Engineering and computer science graduates at Montana universities accept out-of-state jobs at a remarkable rate even though we have lots of jobs right here. At one state university this past spring, 100% of the computer science graduates took jobs and moved elsewhere.
This unfortunate fact penalizes the Montana economy and is a poor return on the taxpayer funds that subsidize about 40% of college tuition. Plus, now we have to get on a plane to see our kids and grandkids.
One reason this mass export occurs is that out-of-state firms have a huge advantage in the hiring process. Firms like Microsoft and Google have learned the value of a Montana work ethic, and they start early by sending full-time recruiters here, hoping to entice our best and brightest to leave for summer internships and jobs, well before Montana firms do.
These out-of-state firms are often larger and consequently they can generally plan further ahead, making offers before our in-state high tech firms know for sure they have openings.
So what can we do?
First, we need to encourage Montana tech firms to be aggressive about hiring summer interns after a student’s sophomore or junior year. Once a student has done a summer internship with a firm, it is very likely they will take a full-time job with that firm after graduation. Firms that wait to review college graduates often find that the best, if not all, are already spoken for. These interns need to be signed up in the fall for the following summer, not in the following spring when most have already made plans.
Secondly, Montana universities should consider work-study options or including local tech firms in student design projects to expose local firms to the students and to bring some real-world experience into the classroom. This would also tip the scale toward Montana firms in the hiring process.
Finally, we need one place where all techies looking for work, both students and those looking to return home, can find Montana high-tech opportunities. That is why the Montana High Tech Business Alliance has started a statewide jobs portal. We have put a call out to all of our 90 member firms, which represent a key economic engine of growth in Montana, to post their openings for internships and full-time positions. Also, we will be promoting the portal to alumni of Montana universities. You can view the portal at www.MThightech.org/jobs.
Let’s stop exporting our best and brightest.
August 28, 2014 @ 2:23 pm
The issue is not solely one of timing. The number of companies and available jobs in an area is not the only deciding factor for accepting a position at a company. Just as companies look at sustaining long term growth so too do those seeking for employment.
Providing an internship is truly beneficial. This is something that local companies should be providing. It could meet many needs. Two that come to mind right away are:
1. The business can assign work that would be too costly for an FTE to perform
2. The intern gains work experience that can be placed on a resume and skills that could be applied to future work
However, this also allows the intern to determine if an opportunity for employment arises whether or not it would be aligned with their career ambitions. If the work is minor and does not contribute (or the intern does not feel it contributes) value to the business then they may decide it is not a good fit and decide to go elsewhere if an opportunity with the same employer arose either for another internship or employment. The work must be seen to contribute value.
If the work is beneficial both to the company and the intern where the intern feels they are getting quality knowledge and contributing value, the next factor would be ‘for how long do I want to be doing this?’ If the prospect already has an idea of what she/he wants to be doing in the next 5 years and it is not what they would be doing today then the ‘what’s next?’ question comes to play. If it is seen that there is no forward career path they will most likely decide to go elsewhere when the opportunity arises. Businesses should be cognizant of that. Not everyone wants to do the same things forever. Bright people are always in need/search of new challenges.
If they do take a position then for how long do they stay? Some may just be looking at it as a temporary situation while they search for what they are really looking for. But once they do find something else, the place they leaves loses that asset. In some ways the ‘problem’ moves forward. The issue then becomes not being able to find quality candidates, but keeping then once they are in.
October 7, 2014 @ 7:20 am
Our daughter, future son-in-law and his brother all graduated last spring with honors in various engineering disciplines. They were unable to locate jobs in Montana. Consequently, they’ve all taken jobs out of the state. They did look in Montana and I did a lot of online searching myself. Most of the jobs that were posted were asking for 3-5 years of experience. Our daughter had two summer internships (all out of state). One question that should be address is how can we encourage the local industries to hire entry-level candidates to keep our bright young talent here in Montana?