Career Fair Reflection

Going to a career fair in college doesn’t really sound like an afternoon of fun to most people. Career fairs in college are actually much more important than the ones you were forced to go to in high school. In high school career fairs were never a fun experience which makes us think the ones in college will be the same, but they aren’t. College career fairs are about making connections with companies, finding job openings for juniors and seniors, and internships for underclassmen. Walking into a career fair you should keep in mind that these are the people you will be working with and working for so you should set a good example for yourself. Come prepared with questions and resumes. A few questions that I came prepared with were; What do you love most about your job? What does the company do that makes you want to work for them? What will I be doing if I accept your offer?

At the career fair I talked to seven companies total, but three of them stuck out the most to me; Aviagen, Keystone Foods, and First South Farm Credit.

Aviagen was the first booth I spoke to. They don’t accept interns unless they are junior or senior level of education so there wasn’t much I could do on that front, but I still handed them a resume and made sure I got my name in the back of their minds for next year when I am a junior. Aviagen is number one in the world in almost any major category in the poultry industry, and they sure act like they know it. Confidence is key to everything they do and I like that about them. They didn’t beat around the bush with anything I asked them, straight forward answers every single time.

Keystone Foods was quite the opposite from Aviagen, Keystone couldn’t answer all of my questions I asked but everything they told me was helpful and in a friendly manner. A few questions had them stumped and they told me to visit their website or email someone else and they could find me an answer from there. They may not have been the most confident but they were the friendliest.

The final booth I stopped at was the First South Farm Credit booth. They aren’t necessarily a poultry company but they do deal with a lot of loans for individuals who want to build contract poultry houses. I had considered during my freshman year of minoring in Agribusiness so stopping by the booth felt like a second opinion on whether I should complete that minor or not. They told me a lot of information about what they can do to help me make my decision on my minor more than anything else. Even though I was hardly considering their company for an internship or job they still wanted to help me get the most out of my education, and I think that speaks volume about the company. Helping their employees and others is a big part of who they are.

Overall I think the career fair went better than I expected. I learned a lot about several companies that I am considering working for in the future and I met a lot of good people in the process