* The IBM Academic Initiative Student Opportunity System
IBM wants to make it easier for you to recruit graduates for IT jobs. The vendor last month launched the IBM Academic Initiative Student Opportunity System, which enables students from accredited colleges and universities worldwide to post their resumes to a virtual career center that will be made available to thousands of IBM clients and business partners.
Students are eligible to participate if they have passed at least one of the more than 200 IBM Professional Certifications that are available. To access the Student Opportunity System, students can go here and post their resume, cover letter and anything else they choose to in order to highlight or sell their qualifications.
If an employer needs a graduate located in Texas skilled in information management and security, for example, the Student Opportunity System can help match it up with candidates certified in database and identity management software. Hiring managers will be able to use the Web-based tool to browse resumes based on their search criteria and find candidates in just a few clicks.
IBM also expects the system to help bridge the gap between skilled IT professionals and the increasing number of IT jobs. Many experts are worried that the lack of students pursuing computer sciences programs could lead to a labor shortfall in the not-too-distant future.
“Tennessee State University is preparing its students for the jobs of the future by providing the latest IT training and certifications,” says Jacqueline Mitchell, special assistant to the president of TSU. “We expect that the introduction of the Student Opportunity System will only serve to increase the percentage of job placements by linking our talented, skilled students with high-tech jobs in the IT industry.”
