This fall, Lone Star College-CyFair’s Office of Technology Services (OTS) didn’t have to look far for its three newest PC technicians because Marco Alatorre, Jerome Landagan and Gabrielle Panuelos were already on campus as paid summer interns through the college’s Falcon Internship Program (FIP).
Within weeks of completing their internships, all three were hired for permanent, part-time roles by OTS. Landagan has since parlayed the experience into a second internship at Cisco.
“That rarely happens with ‘off-the-street’ applicants,” said Darrell Woodruff, User Services Manager for OTS. “These students already know our systems, our culture, and how we serve faculty. They’re productive on day one.”
Having an extensive IT resume that includes nearly 20 years of experience in the private sector and almost a decade at LSC-CyFair, Woodruff said he is “110% on board” as a FIP partner.
“This LSC-CyFair internship program does a great job of bringing me more high-quality candidates,” he said. “FIP’s talent pipeline are students who are motivated, willing to learn and tend not to come with baked-in expectations.”
Patty James, Manager of Career and Internship Success, said the FIP team works with employers closely to determine their specific internship needs. Then she and her team goes through the student resumes and pre-screens candidates to ensure a qualified talent pool is provided, which saves time and reduces stress for hiring managers.
In addition, since FIP students are able to receive one-to-one coaching, attend resume development workshops, and take advantage of interviewing etiquette and prep seminars, there are potentially no bad hires, she said.
In only its second year, FIP has already placed nearly 40 students in paid internships in a variety of industries, with 9 turning into permanent employment.
A Glimpse from Internship Experience to Real-world IT Success
“I learned how to troubleshoot issues in live environments, work collaboratively with different teams, and put my classroom knowledge into practice to solve real problems,” said Panuelos, a cybersecurity major. “The experience helped me feel confident transitioning into my role as a PC technician because I already understood the tools, office culture and expectations of the team.”
Both Panuelos and Altorre cited gaining valuable technical experience through conducting room readiness checks prior to the fall semester commencement, a project that included working with a broad range of technical equipment such as projectors, all-in-one computers, desktop computers, monitors, keyboards, mice, document cameras, classroom cameras, Audio/Video systems and more.
“OTS also provided hands-on customer service skills through working with faculty and staff," Altorre said. “Understanding how important it is to explain technical issues in simpler terms has given me meaningful insight into what it means to be a technical expert.”
Having had exposure to IT tools and workflows used, being immersed in the office culture, collaborating as a team with multiple departments and familiarity with expectations, all three OTS interns agreed their transition to employees was seamless and that the FIP was an integral part of their success.
Altorre said FIP helped align his academic education and work experience for the OTS position requirements (and future jobs) bridging the gap with a career-ready resume. In addition, the FIP offers students personal coaching sessions and workshops for creating professional resumes as well as learning interviewing skills and etiquette.
Landagan, who plans to become a Network Security Engineer, said “FIP significantly helped, as my experience working as an IT intern led to me securing another internship at Cisco. Some may think that attending a community college like LSC means that they won't have access to substantial resources, but FIP proves the opposite.”
In fact, another FIP completer, Jose Estrada, received two community tech partner internships, including DSI LLC Design Scientific for a software coding, project-based, micro-internship as well as Designa Access Corporation, a parking management system.
Become an FIP Partner
Area companies can easily partner with FIP to not only hire an intern by signing up via the Symplicity Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, but to post internship opportunities, manage applications and connect with future talent, such as at the upcoming Feb. 24 Career and Internship Fair.
Learn more at LoneStar.edu/OpportunityHub or for personalized guidance on FIP partnerships or to register for talent recruitment fairs, email CFInternships@LoneStar.edu or Patty.James@LoneStar.edu.