Join the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Oct. 10 for their career day. The CALS will host this in-person event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Lied Recreation Athletic Center.
“At the career fair, [students] will see literally hundreds of job options presented from hundreds of hiring organizations, and they will see their fellow classmates exploring too,” said Daniel Robison, the dean of agriculture and life science students. “This empowers students to want to know more, to talk to their peers about career options as well, and powers them with questions for their advisors, professors, family and friends too. It’s a full-circle event with lots of winning dimensions, including job opportunities.”
Categories of companies attending include:
- agronomic services
- animal health
- commodity merchandising
- communications and education
- cooperatives
- dairy
- environmental
- equipment and technology
- feed and nutrition
- food
- general agribusiness
- government and non-profit
- horticulture and forestry
- land appraisal/farm management
- lending and finance
- livestock production
- natural resources and zoo
- research
- seed and chemical
According to Mike Gaul, the CALS career services director, in 2022, the CALS career fair had the biggest turnout of employers in all of the country, with 289 companies. This year, 287 companies and organizations will be attending.
“With a press release just going out, I am optimistic that we can get to 290 employers this year,” Gaul said. “This could be our largest ever.”
Gaul also added that the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has the country’s largest turnout of CALS career fairs, with students from 15 other schools attending Iowa State’s CALS career fair.
“You can’t beat the number of opportunities that this career fair brings, regardless of a student’s grade or experience level,” said Kaci Conetzkey, CALS student services specialist. “We have employers looking for internships of all levels as well as part-time and full-time employment while in school and out of school. Students also gain amazing experience with interviewing and just basic networking skills with employers and companies.”
Approximately 1,600 students attended last year’s CALS career fair. Gaul said that consistent feedback from previous employers who attended is that Iowa State students are well prepared with resumes, dressed professionally in business casual or even full business attire and perfectly executed elevator pitches.
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences highly recommends that CALS majors attend, as there will not be a CALS career fair in the spring as the number of attendees, students and employers do not come close to the fall attendance statistics.
“The demand for talent is high in the fall, and everyone is looking to hire people,” Gaul said. “The last two years have been the most aggressive for recruitment season, especially for summer internships.”
The CALS Career Services Department offers abundant resources for a successful career day, including resume tips, interview tips and more.
“Students should attend the CALS Career Fair, and in fact, several classes promote it, especially as a learning exercise, as well as one where jobs and careers can be fostered, focused and secured,” Robison said. “A student attending and walking and talking their way through the career fair will learn so much about the breadth of career options and kinds of organizations to think about and pursue, either for temporary work while a student, such as internships, or more focused on a career path for post-graduation.”
