“We’ve had an internship program for five years,” said Alameda County Chief Information Officer Tim Dupuis, who said the program “brings a lot of energy and new ideas.”
County CIOs and IT directors gathered this week in Monterey for the semi-annual conference of the California County Information Services Directors Association (CCISDA), a forum where they share ideas, challenges and solutions.
One of those challenges for counties is the ever-growing need for nimble technologists, including Web developers, help desk staff and programmers. The topic of internships came up during a breakout session focused on issues shared by rural and urban county IT departments across the state.
Dupuis, who’s the president of the association, noted that his county, which is a large, urban county, has made several successful full-time hires through the internship program.
Interns, he said, “are coming in and doing real work,” not just tackling busywork or non-essential assignments. He said interns generally bring a fresh outlook and cutting-edge skills to the table.
Representatives of a couple of counties said their biggest challenge is hiring top-level staff, because the large salaries those positions can command pose a challenge to governments that may not be able to keep pace.
Santa Clara County, for instance, is recruiting developers and other highly sought specialists, and has revamped its job classifications to reflect those needs.
“We’re going to see a massive change in recruitment” resulting from the reclassifications, said Dan Baldree, Santa Clara County’s IT director. He drew gasps from the room when he mentioned that a Web developer’s salary in his county might approach $160,000 a year. The county has to compete with the big-spending giants in Silicon Valley for talent.
As a result, nearby counties that are competing for new talent in the same market — Napa County, for example face strong pressure to pay more.
Some county representatives offered cautions and advice to their peers. The takeaways:
- Government agencies may not be able to offer fat six-figure salaries, but they can woo millennials by sweetening the work-life balance.
- Make use of community colleges, universities and trade schools when recruiting. Dupuis noted that Alameda County has had success with graduates of Unitek College, which offers IT certifications and degrees.
- Training and cross-training young IT specialists is an important way to keep them engaged.
