(WACO, Texas) – Several hundred Texas State Technical College students and alumni attended TSTC’s Industry Job Fair on Tuesday on the Waco campus, the first in-person job event held since 2019.
For the first time, the event was spread out across 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.
Some students from TSTC’s campuses in East Williamson County and North Texas were bused in to join participating Waco campus students to meet the companies’ representatives and discuss job types and openings.
“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.”
The Los Alamos National Laboratory was one of the entities attending TSTC’s event for the first time. Standing by an information table was Lance McCormick, a member of the laboratory’s machinist pipeline program and a graduate of TSTC’s Precision Machining Technology program in Harlingen.
“I’m really excited to come back to talk to TSTC’s students,” he said. “I definitely think TSTC gave me the skills to get employed by them (Los Alamos).”
Matthew Tabor, a planning and scheduling supervisor for facilities and maintenance at Samsung Austin Semiconductor, said the company was seeking to fill positions in fabrication, HVAC, engineering and other areas. He said while the company has a lot of senior-level positions filled, it is challenging to find qualified younger employees.
“It’s been really good,” Tabor said about the event. “We have gotten several resumes from people.”
Students were eager to talk to companies in a face-to-face environment.
Cassidy Baatz grew up in Minnesota and is a first-semester student in TSTC’s Welding Technology program. Although she still has time to think about job options, Baatz said it was good to start talking to prospective employers about her skills.
“I’m soaking it all up,” she said.
Vicente Rodriguez, of Luling, is an Instrumentation Technology major scheduled to graduate next year. He was inspired to pursue his program of study because his father also worked in the field at the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Rodriguez liked what he heard during his first TSTC job event, including talking to representatives of Samsung Austin Semiconductor.
“It’s something new to me, and I like how there are a lot of companies here,” he said.
TSTC plans to have another Industry Job Fair for students and alumni this fall.
For more information, go to tstc.edu.
