Registration for the Michigan Technological University Fall Career Fair is now open! This year’s event will be held on September 27, 2016.
Recruiting organizations can register at: https://app.joinhandshake.com/career_fairs/363
The Annual Report for the 2014-15 Academic year has been published. This year’s report includes information about:
- Placement statistics
- CareerFEST
- Career Fair
- Industry Days
- Co-operative Education
- Salary Information
The complete report is available on our website at: http://www.mtu.edu/career/about/reports/
Recently a group of over 300 industry and educational leaders meet in Washington D.C. to share and explore ways to fill the pipeline of human talent in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The group, called STEMconnector, is facing a growing crisis due to lack of qualified intellectual talent to meet company hiring needs. A series of industry leadership panels identified the challenges, then explored solutions that would not only improve individual lives, but support developing economies and governments across the globe.
STEM jobs, those careers focused on use of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, are growing 1.7 times faster than that of non-STEM jobs. Surya Kant, President of North America, UK and Europe for Tata Consulting Services (TCS), a worldwide contractor for information technology talent, estimated that by 2030 they will need to hire 430,000 more STEM employees, a majority of which will be in the area of computer science and engineering. They have developed a new program called Go IT which is now being rolled out in 32 major cities across the world. The program engages students and their parents by introducing them to the basics of programming and exposing them to the many well-compensated careers in this area.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that between 2013 – 2023 there will be two jobs available for every computer science graduate in the U.S. Currently only 2.4% of college graduates earn their degree in computer science. TCS notes that 30 of 50 states do not require computer science courses in their graduation requirements, hindering efforts to get students engaged in programming early in their education.
Allyson Knox, Director of Education Policy & Programs at Microsoft, echoed concerns at TCS. She noted that 1 in 4 U.S. high schools offer advanced placement courses in computer science. She noted that research has found young women taking this course were 4 times more likely to complete a degree in computer science, while African-American and Hispanic students taking the course were 7 times more likely to achieve academic success in the degree. Microsoft has created the website code.org to encourage students and their parents to explore computer programming. Filled with interactive games that increase in complexity, the site illuminates lucrative career paths in computer programming.
Dr. Mehmood Khan, Vice Chairmen and Chief Scientific Officer at Pepsico, shared the humanitarian opportunity associated with filling these talent needs. He noted that 40 percent of the food we grow is wasted. The main contributor of pollution in the world is agriculture. Dr. Khan shared that each day 1 billion people go to bed hungry. He notes if we can cut our food waste in half, we can feed the world and not increase pollution. Yet he also highlighted that in the next 10 years 50 percent of our scientists working on this efficiency problem will be retiring.
Industry leaders created STEMconnector to help them address the looming talent shortage. They all recognize the solution does not lie in just higher education or exclusively in our K-12 school system. It is a societal challenge whose solutions lie in multiple initiatives and they are each taking individual and collaborative steps to fill the STEM pipeline. The quality of our lives in the future is directly correlated to the success of filling this STEM pipeline, as does the economic prosperity of our children.
Graduation is the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication. As a way of saying “Congratulations” to our graduates, Career Services organized a photo booth to help commemorate the event. With a green screen and choice of eight different Michigan Tech related backgrounds, students, their family, and their friends were invited to create “one last memory” of their time in Houghton.
Check out the results of the photobooth on Flikr.
We were pleased to have one of our Alumni share her stories with our students. Allie Irwin (Engineered Conversations) visited campus to speak with students and faculty about how body language sends messages about listening, importance, honesty, and many other things without us being aware of it.
The summary of her visit is now available for review on: http://www.mtu.edu/career/students/resources/bodylanguage/
When a student leaves campus to begin a co-op or internship, they are faced with a challenge regarding their identity. After operating as a student for so long, they have to quickly transition to that of a professional, and sometimes for the first time. When done right, students feel an amazing sense of accomplishment – “I was treated like the other professionals.” With the right attitude and keen sense for polishing their professional skills, students can begin building a successful professional career and respected reputation during their co-op experience. And isn’t that the point?
However, we cannot assume that all students are prepared to make this transition; thus, to assist students in this process, Career Services requires all co-op students attend a pre-departure meeting. The topics in this meeting include networking, co-op course requirements, but most important are the keys to a successful co-op. Surprisingly to students, those who are successful are not always the most brilliant technically, but rather they shine because of their professionalism, attitude, and excellent communication skills. Check out this semester’s meeting.
Spring 2016 Co-op Meeting
One of the Michigan Tech Scholars and Leaders program, Katelynne Bauer, created a profile of some alumni and the different paths a chemical engineering graduate can take.
You can view the article online at: http://www.mtu.edu/career/students/resources/stories/
Graduation day is less than a week away! What is the ultimate result of all that hard work? Starting a job with a new company, applying those skills in a new occupation, and earning money!
We copied the idea of a high school recruit signing for a new college or a professional athlete getting drafted. Here are some group photos next to our statue in the middle of campus. We think this new tradition will take hold!
Thank you to our corporate partners at: 3M, Alliance Laundry Systems, ArcelorMittal, Caterpillar, The Dow Chemical Company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, Gerdau, Jackson, Kimberly-Clark, Nucor, Oshkosh, Plexus, and Systems Control. Our corporate partners help prepare our students for their careers and now, it is time to get to work!
LinkedIn has created a new mobile app to help you with your job search. The new LinkedIn Students app is now available for Both Android and iOS platforms.
Many people talk about the “Senior Slide” as students finish their final year of college, I prefer to talk about the “perma-smile”. 
Students have worked so hard for their grades. They have learned how to survive with messy roommates, impossible project assignments, harsh weather, homesickness, and the stress of a job search. In the last few weeks of the Spring semester, can you blame them for being insufferably happy?
As these students count down the days until they graduate (it’s 22, by the way) – all of their hard work has paid off. Although nobody knows what it is, they are ready to join the “real world” As they strike out on their own, hopefully, the Career Culture that we have created on campus will propel them into their first destination.
The educational value of many the things the students have done may not be apparent to them. There are a lot of technical skills learned in the classroom, but also a lot of other skills learned outside of the class that will help them succeed. Late nights completing a project before a deadline, networking during a lunch, performing a presentation on a topic in front of their peers, entering a contest, or volunteering their talents to help someone else — these life lessons will serve them well.
To me, the perma-smile is a result of knowing that all the hard work is just beginning but the pay will be much better!