Computer Science Career Forum brings bright students big prospects
Careers in computer science continue to be offer great-paying job first jobs. Survey results published in the State of College Hiring Report 2015 by Looksharp (acquired Feb 2017 by wayup.com) based on national survey of 50,000 recent graduates discovered that computer science majors found jobs at a rate 11 percent higher than those with STEM majors overall, and 16 percent higher than college graduates overall.
Computer science majors also took home impressive starting salaries among other high-tech careers like engineering, well ahead of most other majors. In the survey, 32 percent of CS graduates had a starting salary of over $75,000, and 13 percent started at over $100,000.
Helping LU’s computer science graduates start terrific careers was the goal of the university’s first Computer Science Career Forum. The event, organized by the Center for Career and Professional Development and the Department of Computer Science, brought five industrial companies and government agencies to campus to meet with prospective employees.
Company representatives from NoMagic, Inc. of Allen, SoftNice, Inc. of Houston, Hernandez Offices Supply of Beaumont, MobilOil Credit Union of Beaumont, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of Houston participated in the forum. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students in computer science presented seven posters detailing their research.
Gary Duncanson, CEO of NoMagic, saw in these students “very impressive skills needed in industry.”
“We have received positive feedback from the students and employers in attendance for the inaugural Computer Science Career Forum,” said Jocelyn Robbins, director of the Center for Career and Professional Development. “Students had the opportunity to network with professionals in the field, as company representatives provided information about their employer and presented possible career opportunities."
“Recognizing this was the first year for such a Computer Science event at Lamar University, we are looking forward to making it much larger,” Robbins said.
Stefan Andrei, chair of the Department of Computer Science, said adding poster presentations to the traditional career fair format gave undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to showcase interesting and innovative projects before prospective employers. “I think it was a win-win event,” Andrei said.
Greg Yera of Groves, agreed, “It was a good opportunity to make contacts, and show off our work, instead of just handing out resumes.”
