A campus organization seeks to connect students with businesses looking to hire them.
USF St. Petersburg’s chapter of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum (TBTF) began in 2012 as a way to bring students together with business and economic leaders in the Tampa Bay area.
The TBTF was first created nine years ago and began creating student chapters at local universities: The University of Tampa, USF Tampa and USFSP.
The purpose of the organization is to link students who are looking for jobs to businesses that are looking to hire students, according to former TBTF President Chris Biedal.
Biedal has been a member of TBTF since April 2014 and spent his first year serving as president to the organization. On April 1, elections were held and Tim Carty was elected president.
TBTF currently meets at 5 p.m.on the first Wednesday of every month in the Ocean Room, which is on the second floor of the University Student Center. However, meetings will be moving to Tuesdays next school year, according the the TBTF website.
At the monthly meetings, guest speakers from the Tampa Bay area come and speak about their experiences and the companies they work for, or own.
“The process for recruiting guest speakers is really simple,” Biedal told The Crow’s Nest. “One way we recruit speakers is by reaching out to Pat Gehant of main TBTF office in Tampa, who arranges the guest speakers to come to our campus. Another way is by simply reaching out to the owners of local technology startups.”
This month Ian Holtzworth, founder of Sennit Storage, shared with students his prosperous company. Sennit Storage is a self-storage company that picks up and delivers within 24 hours and allows all personal items to be tracked online.
Other guest speakers TBTF have hosted include: Bob Crews, President of Checkpoint Technologies; Chris Cates, CIO of Valpak/Cox Target Media; and former Buccaneers tight end, Jerry Bell, who is the senior account manager of Eagle Datagistics.
“I can’t stress enough how beneficial this organization is to students. There are so many great opportunities to land a job or an internship. Having an internship in college is the best way to develop your professional career and gain real-world experience,” Biedal said.
TBTF has experienced tremendous growth this school year, Biedel said. According to Orgsync, TBTF has 85 members.
Biedel stressed the importance of networking and making professional connections, which will help lead to internships and jobs. By joining TBTF, students can make those connections, he said.
“The knowledge and experience you will gain will help you in your professional life for many years to come,” Biedel said.
