Education News
Engineering firms ramp up recruitment efforts to meet demand
Missouri's Kansas City Star (7/29, Bacon) reported that "one problem engineering companies are working to solve is finding enough engineers to fill their workforce." Some experts "place the need as high as 117,000 a year," while U.S. colleges produce about "65,000 to 70,000" engineering graduates. Richard Gallagher, associate dean for academics and administration in Kansas State University's College of Engineering, said, "Demand for engineering graduates in all disciplines has been extremely good since the mid-'90s." Because of the increased demand for graduates, "companies are amping up recruiting efforts on campus," the Star pointed out. For example, "they are going beyond traditional career fairs to establishing partnerships for research, offering scholarships, supporting student teams in regional and national competitions, hosting a company day, and...providing internship opportunities." The Star cites the example of Dan Rausch, who "recently accepted a position as a software engineer at Garmin." Rausch said that "he received several job offers" while pursuing his bachelor's "at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology," and even had to "turn down job interviews
