(ROSENBERG, Texas) – The Industrial Technology Center at Texas State Technical College’s Fort Bend County campus was full of booths Tuesday, April 4. Companies from all over the Greater Houston area and the state of Texas were in attendance, hoping to connect with TSTC students and alumni.
“I had looked up all the technical colleges in the area and seen the building many times,” said Scot Varnau, president of Conditioned Air Mechanical. “Felt like we should be doing more of this stuff rather than just waiting for someone to walk in the door looking for work.”
While it was the first time that Conditioned Air Mechanical had been to a TSTC job fair, for many others, attending has become a regular occurrence. Judy Cox, a TSTC Career Services coordinator, estimated that around 75% of businesses in attendance were returning.
“When companies hire from TSTC, they don’t have to break any bad habits,” Cox said. “The students are trained, educated and ready to go.”
Various businesses expressed their agreement about the value of hiring TSTC graduates. A number of companies had hired graduates previously, and even some of the representatives for companies such as Unify Energy Solutions and General Electric are TSTC graduates themselves.
On the other half of the equation, over 300 students from the Fort Bend County campus were in attendance. Groups could be seen walking between each booth, wearing name tags and colored dots to signify their programs. Some programs took it a step further, having all the students wear program-specific T-shirts.
Most businesses had a sign-up sheet for students interested in learning more. Mako Industries, a HVAC contractor, had over 15 students sign up for more information, a number that was similar to many others at the job fair. For those interested and ready, interview space had also been set up for employers looking to possibly extend job offers at the fair.
“Students are hungry for job opportunities,” Cox said. “The goal of the job fair is to make connections between students and employers and get the students jobs.”
For more information about TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
