Students Learn if They Have What it Takes in Silicon Valley Job Market

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--College students are putting the finishing touches on their resumes, polishing up their online profiles and practicing their pitches for dozens of the top Silicon Valley companies who will be at Santa Clara University’s Malley Center for the annual fall career fair Oct. 3 from 3 to 6 p.m.

“Many employers these days focus on hiring interns because their recruitment strategy is to have a high conversion rate from their intern pool into full-time jobs. Engineers, particularly computer engineers, are in greatest demand”

While computer and electrical engineers are in demand, companies are also looking at finance, marketing and communication majors. There's also a good market for business and data analysts, and the retail market has picked up. Santa Clara University students are often well prepared for the Silicon Valley focus on fit, not just skills.

“Employers are looking for more than top grades and polished student projects,” says Elspeth Rossetti, director of Santa Clara University’s Career Center. “They’re looking for employees who are well-rounded, and can play well with others. Santa Clara University emphasizes educating the whole person so, besides being polished and well-educated, SCU grads have the 'soft skills', the interpersonal skills, and the work ethic that make them successful in the workplace.”

Many students also understand they also have to do more than print out paper resumes. Employees are more tech savvy and often use social media to recruit the right hire. The SCU Career Center encourages students to complete a LinkedIn profile and keep it updated with on-campus job, activities, and internships. The Center created a profile for Bucky Bronco, the campus mascot, to show students what an effective LinkedIn profile includes. Counselors also remind students it’s never too early to start a career.

“Many employers these days focus on hiring interns because their recruitment strategy is to have a high conversion rate from their intern pool into full-time jobs. Engineers, particularly computer engineers, are in greatest demand,” says Rossetti.

SCU is seeing an uptick in the number of employers returning to campus for a second year in a row, after a drop during the recession. More than 150 companies will be on campus including tech staples like Adobe, Intuit, McAfee and Yahoo! A few highly anticipated companies like Workday and Palantir Technologies will also make their debut.