Jennifer Badger works as Agricultural Marketing Specialist for the South Carolina Department of Agriculture in Columbia. She has been in this role for nearly a year, but she has been working in agricultural marketing since August 2012. In this interview, she shares a bit about her career path as well as advice for young ag marketing professionals.
What made you interested in this career path?
I became interested in this career path in high school while taking marketing and agricultural vocational classes. I was very involved at my local Brevard, NC FFA chapter so upon graduation I left to study Agricultural Business Management at North Carolina State University. Marketing came more naturally to me than accounting or economics, which were also parts of my business degree, but that fact coupled with my involvement on the yearbook staff at the high school and collegiate levels, I just enjoy the communication and marketing side of ag business more. These subjects along with agricultural science classes are all very important to my current job, but I really enjoy the personal connections that ag marketing establishes.
Are you new to work travel? If any of you are like me, the term “heavy packer” reaches a whole new level. This is something I have always struggled with. I mean, a girl has to have options right?
Well, let me tell you, after doing some work travel with AgCareers.com, my packing has become a bit lighter and much more strategic. It’s not that cute when you are running through airport terminals with a large, heavy bag only to finally reach your seat and you are literally sweating… yes, unfortunately, I have been that person.
I always think it is a good idea to do a little prep work before packing.
If you had to select from the three categories of talent listed below, which would best describe your current situation?
• Ultra-Passive Talent – Very content where you are in your career and not even contemplating a career move in the foreseeable future.
• Passive Talent – Reasonably content with your current position, but there are times throughout the year that you contemplate a career move.
• Displaced Talent – Soon to be displaced or already displaced due to a company decision, merger, acquisition, etc.
Whichever the category you identified with, chances are you have a LinkedIn profile established. LinkedIn has become a wonderful resource for professionals to network and become connected. It has become a source for prospective employers, recruiters, and professionals to find each other. AgCareers.com made the decision a couple of years ago that there was a need to develop a community within our site specifically for upper-level and highly specialized talent to discretely navigate a career move. This community is called Elite Talent.
Guest Blogger: Vera Marie Reed
In 2017, business majors and graduates are looking for ways to increase their earnings. They want to go into their field knowing that they will build a career worthy of the work that they put in. But, they need not worry. There are plenty of options out there.
Those that have a master’s degree in business administration – also known as an MBA – have several careers to choose from. All of these options currently pay their workers a high wage. As a result, people who are still looking at business careers can definitely boost their salary.
Average. Mediocre. Ordinary. Do you describe yourself with any of these terms, or has anyone else? Never have you heard someone utter “overachiever” in relation to you?
There is still a valuable place for you in the work world even if you weren’t class president, didn’t lead a committee to record fundraising, haven’t worked in management at a global corporation, or weren’t a star athlete or had the lead role in a play.
You’ve likely heard the saying that finding a job is a job in itself, right? Well if you utilize AgCareers.com, we cut out some of that legwork for you. Here are the best AgCareers.com tools for busy job seekers.
*We HIGHLY recommend that you set up an AgCareers.com account in order to utilize all of these awesome tools. It doesn’t take too long, and you can do so by visiting this page.
Advanced Search: Tired of job search engines that don’t offer criteria specific enough to the exact type of job you’re looking for? AgCareers.com’s Advanced Search option allows you to choose from criteria including industry sector, industry type, career type, years’ experience required, country, region, state or province, and more. Visit AgCareers.com and utilize the advanced search option next time you visit.
Guest Blogger: Christine Kilbride, ChickMaster
‘Tis the season…for college applications! Many high school seniors are currently navigating the grueling college admissions process: writing essays, requesting recommendation letters, deciding where to apply and choosing a major.
Choosing a major may seem like the least daunting task on the list – you can always change it, right? Well technically you can, but changing academic majors can lead to costly extra semesters or even the need to transfer to another school.
So where should you start? Statistically, the most popular majors include Nursing, Education, Business, Psychology and Communications[1]. If none of those options appeal to you – don’t fret; there’s a growing sector that you may not have considered for your future career: agriculture. And particularly, poultry science.
Surinder Singh serves as AgCareers.com’s web developer. He has been with the copmany since May 2016 and works in the Guelph, Ontario office.
What do you do on a day-to-day basis with AgCareers.com?
My primary responsibility is resolving the issues reported with the AgCareers.com website and internal administration panel which is used by our team. I manage tickets on an ongoing basis, and perform routine clean-up and troubleshooting. My other responsibilities include managing the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) communications, relationships with third party vendors, working with end client’s tech groups, and communication between technology and AgCareers team.
What do you enjoy about working with AgCareers.com?
I enjoy troubleshooting the issues that are reported by our sales team, resolving and successfully deploying those on our production environment. I love my job as a customer service representative for ATS/Feeds and communication with our team across the continent.
What advice would you give to job seekers utilizing AgCareers.com for the first time?
I don’t interact with job seekers directly on a one-on-one basis, but I would like to advise them to understand that the agriculture and food industry is one of the top growing industries with many job opportunities. We are the leading job board in agriculture with more than 5,000 jobs posted each month, so every job seeker who is seeking opportunities in agriculture must visit AgCareers.com.
