The Jordan College “Welcome Back Social and Career Fair” at O’Neill Park last week brought 28 companies across the agriculture industry to Fresno State sharing career and internship opportunities with students.

The importance of having face-to-face interactions between the students and the employers was emphasized throughout the evening as last year’s career fair was affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Event organizers moved it online, and only 10 companies attended.

Dennis Nef, dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (JCAST), said students that put themselves out there at socials like the one last week are setting themselves up for career opportunities that give them an advantage in the workforce after college. 

“The things that we find in agriculture is that those connections are crucial,” Nef said. “One of the things our industry partners asked for is an opportunity to meet with students and this is a perfect venue for that.”

Nef said with the previous career fair being online, he hopes students who go to events like this recognize the opportunities and different career paths offered and use them to help guide themselves to finding a career that fits them.

With the “Welcome Back” also serving as a social event, Nef hoped faculty would have a chance to meet students after spending last year online and not having the chance to mingle with students of different majors.

“It gives us, as faculty members, an opportunity to see students from across the college. If I’m an ag business faculty member then I see a lot of ag business students but I don’t always see plant science or animal science majors,” Nef said.

Ashleigh Sorensen, the Associated Students Inc. senator for JCAST, said she is glad that this social and career fair was able to happen after last year’s having to go virtual and understands the difficulties of having a career fair online.

“Having a virtual career fair last year I know isn’t as encouraging to students because it’s not as engaging and so I think being able to have an event that was in person made students want to be more engaged and get more involved within our college,” Sorensen said.

Sorensen said she hopes that this “Welcome Back” event makes students eager to explore the career, club, and internship opportunities that are out there.

Logan Real, a second-year graduate student, is the president of the dairy club on campus and graduate student manager at the dairy. She said that the impact of the pandemic on students has caused issues with networking and getting to that face-to-face contact with people in the industry. Without this year’s “Welcome Back” being offered in person, students would have been discouraged, she added.

“I think a lot of what I’ve noticed is that it’s been discouraging to a lot of students, especially because those who graduate are really excited to go out into the industry,” Real said. “If we don’t offer the career fairs, it’s very discouraging because they kind of just sit back down and are like well I have this degree but I can’t utilize it.” 

Sorensen said her greatest hope from the event is that students are able to talk with other students and have the chance to start building a sense of community on campus.

“Overall I saw a lot of diversity within the majors of the Jordan College, and a lot of eagerness to get involved with internship opportunities and to get involved with knowing more about the jobs that are out there and getting to know peers and getting involved with clubs within our college,” Sorensen said.

Having the chance to be in-person, the companies wanted to remind students that internships are still available for them and that taking that extra step to introduce themselves at the career fair was something they noticed Fresno State students do especially well.

Palmira Licon, the recruitment specialist for O’Neill Vintners and Distillers said that Fresno State students came prepared with resumes and handshakes that made her want to come to more events on campus to possibly recruit. 

“I think it’s important because the interaction of being able to meet people face to face again is something that really makes everyones morale better and then just to see everyone coming out here and being supportive I think helps everyone get back to normal,” Licon said. 

With sponsorship donations of $500 to be a “Champion Sponsor” and $250 for “Partner Sponsor” status, Nutrien Ag Solutions and Fowler Packing contributed to the “Champion Sponsor” donations and eight others donated to be “Partner Sponsor.”

With changes from the pandemic affecting the agriculture industry, Imelda Dudley, coordinator of internships and professional experiences for the Jordan College advising center said that there is a need for workers in the agriculture industry and the fact that many companies showed up says a lot and that they are in need of workers.

Dudley hopes that students learned something that they didn’t know before and hopes that students will follow up with the vendors they interacted with.

“I hope that they learned that we are trying to connect them to the industry so that when they’re here at Fresno State they’re not just getting their degree, they’re also getting these additional resources that we provide them so that they can be equipped to go out into the real world after they get their degrees,” Dudley said.