Wilmington College hosted the Night for Young Professionals on Oct. 4 at which 70 students from the Agriculture Dept. participated in an evening of networking designed to help transform them from “Green to Great.”
Event sponsors were the Ohio Soybean Council and Ohio’s Country Journal. Assisting were agriculture students Paige Teeters, Mekenzie Jolliff and Shelbie Snoke, Ohio Country Journal’s Bernadette Arehart and Dr. Chad McKay, associate professor of agriculture,
Students came together for a dinner from City BBQ and had the opportunity to obtain professional headshots taken by a senior agricultural business student, Megan Roell. They also had the chance to sit down with industry professionals and have their resumes looked over and gain pointers on what hiring managers are looking for in today's job market.
A Q&A session was led by Joel Penhorwood, Ohio County Journal and Ohio Ag Net’s video manager, and Ohio Soybean Council’s Julia Brown, director of communications. At registration, students were eligible for a free student membership with the Ohio Soybean Council to help support the organization and those advocating for soybean farmers. Also, Ohio Farm Bureau’s Kelsey Turner and Katie Share were on site to promote opportunities for college students through the Ohio Farm Bureau.
Wilmington College’s own Erin Wollett, a 2015 alumna, spoke on her experience in the agriculture industry, “Wilmington College: Green to a Great Industry Professional.” Following her message, students visited breakout rooms with industry professionals. In “Mock Interview Dos & Don’ts,” Lori Culler, owner of AgHires, and Katie Brown, senior recruiter at AgHires, led mock interviews with students and broke down the interview process.
WC students assisting with staging "Night for Young Professionals" are, from the left, Shelbie Snoke, Paige Teeters and Mekenzie Jolliff.
Hilary Poulson, the Growing Forward specialist from Farm Credit Mid-America, led “Personal Finance for Emerging Professionals,” during which students learned the basics of budgets, credit cards, credit scores, retirement planning and needs vs. wants. The final breakout room was a panel discussion moderated by Penhorwood and featuring Brooks Warner, OSU Extension educator for Agriculture & Natural Resources in Clinton County; Wollett, agriculture instructor & FFA adviser at Cardington-Lincoln High School; and Michael Bailey, vice president of Strategic Partnerships at Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. They discussed how to lead, network and inspire greatness.
McKay, who also serves as WC’s agriculture area coordinator, noted the success of the event. “It is opportunities like this that set Wilmington College apart from the rest of the pack. Our students meet industry professionals and have the ability to network with them and when the time comes to land that internship or career, they have the connections made to get their feet in the door.”
McKay added that, throughout all these breakout rooms amongst agriculture industry leaders, students were able to network and ask the “burning questions” of what being in the industry truly looks like. “The next generation of agriculturalists are eagerly waiting to lead in their own ways beyond Wilmington College,” he said.
Bailey left students with a piece of advice regarding the next generation entering the industry. “When in an interview, show your passion for the job and agriculture,” he said. “Those who are hiring are looking for passion over skills. Skills can be learned throughout the job, but having a passion for what you’re doing is what will really stand out.”