By Tina Thorley
tina@newsroom.byu.edu
In this information age, it can be important for students to learn the necessary software to succeed in the professional world.
Brigham Young University is fulfilling its part in the learning process by providing students the means to gain the knowledge.
Steve Maroney is the manager of the Access Point computer labs on campus. These are the open labs that all BYU students can use.
He said the computers in the open labs offer the entire MicroSoft Office 2000 Suit, word processing from Corel WordPerfect, Netscape, Internet Explore, Acrobat Reader and basic applications such as Note Pad and CD players.
Some departments offer closed computer labs. These labs are only available to students in the major and offer specific programs not found in the open labs.
Adam Palmer, 24, a senior from Laie, Hawaii, majoring in photography, works in the closed computer lab in the Brimhall Building.
'We offer Premier, Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop, Quark and Flash. We also just recently got the MS Office Suit,' Palmer said.
The TA's do not teach classes on how to use the software, but they all know how to use it and can help, he said.
Another closed computer lab on campus is the Education Lab in the McKay Building.
Juliana de Groot, 21, a senior form San Luis Obispo, Calif., majoring in marriage family and human development, is a student supervisor in the education computer lab.
She said they offer editing and imaging software such as Adobe PhotoShop and Premier as well as educational software such as Hyperstudio.
'We have software that education majors can use in teaching and presentations. A lot of it is geared more towards children,' de Groot said.
After graduating from BYU, students begin the sometimes-tedious process of interviewing.
Christal Jackson, 24, a senior from San Diego, Calif., majoring in humanities is a student assistant in the communications internship office.
'The students emphasizing in marketing need more knowledge of design software such as Quark Express or PhotoShop Illustrator. The others need basic word processing skills and some jobs require powerpoint or excel,' Jackson said.
Mark Hancock is a student representative at The Marriott School Career Services.
Hancock, a second year MBA student from Highland, Utah, said to succeed in the business world, at a minimum students must have strong spreadsheet knowledge.
'Most companies don't even ask about word processing anymore because they assume people can use it,' Hancock said.
Additionally, it is beneficial to know database programs such as MS Access, and e-mail software such as MS Outlook, he said.
The majority of companies in the corporate world use MS Office, Hancock said.