Posted: 02.14.2011

If the goal of the Walker administration is to create jobs - take another look at agriculture.

Maria McGinnis, Director of Student Career Services at the UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences, says they're seeing increased interest from recruiters coming to campus. 

McGinnis says that all areas of agriculture are seeing increased recruitment activity from agronomy to dairy sciences.  "That can mean government, the non-profit sector, or the corporate sector,"  McGinnis says, "We're also seeing a bounceback in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that were hard hit by the economy - they're bouncing back."

McGinnis says people need to remember - agriculture is food production - and that's a strong job segment. "Any time you're bringing food into the equation - food science, animal science, biochemistry, agronomy, dairy science - those folks work on food products people need to live...so the job markets very strong for them and has stayed pretty strong during the economic downturn."

What can students do to seperate themselves from other candidates?  McGinnis says understanding their skill set and what it brings to the real world of business is key.  "You definitely need to develop your skills to be attractive to an employer,"  she says, "Most importantly they need to know how the skills that they're learning in the classroom, in an internship, in lab relate to the real world.  For example, biochemistry basically touches everything in life.  Many students that pursue a biochemistry degree ultimately work in a lab - so they need to know how those lab skills are applied to the real world and what products they effect to be able to sell themselves to an employer."

In Wisconsin - 10 percent of all jobs are connected to agriculture.

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