By: Shelby Hobbs
Monday February 29, 2016

On Janurary 21, a group of local students were swept away by two vans to tour tech-related companies located in Tallahassee, Florida. A group of local companies, along with the Florida IT Career Alliance, the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, Domi Station, and the FSU College of Communication and Information, worked together to expose tech students to career opportunities in the Tallahassee area.

Lester Hutt, Sales and Marketing Manager of Diverse Computing, Inc., explained the mission of the event. After speaking at a few different computer science and information technology classes, Lester realized the lack of awareness amongst students about the technology-focused companies in Tallahassee. “At most, the students will mention just one company,” Lester explains. “In reality, there are dozens of good tech places to work, so there is an obvious knowledge gap.”

A few weeks before the event, interested students involved in tech-related majors applied to participate. Computer Science, Information Technology, and Information, Communication and Technology students were selected for the tour. So far, the companies that participated have hired at least three students.

The afternoon began with picking up students from outside of the College of Communication and Information. The group was taken to three different tech companies around Tallahassee. The companies included Diverse Computing, Inc., United Solutions, and Infinity Software. After being shuttled around, the participants were brought to Domi Station where presentations from Uber, Coaxis, and WeatherSTEM described more career opportunities available to students in Tallahassee.

Overall, the event succeeded in achieving its mission. The feedback from students participating in the event was spectacular. “It was an awesome experience,” explains Corey Fitz-Gerald, a Computer Science student that participated in the Job Hop. “I didn’t realize how many tech companies there were in Tallahassee until the Tally Job Hop.” Corey went on to describe how after the event, he was hired on by Diverse Computing, Inc.

The Florida IT Career Alliance is an initiative funded by the Florida Board of Governors which aims to recruit, retain, and employ Florida's next generation technology workforce. FITC promotes information technology, computer science, and computer engineering to local high schools and college students across Florida. Connect with FITC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.