(RED OAK, Texas) – More than 20 students from Texas State Technical College in North Texas rode a chartered bus on Tuesday to attend the Industry Job Fair hosted by TSTC’s Waco campus.
For the first time, the event was spread out on the Waco campus to include the Col. James T. Connally Aerospace Center, the Industrial Technology Center and Murray Watson Jr. Student Recreation Center. More than 100 companies were represented at the event.
“The student participation was wonderful,” said Hannah Luce, director of planning and special events for TSTC’s Career Services department. “We had a good variety of companies here, some for the first time. Some companies interviewed students on-site.”
Joe Razza, regional recruiter at Ohio-based Crown Equipment Corp., which has branch offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was looking for students with diesel equipment, electrical and mechanical experience. He said students with machining and welding experience could be good for the company’s manufacturing facilities.
“I enjoy the live face-to-face interactions, and building a rapport is great,” he said. “I like to hear from them on what they are passionate about in their careers.”
J.T. Hill, service group manager at Texas AirSystems, which has offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said many people are retiring from the HVAC industry and there are not enough available workers to fill the void. The company specializes in commercial HVAC equipment maintenance, sales and service support.
“It’s pretty hard right now, and the market is tight,” Hill said. “Skilled technicians are going for insane rates right now.”
Students looked forward to meeting with company representatives face to face.
Jesus Galvan, who grew up in Los Fresnos and now lives in Lancaster, is in TSTC’s Diesel Equipment Technology program at the North Texas campus. He is scheduled to graduate later this year.
Galvan said it is good to see what options there are in his field after graduation.
“My goal is to reach out to as many companies as possible and see which to apply to,” he said.
TSTC’s Waco campus plans to have another Industry Job Fair for students and alumni this fall.
For more information, go to tstc.edu.
