Internships
Are your students curating project portfolios?
The National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) Business and Industry Leadership Team (“BILT”) has long insisted when job candidates sit down for an interview, those who have a portfolio of their work stand a better chance of getting hired. For that reason, the BILT asks that every IT program require students to create and maintain portfolios…
Read MoreStudent Feature: Aaron Bueg
Having been raised on computers, it seems only natural that Aaron Bueg would make a career out of learning more about them. “I was building computers with Dad, back when the first machine was a 486,” Aaron recalls. “I remember putting it together and playing a video game that ran on a floppy disk.” It…
Read MoreStudent Feature: Chidera Obinali
As a young girl, Chidera Obinali got her first taste of technology through playing an online virtual pet environment game, known as NeoPets. “They have little pages where you code HTML and CSS within NeoPets,” Chidera explained. She made friends all over the world through the game. “I would join guilds that were all based…
Read MoreInforming Students About IT Career Paths
The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) works hard to support convergence programs (IT and communications) around the country and prepare students for lucrative jobs in the IT space. But no matter how well-trained faculty members are or how cutting-edge curriculum may be, students won’t get jobs unless they know what jobs are out there. We…
Read MoreWriting IT Resumes
The CTC recently spoke with Deidra Witt, Talent Acquisition Sr. Advisor at Dell, to better understand what recruiters are looking for in entry-level job seekers. We learned that HR and hiring managers work together to develop job descriptions, both new openings and backfilled positions. Recruiters look at the requirements for the job and then a…
Read MoreTale of the Thumbtack: Updating a Program Bulletin Board
Developing strategies to successfully recruit students is a key goal of the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC). The CTC staff recently rolled up their sleeves to tackle this problem head-on when we decided to update a bulletin board in a classroom hallway here at Collin College. The bulletin board is in a high-traffic area students…
Read MoreAbout Virtual Internships
A unique “virtual internship” model has been a hot topic of late at the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) and principal investigator Ann Beheler touts the value of Virtual internships every chance she gets. While the model was developed for an IT curriculum, it could be used in most any discipline. Internships, as we all…
Read MoreViews on Successful Hiring
At the recent ATE PI conference in Washington, DC the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) participated in a panel discussion on the hiring process of students who were successfully hired in their industry. The discussion focused on student mentoring, resume and interview preparation, and the hiring process. Dr. Ann Beheler facilitated a discussion with Collin…
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