Once upon a time, Bill Gates was a young entrepreneur. And as a man with a knack of combining technical expertise with business savvy, he knows -- very well, mind you -- this simple principle: success comes when opportunity meets preparation.Last week, Gates gave a speech on Capitol Hill addressing the future of innovation, U.S. competitiveness and the need for improvements in science education.
Here's an excerpt:
"Although IT skills are in high demand, it can often be difficult for qualified job seekers with limited experience to connect with potential employers. To address this challenge, Microsoft recently launched the Students to Business (S2B) program, which is designed to help companies connect with and hire talented university or post-graduate students for jobs or internships in the technology industry. Through the S2B program, Microsoft collaborates with universities and businesses to provide students with specialized IT training and internship opportunities and helps match qualified job candidates with open positions at thousands of Microsoft partner companies so that students are able to find the right job for their IT capabilities. Microsoft S2B also helps match students to internships. Because IT professionals who have had one or more internships as students tend to secure better jobs when they enter the workforce, the S2B program provides IT students with a range of opportunities to build their experience and strengthen their resumes.”
The bottom line? Finding candidates who have practical work experience is a challenge in the technology sector. As professionals in career services, we need to ensure that we match our standout students with the best opportunities possible. Doing this will ultimately strengthen our nation's competitiveness and world position in the development of emerging technologies.
Check out the Microsoft S2B microsite, developed by Experience, for more information: http://s2b.experience.com/.
Photo by Esparta
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