Revenge of the Nerds: Tech Super Stars Taking Over College Campuses

Revenge of the Nerds: Tech Firms Scour College Campuses for Talent

Companies Woo Best Students With Equity, Fat Salaries and Free Food

By Spencer E. Ante

Wall Street Journal

May 30, 2012

On college campuses these days, the top nerds are getting a taste of what it's like to be star jocks.

Brian Yee, a master's student in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science, hands out Android pajamas from Google on campus.

For Maxwell Hawkins, a computer science and art major at Carnegie Mellon University, the moment came in March. A technology recruiting firm sent him a letter by FedEx urging him to drop out of his junior year and take his talents to work for a start-up.

"I work for the founder and seed investor in PayPal, Palantir and Facebook," wrote Peterson Conway, a recruiter with Carmel, Calif., firm Goodwyn/Powell. "I have been asked to help identify the founding team of a new venture."

The technology boom has created an acute shortage of engineers and software developers. The industry has responded by taking a page from the playbook of professional sports: identify up and comers early, then roll out the red carpet to lock them up.

With the social media frenzy in full swing, promising students are now wrestling with decisions about whether to stay in school or turn pro. Meanwhile, those who stay on campus are enjoying a bonanza of free food and other goodies as companies rush to win their hearts and minds.

"It is pretty good for my ego, frankly," said Mr. Hawkins, who decided to stay in school and take an internship offer from YouTube this summer.

Starting salaries at leading companies for average computer science grads from top schools range from $75,000 to $100,000, plus signing and relocation bonuses worth $5,000 to $15,000, according to venture capitalists and recruiters. New hires may also get small equity grants, with stars getting additional cash bonuses or larger grants worth as much as 1% of the company.

Facebook's FB -3.55% disappointing public offering demonstrated that the start-up tech market may not be quite as lucrative as everyone believed. But many students say they think the risks are still worth taking, given the huge potential upside.

Stephen Poletto, a senior computer science major at Brown University, said that in the middle of his junior year, he started fielding calls from headhunters, company recruiters and Brown alumni who work in the industry.

Companies, he said, routinely wine and dine students at posh restaurants to discuss internships and jobs, plying them with free limo rides to bars, $500 cash giveaways and raffles for iPads. So many companies give away free food when they hold technology talks at Brown that sponsors had to move the food inside the computer science auditorium to keep non-engineering students from grazing...

Google Inc. GOOG -1.09% is particularly active on campus. Brian Yee, a master's student at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science, is one of the search giant's 400 "student ambassadors" at top universities around the world who get paid to assist with recruiting and spreading the word about Google products. In February, Mr. Yee rounded up 100 students to eat free pizza and hear a Google developer give a "Tech Talk" about YouTube.

"For the Tech Talk they sent 100 pairs of Android pajamas," he said. "Those went really quickly." Starting this fall, Google will more than double the ambassador program to over 1,000 students world-wide.
Mark Stehlik, assistant dean of Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science said it could make sense for a student to take a leave of absence to join a start-up, in some cases. But most students are better served getting their degrees, he said. "Many companies are trying to seduce students because they really need them," he said. "Students get a little starry eyed. For many of them they are better off finishing."

Big companies aren't the only ones wooing students. Peter Thiel, a billionaire Facebook investor, recently started a fellowship program offering 20 students $100,000 over two years to skip college and work on world-changing projects.

Tiny start-ups are ramping up their recruiting efforts, too, though it is far from a fair fight. In February, Highland Capital Partners, the venture investor behind Lycos and MapQuest.com Inc. sent executives from some of its portfolio companies on a four-day road trip to interview candidates at the University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon and Cornell. They made the trip by Chrysler minivan and stayed at inexpensive hotels, like Holiday Inn. After interviewing 100 candidates, five have accepted offers. Total cost for 13 people: $5,000.

The big companies don't always win. Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +1.10% offered Brown University computer science major Kelsey Tripp a lucrative summer internship paying $5,300 a month plus a one-time $3,000 housing stipend. But the college junior turned it down for an even better internship offer at a start-up called Nebula Inc. It paid more and she liked that the program was organized by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a major player in Silicon Valley. A personal call from Nebula's CEO sealed the deal. "I have never spoken to a CEO before," she said.

