TSTC’s Career Services department hosts employer panels for diesel students

(WACO, Texas) - Texas State Technical College's Career Services department hosted representatives of several companies for Diesel Equipment Technology panel discussions for students on Wednesday, July 17, at the Waco campus.

"The students get to learn how the future will play out with real-life information," said Peter Collier, a senior career advisor in TSTC's Career Services department on the Waco campus.

The morning focused on off-highway companies, while the afternoon session focused on heavy truck employers. The event was held at the Col. James T. Connally Aerospace Center.

"It's another opportunity (for students) to get in front of industry partners," said Houston Weaver, program team lead for TSTC's Diesel Equipment Technology program. "This is good for students who could not make it to industry spotlights."

Company representatives talked about what students can do to stand out during the hiring process and qualities that make good employees. Some panelists said getting U.S. Department of Transportation inspectors licenses and National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 certifications can show future employers their drive to learn more.

"We know TSTC is your foundation, and it is our job to develop you further," said Joe Razza, a regional recruiter at Crown Lift Trucks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Panelists told students to have a good attitude, respect people in charge, be engaged in work, and be teachable. Researching what companies do is also important.

"If you bounce from job to job, that is a red flag for us," said Lesley Williams, a human resources business partner at Archrock, a natural gas compression company, based in Houston.

Jim Batten, a service operations manager at Bobcat of North Texas/Berry Companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said prospective employees are given a predictive index survey to understand how they learn.

"We have been using it and it has really helped with the retention of employees," Batten said.

Several of the companies said finding the right employees is a challenge.

"It is finding people who want to work," said Teddie Foreman, a TSTC graduate and an equipment manager at Zachry Construction Corp. in Grand Prairie. "With the younger generation, it takes a special person who wants to get out in the weather … you have to want to do this work. It's not sitting behind a computer all day in air conditioning."

Cayden Bulin, of Alvarado, who is in his third semester in the Diesel Equipment Technology program, said he liked the personal interactions the panel discussions enabled between the company representatives and students.

"I like to put my name out there and learn more about companies I might not have heard of," he said.

Registration continues for the fall semester. For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.

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