Startup Recruitment: The Best Austin Universities to Hire From

August 6, 2014

Where should startups look to hire interns and entry-level talent in the hottest growing tech hub in the country? Here is a list of universities that serve as prime recruitment targets in the city.

 
Editor’s Note: This post is part of a series focusing in on one of the fastest growing tech hubs in the country: Austin. Over the coming weeks we’ll be exploring this thriving startup scene in depth, and sharing stories from the entrepreneurs who make it tick. 
I’ve written many times about the value of interns and recent grads can have on an organization (especially a startup or expansion-stage company). If you hire the right ones, they are sponges, eager to learn and to impress. The question is — how do you find them?
While every student is different and you can never generalize solely based on university, the fact is, determining which schools to target first is key. Here are some of the best schools in the Austin area to recruit from for intern and entry-level hires.
Austin Startup Recruitment: Top Universities

Business Functions (Sales, Marketing, Finance)

University of Texas – Austin

university-of-texas
One of the largest schools in the nation is in your backyard. With a student population of almost 40,000 across 7 colleges (Business, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Work), it is certainly a great place to find qualified students. Additionally, UT Austin has a corporate connection program for fellowships and internships.
 

Concordia University

concordia
A much smaller school, with only 1500 students, 39% of Concordia’s graduates are from the business program. They provide credit for students participating in internships and provide various resources and events for employers looking to recruit their students.
 

St. Edward’s University

campus_aerial_wide_02
Ranking #15 on US News’ List of Regional West Universities, St. Edward’s has a over 4,000 students right in the city of Austin. 9% of their graduates are in Business (the majority being psychology) and 80% of their students participate in fellowships or internships. 

Engineer Functions (Development, Product Management, QA)

University of Texas – Austin

Huston–Tillotson_University
It should come as no surprise that such a large university has a computer science program. In fact, 12% of their degrees are awarded in engineering (the same percentage as business, communication, and social sciences!).
Lastly, in addition to both Concordia and St. Edward’s also offering computer science program. Huston-Tillotson University is another school in Austin with a computer science program. They provide recruiting resources for employers and job search resources for students to bridge the gap . While these three schools awarded 14 Computer Science degrees combined in 2010, the field is growing and the programs will grow with it.
This list is specific to Austin but don’t count out nearby schools like Texas A&M, Texas Tech University, and University of Houston. Austin is a hot city in Texas and students from all over will be interested in working there!
Photo by: Michael

Senior Talent Manager, Engineering

<strong>Meghan Maher</strong> is Senior Talent Manager, Engineering, actively recruiting top talent for OpenView and its Portfolio Companies. Her tech background has helped OpenView hire for nearly 20 IT and engineering positions. Meghan began her career at AVID Technical Resources, where she was a Technical Recruiter for two years.