Most rising high school seniors are busy considering college options, preparing for standardized tests and planning graduation parties.
Richard Hewitt wanted an internship, leading him to approach schools in the Lancaster area about jobs in their administration.
Related:How could Texas’ new workforce training laws impact students, companies?
Working with school administrators would give the 17-year-old an opportunity to develop his professional skills, Hewitt said. The aspiring agricultural consultant didn’t get an internship, but he said it gave him an opportunity to put his face in front of a potential employer.
The Education Lab
“They don’t open applications until the semester starts, so I gotta wait,” Hewitt said. “But this helps.”
Hewitt’s initiative mirrored other students’ enthusiasm at the Dallas College Cedar Valley campus on Thursday, where he and over 100 students and company representatives attended a conference to network and explore career opportunities on National Intern Day.
Dallas College Brookhaven student Emmanuella Iwuji practices interviewing with Ebenezer Allen, with Westlink Academy, during an internship conference at Dallas College’s Cedar Valley campus on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Lancaster.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Texas is investing heavily in workforce development efforts to build upon its standing as the world’s eighth-largest economy. While about 47% of Texas jobs require postsecondary skills training, only 32% of Texas workers possess those qualifications, according to a report from the Texas Workforce Commission’s Labor Market Information Department.
By 2031, 63% of Texas jobs will require education beyond high school, according to a report by Georgetown University. That’s due in part to population growth, especially in North Texas, which is expected to grow from over 7.9 million residents to more than 9.1 million by 2035, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
In an effort to address this gap, the workforce commission co-hosted the conference with Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas and Dallas College.
The event also featured the Texas Economic Development Corporation and the Texas Intern Network, along with TXWORKS — a collaborative between the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the workforce commission that reimburses eligible companies for a portion of wages paid to interns.
The students took career headshots, held mock interviews with employers, learned tie-tying techniques and interacted with employers at several company exhibition tables. The conference series will continue with events throughout the state to encourage more connections between interns and employers.
Texas Workforce Commissioner Joe Esparza speaks to vendors during an internship conference at Dallas College’s Cedar Valley campus on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Lancaster.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Describing it as a “reverse job fair” for students to interview employers, Joe Esparza, the commissioner representing employers for the workforce commission, said the event helps employers identify potential candidates with diverse perspectives from underutilized talent pipelines.
“With the increasing population in the state of Texas, we’re pulling businesses,” Esparza said. He pointed out how Dallas-Fort Worth alone has 21 of the state’s Fortune 500 companies.
“That means education and training that was needed 10, 15 years ago is more advanced,” he said, “so we’re trying to funnel more of the workforce into capturing resources that give them better training that move them into more technical structure.”
Students also obtained career-building advice from Micah Autry, an entrepreneur who owns Aume Media, Autry & Stanley Real Estate Investments and the Secrets of Silent Success podcast.
Autry urged students to develop discipline in college, to educate themselves in skills such as financial literacy and to practice delayed gratification.
“If you want ‘Dr.’ in front of your name one day, if you want an MBA at the end of your name one day, that’s going to take some sacrifices of some of those instant gratifications,” Autry said.
Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas hosts an internship conference for high school and college students at Dallas College’s Cedar Valley campus on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Lancaster.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Joseph Seabrooks, president of Dallas College’s Cedar Valley campus, said he wants to do “everything short of breaking the law” to provide his students annual networking events at his campus. Doing so gives students opportunities to find the industry they want to work in, he said.
“The best social service program that’s ever been created in history was a high-paying job,” Seabrooks said.
The International Rescue Committee joined the conference to find interns to support its decadeslong refugee resettlement work in North Texas. Employment specialist Adriana Martinez, who graduated a year ago, said she wished she had access to similar networking events during her student years.
Zahid Kabir, a refugee cash assistance specialist at the International Rescue Committee, advised students to visit online platforms to find employment opportunities as well.
“This is good for students to get their opportunity for an internship… and also good for us, so we can find a lot of students at one time,” Kabir said.
Rhodes College sophomore Charity Berhe, center, goes on a virtual reality roller coaster ride during an internship conference at Dallas College’s Cedar Valley campus on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Lancaster.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Walid Yusuf and Meron Weldselase, two graduates of Dallas College with associate’s degrees in computer science, also attended the conference for work opportunities.
Weldselase, who is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in computer science at The University of Texas at Dallas, urged aspiring computer science students and information technology professionals to obtain internships as soon as possible amid their studies.
Yusuf echoed her remarks.
“The job market is getting a little bit crazy,” Yusuf said, “so they gotta push themselves and apply for internships until they get their job.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.