“What are your plans after high school?” This is a question that every high school junior and senior hears that makes them think about where they see themselves after graduation. Although attending college is a common answer, there are many other avenues high school graduates may choose to pursue. For students who seek an alternative path to college, the Office of Information Technologies (OIT) at Notre Dame wants to bring these students to campus in another fashion.
Over the 2022-2023 academic year, OIT technologists led sessions at the Elkhart Career Center, Riley High School, and Purdue Polytechnic High School in a pilot program to spark student interest about careers in information technology—with a focus on computer networking.
Each week, OIT members would visit the classroom to educate and demonstrate various networking concepts through hands-on seminars with students. Currently, computer networking is one of the areas in high demand, and the need is only predicted to grow. With this in mind, the past year’s efforts to spark interest in the networking career path have served to address both the present and future needs of our region.
Although the school year is coming to a close, learning will not. Four students from this program will continue their education by working on campus this summer as full-time networking interns. In these roles, the students will shadow current OIT network engineers and help assist with projects such as the campus WiFi upgrade. Through these opportunities, the interns will gain on-the-job training along with an idea of what a career in information technology may look like.
This initiative to find and cultivate local talent is not a solo occurrence. The OIT recently invested in its future by creating multiple pathways to recruit local individuals who want to build a career in information technology. Several new positions have been recently created to allow candidates the opportunity to learn various technology roles directly from experienced OIT professionals. The efforts to recruit local talent have been mutually beneficial and have helped place outstanding individuals into roles that will allow them to live prosperous futures in their community.
With the success of these different recruitment initiatives, plans to expand these efforts are in the works. Whether a high school student, a recent college graduate, or someone looking for a career change, the OIT is excited to offer roles that grow information technology careers close to home.
Originally published by at itinsights.nd.edu on May 01, 2023.