Employers
At CALS, we offer full-service recruiting options for your organization.
On-Campus Interviews
Interested in interviewing students at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences? We handle the advertising, screening, scheduling, and all administrative details of your interviews.
Benefits of on-campus interviewing
- Meet them where they are: Between classes, clubs, and homework, it can be hard for a student to take out time for an interview off-campus. When your organization comes here, it makes it easier for students to attend and gives you more outstanding candidates.
- Online management: With ePACK, our online employment database, you can view and manage your interview schedule at your convenience.
- Brand recognition: On-campus interviewing is a great way to gain visibility among our students. With any good marketing strategy, you need to build brand awareness. Organizations that interview on-campus are recognized by students and are top choices when it comes time for those students to find employment.
- Convenient and easy: Make it easy on yourself and let us do the work. The online sign-up process takes the guesswork out of scheduling interviews. Plus, the automated emails to students keep them informed without you having to send dozens of messages.
To get started, contact CALS Career Services.
Employer Frequently Asked Questions
What does CALS stand for?
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
What is the difference between CALS Career Services and the University Career Center?
CALS Career Services provides job postings, events, and interviews that cater to the unique needs of students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. However, CALS is only one of 10 schools in the University. The University Career Center serves students in the colleges of Management, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Engineering, Education, Design, Natural Resources, and Humanities and Social Sciences. Other career offices exist for the College of Textiles and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
How do I post a job?
How do I post a job?
Our office hosts an online employment bulletin board called ePACK. Employers can post jobs to all students, no matter their majors, for free. To post your opportunities, you can:
- Create an ePACK account (or log-in to your existing account) and post the job. The benefits of ePack include being able to manage your posting, receive applications through ePACK, set up on-campus interviews, search for students, and use other services offered through ePACK; or
- Email your job description to our office and we will post it to ePACK for you.
How can I schedule an on-campus interview?
Are you interested in interviewing students at the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences? We offer full-service recruiting options for your organization, including advertising, screening, scheduling, and the administrative details of your interviews. To get started, call our office and speak to a member of our staff: 919.515.3249.
What are the average starting salaries for today’s graduates?
Each year, our office surveys recent alumni to obtain information about their career after graduation. We encourage you to call 919.515.3249 and speak with Sara Lane, Coordinator of Career Services, about current hiring trends and how to recruit talent to your organization.
How can I generate interest for my organization among students?
Brand recognition is an important part of attracting recent graduates to your organization. There are several ways you can build brand recognition on campus, for example, on-campus interviewing, club presentations, sponsorships, and attending the Career Expo. We recommend contacting our office and speaking with a staff member about the various opportunities available that will best serve your organization.
Employer Internship Information
Are you interested in hosting an incoming CALS student for an internship? Here’s what you need to know:
Why should I hire an incoming CALS student?
Incoming CALS students are motivated to learn and become active participants in their industry. Hiring a student will help that individual prepare to enter your industry in the future. It will also provide you with additional help for everyday needs or special projects.
Do I have to pay my intern?
We recommend that employers pay interns to ensure compliance with the law and to establish adequate student interest for your position. Unpaid internships must comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Check out the Department of Labor’s guidelines on internships under the Fair Labor and Standards Act. The vast majority of internships in agriculture are paid.
How do I create a good internship program?
Here are some tips for developing outstanding experiential learning programs:
- Provide challenging work assignments – Modern internships are more than just fetching coffee. They provide interns with meaningful work and training. Give your interns broad experiences across many areas of your organization so they may learn as much as possible.
- Create a supportive work environment – Encourage questions and spend time training the student for the work they’re doing.
- Clearly state expectations – Let interns know at the beginning what you expect and how they should perform. As much as possible, try to create a schedule ahead of time to let them know what they will be doing throughout the internship.
- Active supervision and mentoring – Make sure interns have ready access to their supervisor, and that the supervisor takes a proactive approach to training and guidance. Students are often intimidated to ask questions of older professionals, so it’s important their supervisor doesn’t wait for the student to communicate their needs.
- Opportunities to interact with a variety of employees – Socialization will be important for interns, especially as they may not feel comfortable being surrounded by employees who are much older. Be sure they’re introduced and are encouraged to interact with many different employees so they can create a network of supporters and learn from those in a variety of positions.
- Inclusion in meetings or events, when possible – Allow the intern to see all aspects of the business and help them feel like a contributing member of the organization by including them as much as possible. This will greatly enhance their learning and motivation.
- Housing assistance or guidance, if out of town – If the student does not live nearby, help them find housing. Many organizations also sponsor or subsidize housing costs for non-local interns.