Kaylen Betzig
President, Waukesha County Technical College
800 Main St., Pewaukee
Industry: Education
Employees: 1,500
www.wctc.edu
Kaylen Betzig is the president of Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee. Human resources departments can increase their candidate pool simply by being open to conversations about position requirements, she says.
“Tens of thousands of college students across the state have recently graduated, including nearly 1,800 from Waukesha County Technical College.
“As the economy improves, local employers are increasingly looking for highly-skilled workers who can hit the ground running on day one. Yet when I meet with employers, they maintain their difficulty filling positions in high-demand fields like information technology, health care and engineering. My first question to them is always, ‘Does your application require a four-year degree for this position?’ If the answer is yes, my follow-up is, ‘Why?’ More often than not, it’s a combination of ‘That’s really up to our human resources department’ and simply ‘Because it’s required.’ Week after week, I continue to have this same conversation with employers who haven’t yet discovered one of the best-kept secrets in the state: the power and value of Wisconsin Technical College graduates.
“Our students are highly-skilled, engaged in our communities and loyal to our state—in fact, 98 percent of WCTC graduates stay in Wisconsin and 88 percent are employed in the Milwaukee-Waukesha metro area. Our curriculum is driven by employers through their service on our advisory committees, so you can be sure our graduates have the hands-on skills you need.
“If you do require a four-year degree, know that WCTC graduates can transfer to several Milwaukee-area universities, like Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Cardinal Stritch University and several others. We encourage lifelong learning for our students—and you should, too, as their success translates to yours.
“The secret’s out. This summer, hire a technical college graduate.”
