The Civil Service Commission (CSC) along with heads of government agencies took part in signing the Joint Operational Guidelines (JOG) for Republic Act No. 11261 or the First Time Jobseekers Assistance Act (FTJAA). “The ceremonial signing activity is the culmination of the collective and collaborative effort of the member agencies in implementing the benefits provided by the law for fresh graduates, out-of-school-youth, and part-time students towards improving the quality of our national workforce,” said CSC Chairperson Karlo Nograles. Under the FTJAA, which was signed into law on April 10, 2019, and became effective on May 23, 2019, no fees or charges shall be collected by concerned government agencies from any first-time jobseekers (FTJ) requesting common pre-employment documents as long they meet the following criteria: * a Filipino citizen; * a first-time jobseeker, regardless of age; * is actively looking for employment; * is a resident of the barangay issuing the barangay certification. Among the documents jobseekers eyeing positions in the government may secure free of charge is the Certificate of Eligibility (COE), a document issued by the CSC that determines whether an applicant is qualified to apply to career service positions. In compliance with the FTJAA, the CSC issued Resolution No. 2000363 dated 21 February 2020, which provides one original and one authenticated copy of COE for free to first-time job applicants who passed the Career Service Professional and Subprofessional Examination and to qualified individuals with special eligibilities under special laws and CSC issuances. Suppose the records of the CSC indicate that an individual had applied for a COE in the past but has not yet been employed, and is still eligible for the benefits provided by the FTJAA. In that case, they may still be granted the COE without any charge. Civil service eligibles may secure their COE from the CSC Regional Office where they took the CSE-PPT examination, with the additional copies subject to existing fees of Php100 per COE and Php50 per authenticated copy of COE. In order to qualify for the benefits provided by the FTJAA, which include CSC’s COE, initial job seekers must fulfill certain requirements. They need to obtain a barangay certification from their place of residence stating that they are classified as an FTJ and execute an Oath of Undertaking confirming their agreement to comply with the terms and conditions of the FTJAA. They should then submit the original barangay certification to the government agency officials and adhere to the agency’s established procedures for obtaining the necessary documents to fulfill the pre-employment requirements free of charge. Finally, after obtaining employment, they are expected to report back to their barangay.