And the Job Search Continues

As I am sure everyone knows by now, the CAFNR Career Fair was last Wenesday. Hopefully everyone made it out to take advantage of the many businesses looking to hire CAFNR students for internships and post-graduation employment.

I admit that I have not always been the best about making the most out of the opportunities the career fair offers, but since I graduate in December I decided maybe it was time to get serious about deciding what is next for me.

It was definately different going to a career fair looking for an actual career and not another internship. Don't get me wrong, internships are very important, but this was about finding a company that would fit me long-term, not just for the summer.

With that in mind, I did my homework and decided what companies I would talk to and how I would approach them. As an agricultural journalism student, I am interested in communications companies as well as general agriculture companies. I planned my personal sales pitch according to what company I was talking to and what type of job I may be able to do for them.

I talked with several advertising firms about using my communications background to work with them, and several other companies about using that same background, along with other experiences, to work in sales.

It can be hard for some companies to get past your major. They have an idea of what line of study will make someone work for their company. I have found this to be especially true with my agriculture journalism degree. Some companies think all I can do is write. While this is a definate strength of mine, it is not the only thing I have learned in the past four years.

The best solution I have found is to focus on telling them more about what skills I can bring to their company, and less about what classes I have taken. This can work for getting around steroetypes about any major. After all, I have found that more is learned outside of the classroom in college that insided. (Don't use this as a reason not to go to class, just include other experiences, too!)

With all of this in mind and a few resumes in hand, I was able to walk away from the career fair with several business cards and interveiw opportunities. I look forward to seeing where these connections might lead and will of course keep you up to date in the coming weeks.

I encourage anyone who went to the career fair to keep in mind that their work is not done when they walk out the doors. It has only begun. Follow up with the people you talked to, who knows what opportunities you might find!

-Taryn Dameron
Senior, Agricultural Journalism