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Davis Journal

DTC career fair brings in more than 100 companies

Sep 02, 2022 11:57AM ● By Becky Ginos

Andrew Tiberius gets information from one of the companies at the DTC career fair. Tiberius is an IT student at DTC and is looking for his first job in the field. Photo by Becky Ginos

KAYSVILLE—More than 100 employers filled the halls of the Davis Technical College (DTC) campus to talk to students about job opportunities at a career fair held last week. The event gave both students and employers the opportunity to see if their skills and interests matched what the companies were looking for.

“The labor market is so strong it’s not enough to just educate students,” said DTC President Darin Brush. “We have to build a pipeline into industry supply for growing and sustaining the economy. Students and companies benefit and we all have a better quality of life.”

This career fair brings them together, he said. “We hope to reignite that excitement and make matches where we can to keep companies moving and students supporting their families.”

Brush said the state is experiencing historically low unemployment rates. “We have to be more creative and careful about how we educate and connect with jobs in demand.”

Companies face the same challenges, said Brush. “They have to recruit to upscale their workforce. We stack skills so students are more resilient and attracted to their work so they stay strong with a company. Employers benefit too.” 

DTC has 37 programs, he said. “I believe there is something for everybody here. Students can have great careers in highly skilled companies that pay great wages.”

Northrop Grumman was one of the big employers at the fair and has already hired 12 people from DTC in the last few months. “They’re giving local people the opportunity to work in the same community where they live,” said Ken Friend, staffing manager. “We’ve had a strong relationship with DTC in the past and we want to continue that relationship in composites and automotive.”

“DTC makes sure students are trained to the level we need or they modify it,” said Guy Fowlks, talent manager. “They give us trained people. If we hire from outside we have to spend the time to train them. If we pull from here (DTC) we know they have an understanding of what we do.”

The state has a low unemployment rate, said Friend. “Everybody is going after the same talent. We’ve developed our own candidate pool from within DTC. We also hire local part-time service members and give them the opportunity to come work for us. It gives local people the chance to work on what matters in the real world like helping the military.”

Northrop Grumman continues to grow, said Fowlks. “We’re winning contracts all the time. We’re not just offering a job, we’re offering a career. Once you start at Northrop there’s lots of upward mobility. There are people who started out on the floor as mechanics and now they’re VPs.”λ