Many employers are using internships, boot camps and other after-school programs to net promising candidates before they earn their degrees, chief information officers say. "We regularly engage with students to help build brand awareness and candidate pipelines," said Ashley Pettit, CIO at State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. The Bloomington, Ill., insurer has about 6,000 technology workers, she said, and a recent online career fair it organized attracted more than 3,000 job seekers. Ms. Pettit was one of 30 information-technology executives who responded via email to CIO Journal's annual end-of-year questionnaire about hiring and other issues. CompTIA, an IT trade group, estimates that--despite ebbs and flows in the job market--the number of U.S. tech jobs is expected to grow 13.1% by 2026 from 2016, compared with 10.7% for all occupations.