers—to spread the word online? A quick look at the websites of four prominent presidential candidates says no.

Here’s what ABS-CBN reported:

Jayjay Viray, country manager of online job search engine JobsDB, said electoral candidates now prefer hiring employees instead of recruiting volunteers. Although these will cost them more, he said politicians find hired workers more efficient and reliable.

To make the most of the election fever, Viray said jobseekers can make the most of the following employment opportunities:

• bloggers or writers for press releases about electoral candidates, since most politicians now have their own websites
• managers of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking accounts of electoral candidates
• generators of campaign infocasts through text messages
• event organizers
• designers of tarpaulins and other campaign visuals
• image stylists for electoral candidates

Viray warned that campaign-related jobs are only temporary since these will no longer be needed once the election season is over. Still, he said jobseekers can look for opportunities in the business process outsourcing, health, and information technology sectors.

Arranged in alphabetical order, according the candidates’ last names, here are those four websites:

Noynoy Aquno

Presenting Noynoy in all his panot glory (we share the same hairline actually), all I see on Noynoy.ph is a pretty big “Volunteer” link near the top, and another prominent “Volunteer” link under “Main Menu”. An acquaintance working for the campaign claims Team Noynoy isn’t really looking to pay employees anyway.

Erap Estrada

If Team Erap is actively looking to hire people, then he’s probably not doing it online. As far as I know, he has no official website. Why should he, when many of those who plan to vote for him this year probably can’t afford an internet connection anyway—much less a decent home?

Dick Gordon

A quick search on Google leads me to dickgordon.com:

Ok, so now I know there’s a former American astronaut named “Dick Gordon”. Seriously though, the real website of the Filipino Dick Gordon (dickgordon2010.com) also has a prominent Volunteer link—nothing saying “Jobs”, “Openings”, or the like.

Gibo Teodoro

The administration standard-bearer also features a “Volunteer” link near the top. Again, no advertisements calling for employees. In any case, has anyone successfully grabbed Gibo’s dongle?

Manny Villar

For some reason, mannyvillar.com.ph was down when I tried accessing it this morning. But Google’s cache of the site reveals no link to apply as an employee on the main page. Only the vague yet still volunteer-ish “Join Team Villar” link caught my attention.

So what was Mr. Viray talking about? True, maybe he was only talking about candidates running for lower offices? Searches on JobDB Philippines returned nothing related to what the country manager was talking about.

In any case, it would be interesting to see a link from ABS-CBN or Viray pointing to where candidates are looking for employees. Perhaps candidates are looking for full-time employees through below-the-line channels?

And, dear readers, if you’ve encountered a candidate actively calling out for employees for their campaigns, feel free to share what you’ve seen below.