And the Job Search Begins

A couple weeks ago, the College of Agricultural Sciences hosted an Ag Career Fair for its students. That morning, I put on my best suit, printed out several copies of my resume, did some background research on the companies I wanted to talk to and had my 30-second elevator speech in mind. I was ready and excited to find a few companies that might have a place for me after my graduation in May.

In fact, the career fair hosted more than 60 different companies, organizations and universities. They were set up on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center from 9:00 a.m – 4 p.m as students from the College of Agricultural Sciences and related fields filtered through to talk to them.

Leaving the career fair that day, though, I was somewhat disheartened. While it was great to talk to employers and make contacts with some of the companies, none of them could promise me that good-paying, great-benefits, high-stress, travel-dependent job I’m searching for. Instead, they took my resume, gave me a business card and asked me to apply online.

But how do I stand out from my peers with only a resume and cover letter, especially when they could have had the same types of experiences I’ve had? I’m starting to understand this whole finding-a-job thing is harder than I thought it would be.

As I start the search for my first “big girl” job, I know I can’t be too picky, but I’ve set the following qualities I’d like to see in my first job:

ü  Agricultural company. I can’t imagine myself working in any other industry but the agricultural industry. Above all else, I could be happy doing just about anything, as long as I was working with agricultural producers.

ü  Communications work. I know I can’t step right into a Director of Communications position, but I want to use and develop my communications skills in any job I take.

ü  Get me out of here! Don’t get me wrong, I love Pennsylvania, but I’m ready for a life-defining step in another part of the country. I’ve realized this may be the only time I can pick up and go anywhere I want to go, so I’m going to grab hold of that opportunity.

ü  Room to grow. I understand I’ll need to start small and work my way up, and I’m ok with that, but I would love to start in a company that I can grow into a higher level position.

So even though I don’t have a detailed job description outlined or a particular company picked out, I think I have enough direction to find a great place to start after my graduation in May.

The Shortest Application with the Greatest Reward

Recently I had the opportunity to attend my fourth College of Agricultural Sciences Scholarship Banquet. Like in the past, this year’s banquet was held at the Penn Stater in a huge banquet hall filled with scholarship donors and recipients.

By my fourth year at the event, I was used to the routine. After a meet-and-greet reception, we sat down at tables with our donors for a delicious meal. I told my donor about my school work, college activities and future plans. My donor usually tells me about his or her family, experiences at Penn State, current career or other hobbies. We sit and listen to each of the deans, a student and a donor. Finally, we part our ways after one more Thank You!

I have always been tremendously grateful for the scholarships I received, but this year it struck me a little harder. Just by chance, I was given a scholarship by the same company I interned with this summer, AgChoice Farm Credit. This company also gave me a scholarship my freshman year. At this year’s scholarship banquet, I sat with my donor, a former-co-worker and friend, and we fell into easy conversation.

One question from that conversation is still stuck in my mind. He asked me, “Sarah, what percentage would you say of your tuition was covered by scholarships?” That night I told him I wasn’t sure, maybe 10 or 15%. But today, I sat down and figured it out.

Over the past four years, scholarships have covered nearly one-third of my tuition costs for my college education! This fact is completely surprised me. These scholarship donors have invested in my education, most of them without knowing anything about me.

In fact, for almost all of the scholarships I received, I didn’t know anything about them either. The College of Agricultural Sciences Scholarship Application is one of the easiest applications I’ve ever filled out. We simply plug in our GPA, major, minor, activities and awards and they match us up to the scholarships we are qualified to receive.

Those scholarships gave me more than tuition help. They gave me a great education, endless opportunities to build leadership skills in clubs and organizations, the possibility to travel abroad, several chances to network with agricultural professionals and a foot in the door in almost any agribusiness.

Now it’s time for me to make sure they spent their money wisely.