Midstate University Business Placement Office

Over a period of years, the Midstate University Business Placement office has developed and refined a computerized bidding system for students wishing to participate in on campus job interviews with prospective employers. This system allows more that 15,000 on campus interviews to be scheduled each year involving more that 1,700 students and more than 500 employers. The key to the successful operation of this system is automation. Several 'choke points' have been eliminated based on the design of the BPO software.

One potential problem is that a particularly attractive employer could become overwhelmed with request for on campus interviews. This problem is addressed in several ways by the software in use. For example, the software knows how many interviews can be scheduled during the time that the company's representatives will be on campus.

Another potential bottleneck involves the times that students are available to interview. Once again, Midstate University uses sophisticalted computer modeling to determine what is the maximum number of students that a given company can see while they are on campus based on their students' availability.

Another issue that has been addressed through the software in use at the Business Placement Office is the possibility that some students would want to interview with as many potential employers as possible -- even employers they had little or no interest in working for. To address this problem, students are required to spe

ic major, GPA, salary expectations, willingness to relocate, ranking of employers by students in terms of interest level, and time slots open for on campus interviews requires a relatively sophisticated software program that is able to extract data from more than one database in order to develop an optimized interview schedule for students and employers. To the extent that a disruption or failure in any database or in any of the connections could create chaos in the on campus process, it seems that Midstate needs to consider the following options. First, 'harden' the data being accessed against accidental or deliberate security breaches or data manipulation. Second, create back up systems in case a key server or other hardware fails. In other words, create a more robust I.S. environment by acquiring backup software and hardware. Create a hardened environment in which security breaches are deemed highly improbable. For example, Midwest University could contract with an outside company or conduct their own analysis to examine the BPO system for vulnerabilities such as an error in or a weakness in the design, implementation or operation of a system that could make it possible for hackers to disrupt the on campus interview pro

Category: Science - M