KNOXVILLE—The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Career Services office has created the Greater Knoxville Area Consortium of Employers (GKACE) for area employers interested in recruiting UT Knoxville graduates.
GKACE provides affordable and easy-to-use recruitment tools for area employers who might not have the resources, time, or technical expertise needed to use national recruiting systems, like Hire a Vol.
“This is for local employers only. They can’t join GKACE if they are going to ask graduates to move out of the local area,” said Russ Coughenour, director of UT Career Services. “We’ve always wanted a solution to work more effectively with the local employer population and GKACE provides the answer.”
About a dozen area businesses already have signed up for GKACE and information sessions, and Career Services hopes to have twenty-five by the end of the year. Career Services holds information sessions for employers interested in learning about GKACE every other Friday. The next session will be held July 29.
GKACE members already include the News Sentinel, 21st Mortgage Corp., Clayton Homes, First Tennessee Bank, Mahle Group, Pugh and Co., BWXT-Y12, Denso Corp., Jewelry TV, Northwestern Mutual, Aerotek and Wyndham Resorts of Gatlinburg.
Area employers can join GKACE for $299. A percentage of that fee will go to a scholarship fund for UT students from the Knoxville area. For their fee, GKACE members get:
A booth at a “Greater Knoxville Showcase of Employers” that will be held on campus each fall as a way to promote the Knoxville area as a great place to begin a career. Part job fair, part trade show, this year’s showcase will be held November 2 at the University Center.
Electronic access to résumés from students who have indicated the desire to stay in Knoxville after graduation. This electronic portal for GKACE members will streamline the résumé search process and prevent them from sorting through résumés of students not interested working in the Knoxville area. GKACE members unable to do their own searches can have a custom-made, searchable résumé e-book sent to them.
Access to a dashboard-type website with RSS feeds, reminders about upcoming events, and a live chat feature.
The GKACE database will be constructed from the Hire a Vol system, which allows student to upload and display their résumés and other career search information to recruiters to see. Students logging onto Hire a Vol now will be asked to indicate if they must stay in the Greater Knoxville area, if they will consider employment in the Greater Knoxville area, or if they don’t want to be considered for employment in the Greater Knoxville area.
“The GKACE data will pull in all of the students who answer ‘yes’ to the first or second part of the question,” Coughenour said.
Employer information, including logos, information pages, and links to their websites, also will be added to the database.
“When a student comes in to the office and says they want to stay in the area, we want to be able to point them to the GKACE logo. When they click there, Knoxville area employers will be featured in a way that promotes the variety and diversity of our excellent regional employment options,” Coughenour said.
To learn more about GKACE or to sign up to attend a GKACE presentation, contact Coughenour at 865-974-6987. For more information about UT Career Services, see http://career.utk.edu/.
C O N T A C T :
Russ Coughenour, (865-974-5435, rcoughen@utk.edu)