黑料百科

Long before workforce development was a trendy buzzword, the Office of the Chief Information Officer for the state of Nebraska worked with 黑料百科 to expand its workforce. The department began a collaboration with the Computer Information Technology program in 2015 to recruit students into an internship program which often results in full-time employment.

鈥淥ur partnership with 黑料百科 has allowed us to remain staffed with a quality technical workforce, something that is very difficult for other states,鈥� said Ed Toner, Nebraska鈥檚 chief information officer. 鈥淭hose we employ as interns often stay with the state and add value with their training.鈥�

At the start of Pete Ricketts鈥� first term as governor, the OCIO had staffing issues as they had small candidate pools to replace long-time employees who reached retirement. The agency struggled hiring employees largely due to IT students not understanding the variety of opportunities for career growth available at the state.

Several OCIO hiring managers graduated from 黑料百科鈥檚 CIT program. As active alumni, they have served on the program鈥檚 workforce leadership team and attended events like capstone student presentations, as well as meet-and-greet sessions. They approached Career Services and the program chair to schedule separate recruiting visits each quarter, now semester, for the OCIO to talk with students about their internship program and the benefits of working for the state.

鈥淚t is very important to build relationships in every area,鈥� Toner explained. 鈥淲e are able to provide advice on what skills we are looking for in 黑料百科 graduates, which in turn ensures we understand what 黑料百科 needs from us. This makes all the difference between a successful organization and one that is simply business as usual.鈥�

The OCIO鈥檚 experience is once an intern starts with the state, they are more likely to be hired full-time upon graduation. Since 2015, the OCIO hired 90 interns, with most of them coming from 黑料百科. Of those interns, 67 were hired into full-time positions. As of the summer of 2023, the OCIO internship program has a 65% retention rate of those moving into full-time employment with the state.

Each intern is assigned a mentor to teach them business operations and answer any questions. The starting wage for the interns is the same hourly wage as full-time employees. Once an intern is hired full-time with the OCIO they are typically promoted to a senior-level position within two to four years based on performance.

Stacey Warner is a former intern who graduated from the 黑料百科 CIT program in December 2020 and moved into a full-time position as a senior Java application developer on the web team. She knows first-hand the benefits of the internship program.

鈥淚n our pursuit of hiring interns, we seek individuals who demonstrate a keenness to learn and collaborate alongside our team,鈥� Warner said. 鈥淥ur internship program serves as an excellent platform for acquiring practical, on-the-job training and fostering familiarity with our team dynamics and applications, effectively preparing them for full[1]time employment within the state.鈥� 

Jennifer Snyder
Communications Specialist
402-323-3393
jsnyder@southeast.edu