I attended the College of Agriculture Annual Career Fair last Thursday. I arrived at four thirty and talked to many representatives from different agricultural companies. The first thing I thought when I showed up to the alumni center is how crowded it was. I felt a little uncomfortable. The first booth I visited was the JBS/Pilgrims booth. Russell Durrance graduated last year and is currently working at Pilgrims. He took my resume, and I signed up online for the opportunity for an internship this summer. Their poultry operations are farm to fork. One in every five chickens are from Pilgrims farms. JBS internship is June through August and allows hands on experience. It is a paid ten week internship, and they will also do a housing allowance depending on where you live. JBS also has an eighteen month trainee program recent graduate students can participate in if they decide they want to grow their experiences and have a career with JBS. I liked talking to this booth because everyone was a recent graduate and very friendly.
Another booth I visited was the Aviagen booth. I spoke to both Kasey and Kalyen. Both girls did not seem to be as eager to talk to us as than the JBS booth. Aviagen hires or picks students for summer internships only at IPPE. They are a very limited amount of spots. Kasey recently graduated from Auburn and she works at their Research Development Facility. Aviagen is headquartered in Huntsville, AL, but they have facilities all over the world.
The booth I visited next was Tyson Foods, Inc. I spoke to David Pruett, the breeder/hatchery manager and Seth. Tyson had the most representatives for their booth, and I liked how they all wore the same uniform. They hire multiple interns for each live and processing plant that is located in northeast Alabama. It is a paid internship and they will also pay for housing and a certain about of mileage depending on how far away you travel to the plant. It is also an online application like JBS. I enjoyed talking to the guys at the Tyson booth the best. They were all super eager to say hi and talk to us. They also had a lot of free gifts and information/pamphlets about Tyson and their internship options.
The last booth I visited was Keystone Foods. Megan Cameron told us about the company and their internships. The internship is ten to twelve weeks long. It is paid and they also do a housing allowance depending on how far away you live. The do it similar to JBS in that they offer management trainee after the internship if you want to pursue your career with them. They have facilities in Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina, and Georgia. The Eufaula, Camilla poultry facility is fully integrated and during the internship you would rotate between the hatchery, processing and feed mill. Their global headquarters is in West Chester, PA. Keystone Foods US headquarters is in Huntsville, AL same as Aviagen. Keystone foods are known for making consumers favorite fast food including poultry, beef, fish and pork.
I learned a great deal of information at the career fair. At first I was uncomfortable, but I stepped outside of my comfort zone and ended up having some fun. Overall, I enjoyed talking to the JBS/Pilgrims and Tyson booth the most. Also, I learned more at these booths because the representatives were friendly and easy to talk to. The only thing I would do different is ask Aviagen more questions about their internships. Their representatives seemed like they did not want to be there, so I was hesitant to talk to them for a while. I plan on applying to each internship, so I can have some options. I am glad that the College of Agriculture hosts this event because I learned a lot about multiple companies in a short amount of time. I have more information on each company and a better idea to where I want to do my internship this summer.
