Over one hundred companies, most with headquarters or offices in the midwest, recruit ITK students for internships and for permanent employment. The Illinois State University Career Center offers many services to employers and to students to facilitate the recruitment process.
Graduates of the School of Information Technology have been very successful both as new employees and as career professionals. Alumni and employers often attribute this success to the department's approach of not only teaching information technology theory but also carrying that forward into practical situations. Students are challenged to apply concepts they learn in the class room to individual as well as group projects. In addition, the School of Information Technology maintains an active internship program which places majors into the work environment before their senior year.
Many corporate recruiters have asked how they could enhance their recruiting efforts on campus and, in particular, how to improve their "name recognition" among students. There are a number of strategies that might be employed. Most involve placing company representatives in direct contact with students, creating a situation in which one student enhances the company's image with fellow students or in some other way drawing attention to the company.
Recruiters also often have a minimum required GPA for all students they interview. Sometimes there are two levels; one for students who have worked their way through college or have some other reason for not being able to devote full time to their studies (e.g. a single parent) and a higher level for students who have had the luxury of concentrating full-time on their coursework. While this type of filter can be very useful, nevertheless, there are some things about a GPA that are not always obvious. For example, Illinois State University has policies that differ from other universities that can cause a student's GPA to be lower than it would be at another school.
