seal  Purdue News
____

August 1, 2003

Indiana businesses invited to high-tech recruiting fair

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Technical Assistance Program (TAP) will play matchmaker between students and Indiana business once again on Oct. 29 at the High-Tech Job Fair for Indiana Companies.

Technology students
Download photo - caption below

"The demand for employees is improving," said TAP director Dave McKinnis. "And employers, large and small, who come to West Lafayette will find eager, motivated students from the main Purdue campus and from regional campuses."

Established in 1986, TAP's mission is to help business, industry and government use new technologies to benefit the citizens of Indiana. For five years, TAP has added a new dimension to its mission – introducing young engineers, technologists, scientists, and management and agriculture graduates to high-tech companies in Indiana in hopes they will stay in the state after graduation.

"This is the only job recruitment event at Purdue limited to Indiana employers," McKinnis said. "We put on our event at cost ($250 per company), and it gives employers the opportunity to meet hundreds of outstanding students who want to stay in Indiana."

The fair, sponsored by the Purdue schools of Agriculture, Engineering, Management, Science, Technology, and Purdue's Center for Career Opportunities, is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all Purdue campuses. It will be from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union ballrooms. Company representatives may screen candidates during the fair, then interview selected students from 4:30-8 p.m.

On Oct. 30, employers can interview students for full-time positions and summer internships at the Stewart Center, adjacent to the union building. Many December 2003 students also will attend. Another option for employers and students is Purdue's Cooperative Education Program, through which students spend a total of 18 months working at a company between the end of their freshman year and the beginning of their senior year.

Participation in the High-Tech Job Fair for Indiana Companies is open to all companies that register through the Web site at https://Engineering.Purdue.edu/TAP/JobFair/20031029/people/join_form, by e-mail to hightech@purdue.edu or by phone at (765) 494-6258. The job fair will include an information session on salary data and recruiting tips for high-tech businesses from 9:30-10:15 a.m.

Historically, companies from Indianapolis have had a dominating presence at the high-tech job fair. McKinnis said he wants to reach out to employers in all business sectors throughout the state.

Large companies, such as Eli Lilly and Co., which sends representatives each year, have obvious high-tech needs, but McKinnis said, "almost every business today has a need for high-technology workers. This is true for small companies, too.

"Last year, Cornerstone Controls, a 60 to 70 person advanced-manufacturing control company in Indianapolis, hired four graduates from our School of Technology. Cornerstone also has six Purdue co-op students."

McKinnis said companies represented include computer software, e-commerce, computer consulting, manufacturing, insurance, health care and accounting firms. But he adds that current high-tech needs also make the job fair ideal for any employer, as well as virtually all state and city government units, architecture and law firms.

"We can accommodate almost any employer," McKinnis said. "We'll have students from engineering, business, computer integrated manufacturing, computer graphics, electrical engineering technology, and chemists and biologists. It's hard to think of a high-tech job we wouldn't be able to fill."

TAP's first five high-tech job fairs attracted more than 1,200 students each time, and almost every company had a line of students to talk with during the five-hour events. McKinnis said businesses can get a leg up on the economic upturn by recruiting employees and interns early.

Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu

Source: Dave McKinnis, (765) 494-6258, mckinnis@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

 

Related Web site:
Job fair information

 

PHOTO CAPTION:br> Four Purdue University School of Technology students from last year's High-Tech Job Fair for Indiana Companies all were hired by Cornerstone Controls, an Indianapolis advanced-manufacturing company. The students are (from left) Christopher Noble, Melissa Beyer, Benjamin Creasy and Alan Bledsoe. This year's high-tech job fair takes place on Oct. 29 in the Purdue Memorial Union ballrooms. (Purdue Marketing Communications photo/Mark Simons)


* To the Purdue News and Photos Page