CASNR Students Primed for Success

East Campus pillars at enterance

July 14, 2015

Lincoln, Neb. — Demand is on the rise for college graduates with a degree in an agriculture, natural resources or an environmental related field. Pair this with an education from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and UNL students are on their way to a bright future.

CASNR Students Primed for Success
CASNR Students Primed for Success

A recent USDA report indicates a growing demand for recent college graduates with a degree in agriculture programs. It forecasts 57,900 high-skilled job openings annually in the food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, and environment fields in the United States. That is 22,500 jobs more than the average number of U.S. graduates annually with a bachelor’s in an agriculture related field.

CASNR is so confident that it will be able to contribute to this demand with graduates prepared for employment that it guarantees students at least one job offer within the first six months of graduation. The guarantee is part of the CASNR Ensuring Your Future program. There are different levels of academic, involvement and experience requirements for students enrolled in the program. Career Services will administer an active resume referral service, post job openings, provide help with resume preparation, and prepare students for interviews with employers who are recruiting UNL students. This is the only program of its kind at UNL or peer institutions.

The USDA report was produced by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Purdue University. The report is the eighth in a series of five-year projections initiated by the USDA in 1980. Academic leaders throughout the country reviewed the report and extensively discussed the results during a meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities in Washington D.C.

According to the report almost half of the job opportunities will be in management in business. Another 27% will be in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics areas. Jobs in food and biomaterials production will make up 15 percent and 12 percent of the openings will be in education, communication, and governmental services. 

“What a lot of our freshman don’t realize is that 60 percent of the jobs that will be available to them when they graduate have not even been created yet,” said CASNR Career Specialist Julie Obermeyer.

For the past several years Obermeyer has planned one of the largest career fairs in the nation for students interested in agriculture, natural resources and environmental related fields. Employers representing companies from around the world come to the career fair, because they know CASNR graduates are among the best, most qualified in the nation. The next career fair will be held on September 29 at the Nebraska East Union.

The Ensuring Your Future program and CASNR career fair are just a few of the ways that CASNR is prepared to feed the demand for high-skilled employees ready for a career in agriculture or natural resources. For more information on these programs contact Julie Obermeyer at jobermeyer@unl.edu.

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