When Brooke Boretski graduated from the University of
Georgia with a degree in food science, her future was knocking at
the door.
Just one week after graduation, she had a job interview.
The next week, she started her new job as a lab coordinator at
Thermo Pac, a flexible food packaging firm.
“I had several opportunities,” Boretski said. “It all was
very fast.”
Boretski, like most students graduating with science and
marketing skills, found the job market ripe with positions for
her picking.
Companies Seeking Science Students
Students with science and marketing skills will continue
to be the most sought-after by employers in 2005. That’s the
finding of a report by the Office of Higher Education Programs
at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State
Research, Education and Extension Service.
“We’re expecting slightly more job opportunities than
there will be students to fill those jobs,” said Allan Goecker,
associate director of academic programs in the Purdue University
School of Agriculture. He is the principal author of Employment
Opportunities for College Graduates in the Food and Agriculture
Sciences, 2000-2005.
Georgia Students Wanted
At the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, the nation’s oldest agricultural college, the scene is
no different.
“We have maintained a high level of activity from
employers seeking to recruit our students,” said David Knauft,
associate dean for academic affairs. “We have far more
opportunities than we have graduates to fill them.”
Annual job openings for U.S. food and agricultural
sciences graduates are projected to be around 58,000. The number
of graduates will be about 57,000. Of the job openings, 32
percent will be in science, engineering and related specialties.
Jobs in marketing, merchandising and sales will make up another
28 percent.
Food scientists, engineers, landscape horticulturists,
plant geneticists and outdoor recreation specialists are expected
to be in greatest demand.
Those who provide services to farmers and ranchers will
find weaker offerings. Hiring will be down, too, in farm and
forest production, veterinary medicine (general practices) and
some government agencies.
UGA Looking For Science Students
While the job market in food and environmental technology
continues to grow, CAES enrollment has declined yearly since a
peak in 1995.
The college is moving to get the message to Georgia high
school students that the future of the job market in farm-related
science fields is booming.
“Although overall enrollment in the college dropped
slightly this year, those departments with aggressive recruitment
efforts have more students than before,” Knauft said.
The most popular majors in the college are biological and
agricultural engineering, animal science, environmental health
and horticulture. “That makes us consistent with what the study
says the job market is moving toward,” he said.
The college is trying to show high school students
there’s more to an agricultural college than traditionally comes
to mind, and there’s a wealth of opportunities awaiting
graduates, especially in urban areas.
“About 40 percent of our students come from the metro
Athens and Atlanta areas,” Knauft said. “The largest number come
from Clarke County, followed by Gwinnett, Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb,
Oconee and Madison counties.”
The attraction for many urban students is the
environmental focus of some of the degrees. Others find the
small-college atmosphere appealing.
“There is a combination of benefits in our college,”
Knauft said. “Students find a range of disciplines in which they
can apply science to solve problems. They can do that kind of
study in our small college atmosphere with a faculty that takes
an active interest in the students’ success.”
