2015 IFAMA Student Guide by IFAMA

Table of Contents

Introduction Purpose of the Guidebook.................................................................................... ....1 Preconference Preparation........................................................................................2 Work on Your Resume................................................................................................2 Career Connection ~ Resume Book..........................................................................3 The Forum: Become the Solution .............................................................................3 The Symposium..........................................................................................................4 Harvard Style Case Workshops..................................................................................4 Networking..................................................................................................................5

Student Activities The Student Case Competition..................................................................................5 The Executive Interview Project.................................................................................6 The Student Video Challenge......................................................................................6

Written by Kathryn White and Cooper Morris with contributions from John Lai and Irina Mktchyan.

Congratulations on your decision to become a member of IFAMA and participate in the annual conference. This may be one of the most important educational experiences you have on your career path. IFAMA is unique among professional associations. We are a forward looking and multi-disciplinary organization that encompasses all food and agribusiness related industries and functions. Students are an important and vital component of our organization. We value your unique contributions and hope you will continue to remain active and involved with IFAMA throughout your professional career. It takes a global community of committed individuals to solve the foreseen challenges ahead in agriculture. We know that by reaching across continents and working through cultural differences we can develop innovative strategies to create a sustainable future. There are several reasons why companies doing business in agriculture look to IFAMA as an important source for recruiting and finding new talent to fill jobs in the global food system:

1 IFAMA candidates are globally savvy and better prepared for the issues facing the global marketplace.

We have a reputation for delivering strong students who are passionate about our industry.

“IFAMA 2014 was truly a high point in my undergrad academic career, the venue, content, and caliber of students and professionals was truly world class. In no other context could I have met student’s from all over the world with a particular interest in agri-food systems.” Tom Heeman University of Guelph, Canada

“IFAMA World Forum and Symposium provided me amazing networking opportunities with fellow students, academics, and people from industry. The conference educated me on broader agribusiness issues and best practices, and I developed analytical and decision making skills through Student Case Competition. I sincerely believe that participation in the conference has helped me get better prepared to serve the agribusiness sector and ready to contribute to the challenge of reducing hunger and poverty. I admire the friendly and cooperative environment of IFAMA and how it supports new members like me. Salil Bhattarai Lincoln University, New Zealand

IFAMA provides students ongoing opportunities to develop their critical

3 thinking skills and understanding the global food system.

We have the next generation of thinkers—who will help drive 4 innovation and discovery to reshape agribusiness, biosecurity, the environment, agriculture, and succession in the food system.

Purpose of the Guidebook This Student Guide was written by students with input from students who have already attended a conference. It’s intended to help you maximize the many opportunities that await you and help you prepare to showcase your unique talents and abilities. We hope you will find this information useful and it answers any lingering questions you may have.

“Thanks to IFAMA, I have received two internships. The conference provides a chance to see a lot of academic practioners from the agribusiness field in the same place, which does not occur in more general meetings. IFAMA puts a spotlight on problems and solutions in the agir-food sector. Consequently, I always return from the IFAMA meetings with new research ideas and challenges to take on.” Kateryna Goychuck University of Missouri, USA

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“The conference has definitely impacted what I believe my career could look like. I am now very interested in working in Africa, as it is an interesting and rapidly growing business environment. I would also like to do something in my career which impacts food security and really benefits people. ” Andrew McGuire University of Guelph, Canada “To get prepared for the conference, I suggest students analyze the industry more. Start by getting more information about the companies who will attend the conference and focus on main things they are interested in. Students that are doing research projects and dissertations can review the papers online, analyze them, and find critical points, in order to understand the issues better.” Irina Mkrtchyan Agribusiness Teaching Ctr., Armenia “By networking with academics and professionals, I was able to see a variety of perspectives facing the industry. While much of my current schooling is focused on the academic perspective of the issues, interacting with professionals added a new outlook. I will take this added perspective and apply it to my future work. The networking will also help me make connections with members in the agribusiness industry once I enter the job market.” David Boussios Kansas State University, USA

The IFAMA conference provides a wide range of opportunities to learn from some of the tops minds in agriculture, and network with others who possess similar experiences and interests. Whether it’s the Student Case Competition, attending a research presentation, or an agribusiness case study break-out session, you have an opportunity to take a step forward with your agriculture career. The great variety of learning and networking events require some advanced preparation in order to optimize your experience in St. Paul.

Pre-Conference Preparation Before coming to the conference, try to articulate your personal experiences in the field of agriculture/agribusiness and develop a list of questions about the types of opportunities you are interested in pursuing. Understanding yourself is central to working through the vocational decisions you are making. The effort you make now will help position you for a successful and rewarding career in this large and global industry. Benjamin Franklin, a key historical figure in early American history, once said, “There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.” The process of getting to know yourself is neither quick or easy. It’s the process of personal reﬂection, talking to others who have similar and different experiences and exploring different options that help shape and refine you. There are many ways to specialize your degree in the field of agriculture/agribusiness, some of which you may not have considered. At the conference, you will meet people coming from many different sectors and disciplines that can help you learn more about yourself and achieve your goals.

