For more than two decades, Indiana’s entrepreneurial and tech community has relied on the Orr Fellowship and TechPoint’s Xtern program to find and develop young talent. For the first time, those initiatives will come together Friday, November 18, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium to make it easier for more than 100 Indiana companies to find their newest matches. 

During the first Orr Fellowship-Xtern Finalist Day, participating companies will conduct thousands of interviews with prospective new hires, but just like the old Hoosier Lottery adage, neither Hoosier tech companies nor upcoming young talent can benefit if they don’t participate. 

Program Application Deadlines

  • The deadline for students to apply for the Xtern program is October 10, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Apply using the Xtern application form. 
  • The deadline for employers to take part is October 14. To register, employers will need to fill out the Orr Fellowship form to seek Orr Fellows or the Xtern form to seek Xterns. Employers may seek both Fellows and Xterns. 

Talent programs provide longterm value for employers

These programs, considered Indiana’s premier early career development initiatives, have proven themselves to be one of the best ways for companies to build their own talent pipelines.  

Alumni from the programs can be found in leadership roles in hundreds of Indiana companies, providing a large network for Xterns and Fellows to grow their careers in Indiana. Katie Noble, who is in her second year as an Orr Fellow and works in business development at BlackInk IT, said her company has hired “very talented young professionals from both these programs over the years.” 

Finalist Day is a rite of passage for each of our programs.  

“It’s a tremendous amount of work to match employers to prospective talent and, of course, there is an equal amount of preparation and work for the young people and hiring managers who will participate in these job interviews,” said TechPoint’s Executive Vice President of Talent Dennis Trinkle. “By bringing them together, we’ll increase exposure and opportunity. It’s going to be epic.” 

Orr Fellowship President Steven Emch agreed. 

“We see Finalist Day as an important first step toward our Fellows’ development into community and business leaders, and this year’s combined event brings together the best of both organizations. It’s a terrific collaboration at a time when the business sector needs it most,” he said. 

The Orr Fellowship was created in 2001 to help attract, retain and develop young entrepreneurial talent and has resulted in more than 700 Hoosier-based workers, many in leadership roles across the state. The Xtern program was created in 2014 to attract, retain and develop young talent in tech roles, and has graduated more than 1,300 young leaders, who consistently report they are more likely to remain in Indiana as a result of the program.  

Thousands of students apply for each program annually. Orr Fellowship’s cohorts are graduates who vie for about 100, two-year full-time positions at Indiana companies. Xtern cohorts are comprised of about 200 rising college juniors and seniors who secure 10-week positions over the summer.  

“Each offers a variety of experiences and skillsets for the different needs we have,” she said. “Even Lucas Oil Stadium might not be able to contain the level of talent we expect to see.” 

Trinkle said the collaboration is another example of how state business and community leaders are embracing TechPoint’s Mission41K, a movement designed to address the largest problem tech employers are facing today: finding, hiring and retaining qualified tech talent. Though the organizations are different in form, they are the same in purpose: both aim to attract the next generation of talent to Indiana and keep students in the state. 

“Much of Mission41K is focused on prioritizing skills-based hiring and providing more inclusive pathways into tech roles for significantly more people, but we’re also strengthening traditional pipelines from stellar colleges and universities,” Trinkle said.