The National Basketball Association has a rule called "one and done" that requires players entering the draft to be 19 or have completed their freshman year of college. But some prospective programmers aren't even making it that far.

Sahil Lavingia was a freshman at the University of Southern California in 2010 when he got an email from Ben Silbermann, chief executive and co-founder of the fast-growing online scrapbook Pinterest. Mr. Silbermann was looking for help building a version of Pinterest for the iPhone and happened upon a data tracking app developed by the self-taught Mr. Lavingia.

Figuring the young student "seemed like a go-getter," Mr. Silbermann drove up to Berkeley from Silicon Valley to meet Mr. Lavingia, who was coming to the Bay Area for the USC-Berkeley football game. A few days later, Mr. Lavingia had an offer in hand and took a leave from school to take the job.

Some companies are grabbing talented programmers even before they reach college. Luke Weber taught himself how to design computer games in high school and became one of the most popular contributors to Roblox Corp., a company that lets its subscribers play games developed by its users.

After graduating, he attended a Roblox conference last June and met the head of the company's marketing department, who asked him if he wanted to shoot some videos to teach people how to make games. The videos turned into a design job, and now Mr. Weber, who has postponed plans to go to college, works three days a week for the company producing games and virtual goods for $25 an hour.

At 18, he is the youngest employee of the company. "Apparently," he said, "I am really pro at it."

Write to Spencer E. Ante at spencer.ante@wsj.com

Demand for IT Talent Projected to Continue Growing in 2012

TechnologySurvey: Demand for tech workers to grow in ’12

By Kimberley Donoghue
PBN Web Editor: Published online Dec 14, 2011
Twitter: @ kdonog

 

NEW YORK – Demand for technology professionals will continue in the first half of 2012, with 65 percent of hiring managers or recruiters affirming they will be expanding their work force, according to Dice.com.

The career site for technology professionals conducted a survey from Nov. 14 to Nov. 18 of 1,200 information technology hiring managers or recruiters.

More than one quarter, 27 percent, of those hiring are looking to expand their staff by more than 20 percent in first six months of the new year.

“The tech recruiting market is active, although the pace of improvement has been impacted by broader economic concerns,” said Alice Hill, managing director of Dice.com. “Many companies are chasing mid-career talent. The elevated economic uncertainty makes it tougher for hiring managers to lure tech professionals into leaving their current position.”

Other highlights from the “Special Edition, Hiring Survey” included:

• 42 percent predict salaries for new hires would grow, down from 47 percent in May 2011.
• 48 percent said that time to fill vacancies is longer this year.
• 57 percent said it takes longer to hire new professional due to a lack of qualified talent; 31 percent attributed it to the economy.

The Search Continues

Many young people try to focus on what it is that they are going to do in order to support themselves for the rest of their lives at about the same time they are going to college. One successful young man at Neumont University has proven that he has what it takes to get out there and earn what he deserves. Tyrel Alastair Hunter is a graduating Neumont student who was just offered a job with Robert Bosch LLC and will be entering the Professional Development Training Program in computer science. Long name short he has a big foot in the door to a big company. The road to this grand opportunity was not easy but with the drive and passion that Tyrel has shown, he deserves all of the perks that come with getting such a nice job offer.

Tyrel, like any other graduating college student, had to jump through many hoops and follow many strict guidelines and task in order to receive this offer. Unlike most graduates though, Tyrel proved to the employer that no matter what the stipulations he would step up to the plate and hit it home. From sending in his resume and looking dashing during the meetings to flying all the way to the main office in order to undergo a secondary interview Tyrel has stuck with it due to his desire to obtain the position he was fighting for. All in all he has proven that no matter the task Tyrel will be there in the end, finished and ready for a new one.

