By EMMA HOPKINS-O’BRIEN

Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana Pork recently put on its first Young Pork Professionals Conference for high school and college-age students interested in pork industry careers.

Participants were treated to a tour of contract finishers as well as an Indiana Packers facility to witness the effect of full-circle pork production. Stephanie Morris, director of producer outreach at Indiana Pork, said the inaugural conference received positive reviews and will likely become a yearly event.

“We designed the conference with the goal of allowing participants to explore different career opportunities and encourage them to stay in the swine industry, because we need a lot of people and their talent and knowledge about working with animals in our industry,” she explained.

On the second day, a panel of three professionals in the industry gave the group tips on obtaining pork careers. Brian Arnold of United Animal Health, Rebecca Schroeder of Whiteshire Hamroc, and Dave Murray from Indiana Packers Corp. made up the panel and answered questions for an hour.

Common questions included what traits employers look for when selecting new recruits, how to compose a résumé, and presenting oneself to a potential employer. Young adults have the task of presenting themselves as the person their potential employer is looking for, but even getting to the interview phase of the hiring process is something that takes strategy.

Employers often expect potential interns and employees to send in their résumé and a cover letter, which determines if they will be asked for an interview. Being concise and impactful is something all the panelists agreed are important in résumés.

“I’ve had résumés come in that are three or four pages long, and I’m not going to read the book,” Murray said. “I like bullet points of things I think are going to catch my interest, over the last few years. Highlight anything you are currently responsible for, any tasks you are told to do.”

Arnold added that résumés shouldn’t be longer than one page. He recommends applicants get their resumes in front of multiple people to “troubleshoot” it before sending it in, paying attention to detail such as punctuation and grammar, and sending documents in PDF format.

When it comes to the actual interview, what interests an employer can vary greatly. For Schroeder, attitude of the applicant is a factor.

“One of the things we look for is attitude,” she noted. “We want those individuals with initiative who want to get up and go to work and be productive in society. Being able to work with other people and communicate, and not being self-centered and kind of having that servant heart.

“In the swine industry, a lot of us are very much servants at heart. Be yourself; be genuine.”

Schroeder likes asking questions based on past behavior. For instance: “What’s a time when you had to get along with a difficult person?” She will ask how applicants handled a difficult situation in the past.

Murray said he wants to feel “chemistry” with applicants in an interview – that is, feel that an applicant is comfortable and willing to articulate their passion.

“Usually when I go into an interview with someone, I can usually tell if they really want to be in our industry or not,” he explained. “With characteristics, I think about what we do every day – work ethic. No. 2 is time management, and you’ve got to be a self-motivator, self-starter.”

Arnold said he looks for employees who can convey integrity and grit. He likes applicants who will extend an interview to share their passion.

“Integrity – that’s just doing things the right way, or doing what’s right even when no one is watching,” he said. “Another would be grit, someone who’s willing to stay after hours and get dirty and do the things that maybe nobody else wants to do. Be willing to go the extra mile.”

Paramount to all three panelists is finding applicants who have immense passion and can articulate it. In fact, they agreed taking on an employee with abundant passion and less experience is preferable over someone with experience and less passion.

At the end of an interview, panelists said it is important to ask questions to show interest and concern for the potential position. These could be anything from questions about the job specifically to the company’s future – and anything beats not having any questions at all.

The application and interview process for a job can be difficult, but Schroeder said even if you do not get the position, it may not be because you did not do a good job; it may just be that you aren’t a good fit for the company.

One way college students can prepare for their interviews and eventual positions, panelists agreed, is taking business, accounting, or organizational leadership classes in college, which can apply to all jobs. However, not even college credits can be substituted for passion.

“Be willing to say yes, and put your faith in what is important to you and what guides you every day,” Schroeder said, advising applicants not to get discouraged. “Passion is huge. The patience and attitude and desire to want to learn – you can’t replace that with books and tests and those types of things.”