Texas employers share what helps students succeed as Benjimon Kelly visits the Texas State Technical College job fair.
Benjimon Kelly, second from left, a 19-year-old industrial maintenance student at Texas State Technical College, reacts to a joke made by a recruiter for a submarine manufacturer during a spring job fair at the campus in Red Oak on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
Classmates Bennett Harrison, left, and Cole Street, center, visited the booth with him.The way 19-year-old Benjimon Kelly described the Texas State Technical College job fair before it happened made it sound less like a checklist item and more like an opportunity to choose his future. One word came to mind as he imagined entering the Red Oak campus on March 24, where rows of booths from 50 companies awaited his arrival.Kelly studies industrial maintenance at TSTC’s North Texas campus. The self-described “hands-on person” says “TSTC is really all about hands-on” education. He wants to land a job to eventually help his mother retire.Although Texas’ high school graduation rate surpasses the national average, the state trails in the share of young adults withprojected to move to North Texas by 2050, educators and public officials are working with businesses and nonprofits to bolster skills among residents and address persistentBenjimon Kelly, center, a 19-year-old industrial maintenance student at Texas State Technical College, speaks with WSP recruiters Jeff Caraway, left, senior VP project management, and Charles Schoubroek, department manager Texas region, during a spring job fair at the campus in Red Oak on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.Kelly hoped to turn his job fair conversations into a foothold in the industry. He wants to find a company aligning with his interests, where he can eventually get an internship and a job and grow with the company. He updated his resume and practiced answers to questions while working a federal work study job at TSTC.“It is a little nerve-wracking,” he said. “But it is what it is. You got to get put on the spot sometimes. You can’t always be prepared… but I can handle it.”Kelly’s worries met reality on the morning of the fair. He said he was initially overwhelmed with all the options after visiting several booths. But as he walked around to speak with recruiters, he said he enjoyed getting to know more about their companies., Texas’ largest power utility company based in Dallas; the WSP engineering and design firm; and the Garland-based MAPEI manufacturing company. They were approachable and transparent about work-life balance at their companies, he said. Cody Favors, an Oncor maintenance and construction supervisor, said recruiters want candidates with questions about the company or industry. Having “some type of knowledge goes a long way,” and candidates should have “the drive and the want to be informed.” Nearby, Charles Schoubroek – the Texas region department manager for POWER Testing and Energization, a WSP member company – said he was not hiring with a narrow mold in mind.“We always say we’re just kind of a mixed bag of nuts,” he said of the candidates they hire. “You have cowboys to computer guys.” POWER consults for utilities across the country on substations, power plants and data centers. The work is travel heavy and varied, so technical skills matter, but so does showing up like a professional, Schoubroek said. Benjimon Kelly, center, a 19-year-old industrial maintenance student at Texas State Technical College, speaks with WSP recruiters Jeff Caraway, right, senior VP project management, and Charles Schoubroek, left, department manager Texas region, during a spring job fair at the campus in Red Oak on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.That means they don’t want to hire people who attend fairs in pajamas, he said. Job seekers should dress well, be “self-starters” and know how to communicate.For Trisha Carney, a MAPEI staffing specialist, the question of how students should dress was more practical than strict. Standing at a table for a chemical manufacturing company that makes mortars, grouts, adhesives and concrete admixtures, she said she keeps the nature of the work in mind. “I understand these are college students, but it’s also a generation thing,” she said. “I know what I want to see, but this is manufacturing, so I don’t expect anyone to show up in a three-piece suit.” Students should “dress the part” for the kind of work they are seeking, and what really catches a recruiter’s attention is “the positive energy” of candidates, she said.Katie Coolidge, talent acquisition specialist for Bell Helicopters, tells Benjimon Kelly, 19, an industrial maintenance student at Texas State Technical College, about their different products during a spring job fair at the campus in Red Oak on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.Kelly tried to remember to ask questions as he visited booths. In hindsight, he said he wished he had prepared even more. He also ran into a limit every job seeker knows well. “I wish I had more resumes to give out,” he said after running through six copies as he talked to employers. He hopes those conversations landed well.“You could be thinking you’re making a good impression,” he said. “They might notice every little thing you’re doing wrong.” From his vantage point, TSTC chancellor and CEO Mike Reeser said students gain an edge when they briefly set aside their own wish list and think about an employer’s needs. Candidates too often focus on what they want and risk becoming insensitive to the needs and perspective of the employer, Reeser said. That’s why candidates should start interactions by asking recruiters questions about what the company wants. Job seekers should determine if their own goals overlap with a company’s mission, but when candidates start with “what I want out of a job,” companies worry about “dealing with a prospective employee who is first selfish or self concerned and less interested in fitting into a team,” Reeser said.“Selfishness is what stands in between a candidate and constructive teamwork,” he added. “It begins with a selfless attitude.” By the end of the fair, Kelly was already thinking about the next one. He wants to be more polished by next semester, especially if the same recruiters attend. For students coming up behind him, his advice was simple. “Just go for it,” he said. “You can’t get anywhere if you don’t even try. You’d rather do it scared than never do it.” This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.Wilborn P. Nobles III is the workforce readiness and economic mobility reporter for The Dallas Morning News. He previously covered Atlanta City Hall for Axios and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also worked for The Baltimore Sun and The Times-Picayune. The New Orleans native is a graduate of Louisiana State University.
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