[March 25, 2015]

OpenSpan Taps into Local Universities to Recruit Top Technology Talent

OpenSpan (News - Alert) Inc., an industry pioneer in desktop automation technologies that support transformation initiatives focused on driving revenue growth, customer lifetime value and operational efficiency has taken a creative approach to attracting top talent from Atlanta's rich landscape of educational institutions to scale to meet its current and future growth.

Five years ago, OpenSpan launched an intern and co-op program targeting Atlanta-based universities, including Georgia Institute of Technology (News - Alert), University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University. Since the start of the program, more than half of all participants have transitioned to full time employment at OpenSpan.

OpenSpan's Intern and Co-op program allows participants to build a powerful resume, develop a network of professional contacts, and gain a comprehensive education. The co-op program involves multiple work terms alternating with the student's undergraduate studies, typically one semester at a time. The internship involves only a one-term commitment on the part of the student and employer. OpenSpan offers co-op and internship opportunities in the areas of Development, Technical Support Engineering, Development & Consultant Integration, and Application Development.

Based on the student's skill set and education, students are assigned to specific teams across the OpenSpan organization. Many of the students are appointed to the OpenSpan customer support team where they are able to shadow the tenured OpenSpan support professionals who are the frontline to the more than 200 enterprise customers across the globe. As students lear about the OpenSpan Automation and Intelligence technologies, they are able to work with these customers, giving them real-world experience interacting with some of the leading FORTUNE 500 companies. For developers and programmers, these students are immersed into development teams where they gain experience in working on agile development projects. Within all departments at OpenSpan, students have an opportunity to work on projects that can have a significant impact on the business. If there are specific areas of expertise they want to pursue, team managers see that they get the experience and "hands-on" training.

"As a company that is focused on the customer experience, OpenSpan is acutely aware of the importance of hiring the right people and empowering them to provide world-class customer service," said Eric Musser, chief executive officer for OpenSpan. "Through our innovative internship and co-op program, we are able to recruit top students, help them gain valuable real-world experience and teach them the 'OpenSpan Way' - our company values that celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship. These students give our teams an energy and drive that is tough to find in the work marketplace."

"OpenSpan gave me a wonderful opportunity to apply my education, and obtain the real-world experience that you can't get in school. The OpenSpan Co-op Program puts you on the front lines where you are allowed to interact with customers and make a difference," said Luis Lopez, OpenSpan software engineer and co-op program graduate . "Also, as a software developer, it's exciting to be part of a rapidly growing software company with cool technology that's being used by the top companies in the world."

The OpenSpan Internship and Co-op program currently has 11 participants with an average tenure of over one year. The company plans to add an additional 10 to 15 students to the program over the next six to nine months, and is considering expanding the program to include Finance, Accounting and Marketing students.

About OpenSpan

OpenSpan (www.openspan.com) is an industry pioneer in desktop automation technologies that support transformation initiatives focused on driving revenue growth, customer lifetime value and operational efficiency. The company's solutions are optimizing billions of transactions within contact center, back office and critical process business units in organizations throughout the world. OpenSpan technology enables companies to leverage an iterative approach to improving processes, automating work and creating efficiencies that minimize costs and boost profits. For more information, visit www.openspan.com.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]