I asked him about any advice he would give students looking to obtain a job out of college, or any advice for students getting ready to look for a job. He highly recommends keeping your resume up to date with your latest projects as well as being prepared to ask a few questions yourself during an interview. He suggests being involved in non-class room projects in order to show your skills and have something that you aren’t afraid to show the code to. He says do not be afraid to overdress for an interview and to be well groomed and any part time job experience in the field is a big help.

Neumont University Commencement Shows the Future is Bright for Neumont Students

Press Release - June 2011

Media Inquiries: Stacy Cahoon Hughes - stacy.hughes@neumont.edu

TOSS THAT CAP AND PUT ON THE SUNGLASSES, THE FUTURE IS LOOKING BRIGHT FOR MORE THAN 90% OF NEUMONT UNIVERSITY GRADUATES WHO’VE ALREADY SIGNED HOT JOB OFFERS!

Salt Lake City, June 21 2011 – This weekend, as temperatures rise in the Salt Lake Valley, it won’t be the sun brightening the futures of graduates from Utah’s Neumont University-- it’s the hot job opportunities that nearly 100% of the graduating class have already accepted.  

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at the Commencement Ceremony for Neumont University’s Class of 2011, students will be feeling grateful about more than just the completion of their degree. They’ll also be feeling excited, because the majority of Neumont’s June graduates have already accepted well-paying job offers, with average starting salaries of over $60,000, at a time when the National Association of Colleges and Employers(NACE) reports that companies will have slow but sluggish growth in hiring for 2011.

In the past, Neumont graduates have also accepted  starting salary offers comfortably higher than the national average. 2010 Valedictorian, Laura Gromer, who accepted a position with Blendtech of Utah county, was highly sought after by local and Fortune 500 companies on a national scale, and recently shared with MSNBC reporters that, “Neumont graduates average starting salaries of around $60,000 and I’m very fortunate to have accepted an offer well above that.”

That isn’t the case for most of the class of 2011. Nationwide, college graduates are experiencing an alarming trend of unemployment and underemployment, but that isn’t the case for Neumont graduates.  When Neumont students their tassels on Friday, they will be marking not only the completion of their degree, but also the beginning of their exciting careers in software development and engineering, web development, and IT management. 

When asked to explain the phenomenal opportunities for Neumont graduates, Neumont University’s Vice President of University Relations, Aaron Reed, stated: “Neumont works with industry leaders to build a curriculum designed around the skills and traits that are in high demand. Then, we couple that core curriculum with an opportunity for students to work with these companies on real-world projects, in a situation that goes well beyond the traditional internship experience. This results in a real win-win for our graduates and the companies hiring them. It provides graduates the equivalent of six to eight months of actual work experience, and gives our employer partners an opportunity to conduct a ten week on-the-job interview while watching the students in action, performing the actual tasks they will perform during their career.”  

Neumont University has long been praised by industry leaders such as IBM, Microsoft, and even the Department of Education[i] for an innovative, paradigm-shifting approach to computer science education.  Unlike traditional programs, Neumont University students are immersed in an intense, 30-month series of increasingly more complex real world, enterprise-level projects for companies like IBM, eBay, and Nike. During their final quarters, students spend up to eight hours per day working in project teams to take on real project roles and build software solutions that companies can use in their daily operations. 

Commencement exercises will be held at Libby Gardner Hall in Salt Lake City. 

EVENT INFORMATION

Location: Libby Gardner Hall, 1375 E. Salt Lake City, Utah

Time: 2:00 pm

ABOUT NEUMONT UNIVERSITY

Neumont University’s accelerated, 30-month Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) program distinguishes itself with an integrated, project-based curriculum, focusing on the skills most valued by today's employers. Computer science projects and coursework are designed to provide Neumont University graduates with a strong foundation in technical skills and standards, an understanding of the business environment, and the ability to communicate and function well as members of teams. Upon completing instructional and project hours, Neumont University graduates earn a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree and have a portfolio of project work. 

More information is available at www.neumont.edu.

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[i]  www.neumont.edu/news: 2006 Spellings Report: Commission on Higher Education, and 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education “Career Colleges Deserve a Say.”