Having the inside track on a job in agriculture is no easy feat, but more than 60 college students majoring in agriculture are now one step closer, thanks to a career fair held during the Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic. This event featured more than 40 agriculture-based companies that were visited by students from the University of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and Southeastern Community College. "Many of the students that were here are attending a two-year college," says Railen Ripp, who helped organize the event. "The career fair gave them the opportunity to see what type of jobs they could get with a two-year degree, versus what they could get with a four-year degree or even higher education."

Logan Kizer, who attends the University of Nebraska at Kearney, is interested in a career in agriculture, and says the career fair provided him with some new possibilities. "I was able to visit with some businesses that I may be interested in working for," he explains. "My degree will be in industrial distribution, but I am interested in maybe something more along the line of ag equipment sales or beef semen sales. I was able to visit people with companies in both of those areas," he says.

Willow Wieskamp, who is a second-year student at Southeastern Community College, attended the career fair hoping to find an internship. "I was really looking for an internship out-of-state, but I found some good possibilities here, as well," she says. "The career fair was a good chance for me to talk with people and ask questions. I think I made some good, positive contacts.”

Companies participating in the career fair also found it to be a positive experience. Ryan Kirchoff with Farm Credit Services says they are always recruiting employees to join their team, and found the career fair to be a great opportunity for them since it is 100% ag-focused.

Lacey Hall, who is also with FCS, says it also gave her and Kirchoff the opportunity to share scholarship and internship information with students who may be interested in eventually working there. "The internships we offer are very hands-on," she says. "The sky is the limit. There is a whole range of possibilities for these interns. They work right alongside our loan officers and learn the business from the bottom up," Hall says.

Elizabeth Haarberg with Masterhead Milling says the career fair also helps them see new opportunities for their company. "We met a lot of people interested in feed and nutrition, but we don't offer summer internships because it is such a slow time in the feed industry," she explains. "What I did come up with, after talking to some of these students, was possibly partnering with some of the colleges and students and allowing them to develop a feeding program, and taking a look at it," she explains.

"It would be a win-win situation for all of us," she continues. "We are always looking for the right employees for our company. When you find the right person, you find a place to put them. There are a lot of kids interested in livestock production, but it is good to expose them to other sectors of the agriculture industry, too. Sometimes, there are opportunities they didn't even know about," Haarberg says.

Kristian Rennert with Alliance Liquid Feeds agrees. "I reach out to college kids and people looking for opportunities as feed dealers," he says. "It is especially good for a young person going back to the farm that wants to earn some additional income. They can use our feed, as well as sell it to other producers for extra income," he explains.

Clark writes from Potter.