BASTROP, Texas — With big companies like Tesla coming to Central Texas, students have more options for what they can do after graduation.
Bastrop ISD held an event Thursday for graduating seniors to interview with Tesla recruiters. School leaders helped prepare the students for their interviews by making resumes, helping them with the application and doing practice interviews.
Students say this is an opportunity that would mean a lot to them, as they graduate later this month.
"I actually don’t really have any plans after high school," said Lilia Lopez, a senior at Cedar Creek High School. "I would just work and save up money for a car. But if I get accepted, it’s going to change things."
Lopez and her friends attended the event, hoping to be one of the about 20 of 40 seniors in attendance who will get accepted into the Tesla Manufacturing Development Program.
"They told me that you would be able to build things," said Lopez. "Since my mom is a single mother, we have always helped her with the furniture and everything, and it’s something I always have been semi-interested in, but I have never had the opportunity to pursue it."
Hired seniors will get to attend Austin Community College for seven weeks of training, while getting paid by Tesla. Then they will get hired on full-time at Giga Texas, where they will start making $18.50 an hour.
"So we're getting paid while doing the classes, so it’s a great opportunity," said Michelle Rodriguez, another senior at Cedar Creek High School.
Bastrop ISD leaders said events like this one are an important way they can help seniors secure their next step after graduation.
If the students get hired, they will start the program in June.
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