Future Students | Current Students | Alumni | Community & Friends

CAFNR Connections August 2006: Vol. 1, No. 3

Our students are moving back on campus this week and classes start next Monday. Where has the summer gone?

No matter at this point, because we're excited to start the fall semester. Jane and I just returned from the AgCareers.com Roundtable in St. Louis. We expect a strong job market this year and that our students will be strong contenders for competitive positions. We truly appreciate your help in getting our students ready for CAFNR Career Day 2006 on Thursday, Sept. 28, and for life beyond college.

Our first three career programs are part of a series centered on the theme: First Impressions Count!

Resumes 101

Dallas Ford, CAFNR Connections mentor and owner of executive search firm Alpha Scouts, will present a 30-minute program on what he finds impressively good and bad on a resume. Then, resume review "stations" will be set up such that students may present their hard copy resumes for a quick review by CAFNR Connections mentors from a wide variety of career fields. Following the program, students will have the option of submitting their electronic resumes via e-mail to Connections mentors for an online review.

Our goals: Provide an opportunity for our students to have their resume critiqued by one or more professionals in a relevant field. Emphasize the importance of a professional resume.
Company Partner: Bartlett and Company
Alpha Gamma Rho is our student organization co-sponsor.
Wednesday, Sept. 6, 6:30 to 8 p.m., 154 Eckles Hall

Extreme Makeover

College to Career CAFNR Style. Brenda Edgerton, Ann Taylor Loft and Bill Penkethman, Suit Yourself, will present the current rules for business professional and business casual dress. Models from our co-sponsoring student organizations, Alpha Gamma Sigma and Sigma Alpha, will choose two CAFNR students for an "extreme" makeover.

Our goals: Demonstrate business professional dress appropriate for interviews and career days. Explain a conservative business casual look.
Tuesday, Sept. 12, 6 to 7:30 p.m., McQuinn Atrium, Bond Life Sciences Center

Mocktails with Mentors

Networking Know-How. After a short program by our own etiquette guru, Chef Jett, that covers the art of introductions, requesting/receiving business cards, and follow-up strategies, students will practice their networking skills by meeting Connections mentors. Student participants will be encouraged to think of and be ready to share a personal "30-second infomercial" prior to the evening.

Our goals: We all know how important networking is! We tell our students repeatedly, "It's what you know, who you know, and who knows you that count!" We want to give our students the skills to really impress our employers at Career Day and to enhance success throughout career and life.
Thursday, Sept. 21, 6 to 7:30 p.m., 154 Eckles Hall

Family Weekend

On Saturday, Sept. 30, CAFNR will host a pancake breakfast and dedication ceremony for MO-Ag Plaza in honor of MU Family Weekend. Then we'll watch the Tigers stomp Colorado. All CAFNR family members are invited—current and past students, parents, Connections mentors, friends, faculty, and staff. This provides a special opportunity for us to promote the CAFNR Connections programs—to current students as well as CAFNR alumni and friends. Let me know if you are interested in helping!

Mizzou to You

This fall, we'll travel to Ste. Genevieve (Sept. 20) and Kansas City (Nov. 1), where we'll visit with current and prospective students and their families, alumni and friends. Formal invites will follow, but you may want to mark your calendars now.

Please let me know if you would like to help with our September programs. E-mail or call me, or respond online at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=135472315124

More details will follow on our November programs on state and federal job search (date TBD) and dining etiquette (Nov. 9).

CAFNR Career Day 2006

Sept. 28, noon to 4 p.m., Bond Life Sciences Center. Several of you have already indicated plans to attend on behalf of your employer. We look forward to seeing you and invite each of you to consider attending the fair and making it a Mizzou weekend. On Saturday, Sept. 30, the Tigers take on Colorado at Faurot Field.

Other News

HireMizzouGrads.com: Now, all employers, as well as MU students and alumni, can logon to ONE site for job postings, interview schedules, resumes and career events. CAFNR students may access the Connections mentoring database here, too.
CAFNR Connections career mentoring gets a new Web site! Check out our five mentors currently profiled. Additional mentors will be added.
And, finally, a quote from a student who had lunch with a Connections mentor this summer and continues to correspond via e-mail and occasional meetings: Being in this program for me was a wonderful and stimulating experience. It really has opened up a lot of different options for me and set me on the right path. I would still be lost if it wasn't for the mentor!!

Once again, thank you.

Stephanie