Convergence Careers
Convergence Technology has been listed as an emerging occupation in North Central Texas, according to InterLink (www.interlink-ntx.org) Convergence Technology specialists have knowledge and practical experience in voice, video, data, image, etc. in an integrated network to apply in solving real work problems.
Home Technology Integrators handle multiple technologies needed in a home or small office environment.
Convergence Technicians work within a variety of departments for large businesses. They can be found in: Technical Services, Technical Support, Production Engineering and Account Delivery, Information Services, Network Services, Field Services, Help Desk, Sales Engineering, Virtual Enterprise Laboratory, Data Centers, Engineering and Customer Support, to name a few.
Convergence Technology specialists also have opportunities to work in retail and service settings such as Comp USA and Geek Squad.
Convergence Technology Consultants work with a variety of customers both in the home/small business arena and in the corporate environment.
Internships
As part of a retention strategy to help students complete their convergence education and establish some experience to help them enter the workforce, the CTC supports an internship/Co-Op program for students who are already enrolled in convergence classes at any of the three colleges.
Internship/co-op options include a 3-credit hour class covering 320 hours of work conducted during 16 weeks or a 2-credit hour class covering 224 work hours over the 16 week period. Businesses who have convergence interns have the option of choosing whether or not to pay these students for their hours worked.
The student intern would spend an hour a week with their faculty supervisor and 16 classroom hours over the course of the internship experience. This time could be split between working with faculty and/or workshops they attend at the employer site. The classroom hours are dedicated to developing interpersonal and professional skills, including goal setting. There are different co-op criteria at each college. At Collin, for example, in order to qualify to participate, a student has to have taken a semester of classes or 9 hours in his major with at least a 2.5 GPA.
This program is being offered in conjunction with co-op and career services organizations or within each division so that organizational support services are not duplicated.
*For more information on this program please contact the following at your college of choice:
- Wayne Jones, Director and Faculty, Engineering and Emerging Technologies, Collin County Community College District
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Dr. Bette Plog, Director, Information Technology Institute, Information Technology Programs and System Support, El Centro College, Dallas County Community College District
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Christine Schubert, Faculty, Computer Science and Information Technology, Northeast Campus, Tarrant County College District
2007 CT Job Forecast Survey