Reflecting on the Career Fair 2016

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They say that there is a first time for everything, and for me the career fair on October 6, 2016, was a first. I was nervous, overwhelmed, and anxious about meeting potential employers at the career fair. While driving to the career fair I just kept thinking, “What do I say to these people,” but asking myself this question was not helping my nerves. I was already feeling uncomfortable in my pants suit, which I had just bought a few days prior, but I buttoned my jacket, took my portfolio and headed to the Alumni Center.

However, right when I walked in the Alumni Center I began feeling better about the situation because it was not as overwhelming as I thought. Right when I walked in the door, Mrs. Ross greeted me and told me where to place my nametag. From the sign in booth I entered the room where I could potentially meet my future employer; scary.

The first booth I stopped at was Tyson Foods where I spoke with a human resources employee named Betsy. Betsy explained to me that Tyson did offer a summer internship that focused on the production side of the poultry industry. She asked me what would be my ideal career and I told her that my dream job would be a job where I could communicate with people and use my knowledge of poultry science to educate people on what the industry really does. Betsy told me that if I did not find an internship by late spring that she would be happy to help me find an internship within Tyson and I left her my resume.

Next I spoke with Melissa from Wayne Farms who had actually just spoken to the Poultry Science Club the week before. Once I recognized her from the meeting, it made it easy to strike up a conversation. She told me about their summer internships and I left her with one of my resumes.

After speaking with Melissa, I stopped at a booth, Neil Pope’s Farm, which had no people around it. At this booth I spoke with a marketing and sales representative named, Lilly. Lilly informed me that they were looking for a marketing and sales intern that could intern during the spring semester. I was super interested in this considering I love talking to people and would love the marketing experience, but I was afraid that I was not qualified. Lilly informed me that she herself actually had an exercise science degree and that she thought I would do excellent. Lilly later followed up with me by setting up a phone interview regarding the spring internship.

Lastly, I stopped at the Aviagen booth and spoke with Jeremy. He told me that Aviagen offers five internships during the summer and that he would love for me to stop by and talk to him at IPPE about interviewing for an internship.

Throughout the career fair process I learned to just relax. I really wanted to answer people’s questions honestly and be myself so they could truly gauge if I would be a good fit for their company or internship. I have not had much experience interviewing so this was a learning process for me. I am thankful for the opportunity to meet with these prospective employers through the College of Agriculture career fair because it opened my eyes to companies where I could one-day work.