Tech students are in the chips

Dressed in her best black business suit, 16-year-old Mindi Miller took a seat at Intel Corp. last week, heading toward a possible career in technology.

The Folsom High School junior was one of 169 high school students interviewing for about 60 summer internships at the Folsom-based technology giant.

"Science is my favorite subject ... so it's really nice knowing I'll have a job in something I'm really interested in," Miller said between interviews with Intel employees.

If students such as Miller stick with their interest in technical careers, they could be sitting pretty in years to come.

Whether it's a summer internship or a full-time career, demand for tech-savvy students is soaring and college placement offices are reporting nearly frantic requests for graduates with computer and engineering degrees.

"I've done this job for 30 years and across the board it's the best hiring market I've ever seen," said Cici Mattiuzzi, who directs the College of Engineering and Computer Science's career center at California State University, Sacramento.

"These companies want students so badly I feel like I'm being harassed."

At a CSUS job fair last month, 123 companies and public agencies sent recruiters, hoping to fill some 3,000 job openings -- ranging from software engineers to civil engineers.

It's a similar story at the University of California, Davis, where companies are on a waiting list for a spot at campus career fairs, said Pam Swartwood, who coordinates engineering and physical science programs for UCD's internship and career center. She said the most sought-after students are those with technical skills, but also the ability to work in teams and communicate effectively. "We're making a huge effort to give our students that kind of preparation," she said.

At American River College, demand for qualified graduates is also strong, said Barbara Blanchard, dean of the school's computer science and information technology department.

"There are tons of positions and almost all our students are getting jobs," Blanchard said. "My faculty is telling me that (computer/technology) jobs are starting at anywhere from $35,000 to $70,000 a year."

The demand for computer science and engineering students has accelerated in recent years as the economy recovers from the dot-com bust, retirements of aging baby boomers open up new positions, and the construction industry revs up for new infrastructure spending on highways, levees, schools and other public works projects, experts say.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 34.2 percent increase in computer and math specialist jobs between 2004 and 2014 in California. The number of civil engineering jobs statewide is expected to climb to 46,100, up 15.5 percent during the same period.

"We're scrambling to fill our jobs," said Chuck Hansen, chief executive of the Rancho Cordova software company Hansen Information Technologies. "This is a great time to be graduating."

One beneficiary of the hiring boom is Steven West, a computer science major graduating from CSUS in December. With five offers for summer internships already in hand, he's turning down a stream of companies asking him to interview.

"When I went into computer science, I thought I'd have to do some heavy-duty job searching," he said. But other than handing out his résumé at a job fair and posting it on the CSUS career center's Web site, he hasn't formally applied for a single position. Instead, prospective employers have sought him out.

Jaime Cochran, who's graduating with a CSUS construction management degree in June, also is finding herself in big demand.

An intern on the Bay Bridge project for the past several summers, Cochran said she already has an offer from a bridge subcontractor, plus four other firms. Salary offers range from $55,000 to $60,000 a year, plus perks such as a company car.

"I didn't know I'd have this many offers to choose from," she said. "It's pretty nice."

Among employers hunting for interns is Mike Childs, operations manager for S.J. Amoroso Construction, a public works construction company based in Redwood Shores. Childs was at CSUS this week, recruiting interns for summer jobs.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Clint Swett can be reached at (916) 321-1976 or cswett@sacbee.com.