Work on Your Resume In order to grab the attention of an agribusiness manager or applied economics professor so that they remember your name, face, and story, you need to invest time before the conference to create a good resume. In addition to showing you possess the set of skills and knowledge to successfully start a particular career, your story differentiates you from another student and communicates that you really want to be there. The resume is one of the “lowest hanging fruits” when preparing to look for job opportunities. Spending time to develop a detailed, well-organized resume helps you understand your experiences and your bigger picture career goals. Clarity comes by working through specific details. For example, if you’ve had a teaching assistantship, discuss how you communicated with the professor and used your personal experiences to articulate complex concepts to students. If you have business cards, have them available at the conference. If you don’t have them, consider having them made. There are many inexpensive sources. Business cards make sharing contact information easier.

Career Connection Resume Book The purpose of the Student Resume Book is to match our talented and highly diverse group of international student members with business professionals from agro/agribusiness companies, university recruiters, government agencies and private recruiting companies. The Resume Book is published only once a year in conjunction with the annual conference. After the conference, it is forwarded to the IFAMA Industry members to be shared with their hiring departments and managers. As a member of IFAMA, the Student Resume Book is a tool you can use to get your resume circulated even if you are not attending the annual conference.

Networking It may surprise you that not only will students be interested in learning more about you, professors and industry professionals are also interested in hearing about your agricultural experiences and goals. It’s rare to have so many people with a high interest in agriculture and agribusiness gathered together under one roof. Make the most of this opportunity by reaching beyond your comfort zone to speak to new people during the scheduled student social, networking breaks, receptions and banquet. We will provide several structured networking opportunities to make this easier.

The Forum: Become the Solution The Forum is the capstone of the conference. It consists of a series of dynamic presentations given by knowledgeable top executives and experts focused on current issues impacting the global food chain. Keynote speakers are followed by concurrent breakout sessions allow for in-depth discussions and problem solving. Diverse program themes and interaction with key agribusiness leaders further enhance information sharing and identification of research issues. Students are an essential component of the Forum discussions occurring in St. Paul. This provides you a unique opportunity to engage with high-level stakeholders and contribute to the discussions. All students attending the conference are highly encouraged to join the Become the Solution Round Table Discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 16-17. Under the umbrella of Food Security 2050, each student will join one of the following roundtables: Talent Flow; Big Data; or Climate Smart. Students are asked to intentionally not join the same tables as their friends but are encouraged to meet and work with students from other universities attending the conference. Students are also invited to help serve as rapporteurs during the roundtable discussions helping to capture these discussions for immediate use in session recaps and for future use in program- research development.

“Building a talented workforce is critical to meeting the growing global demands. We are always looking for bright new talent to join DuPont Pioneer. My colleagues that accompanied me at the IFAMA conference were impressed with the caliber of participants that attended. We made some great connections with university staff, governmental officials, and of course the students!” Cindy Langenberg Sr. Human Resources Manager Talent Acquisition DuPont Pioneer

What I’ve learned from attending IFAMA conferences 1. Think critically – do not take things as given: questioning what you see and hear helps you learn even more. 2. Look more deeply into the issues which challenge you: it helps you either learn something new, or re-inform your current knowledge. 3. Connect and talk with people from other countries. Their country may be at a different point in the development process; however, you will find some issues that are present across continents. Thus, discussing diverse ideas can result in identifying effective solutions. 4. Seek people who are working on similar research topics: this can provide a unique opportunity for collaborative research. Iuliia Protopop University of Nebraska, USA

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The Symposium “It was particularly amazing to see the diversity of research being done by students. I hope the friendship developed with fellow students during the conference will continue to be nurtured during my future professional life as well. I was happy to meet some of the authors whom I cited in my thesis. Having known them by their papers, I felt honored to meet them in person and share my research. Meeting some of these distinguished professors from around the world will also help in my future academic career. ” Salil Bhattarai Lincoln University, New Zealand

“I took part in many sessions including the Harvard style case discussions and the Symposium sessions featuring the latest findings from agricultural economists. I now have a better understanding of how to conduct research and write a paper or dissertation. I had the honor of talking with these economists. Speaking with them is like reading valuable books. Their unique viewpoint and rich expeirences especially their selﬂess sharing gave me wise guidance and enriched my knowledge.” Hui Xie Inner Mongolia University, China “I met a business director at the conference from BASF. This meeting eventually led me to do my final thesis at BASF in Germany, where I currently am. So I would like to thank IFAMA for this opportunity.” Pim van Adriche Inholland University, The Netherlands

The Symposium features presentations from international scholars which occur in parallel track sessions during the first two days of the conference, Sunday and Monday June 1415. Scientific research papers, case studies, discussion sessions and posters provide the intellectual foundation for discussions which occur during the Forum sessions which begin on Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. A complete program listing all of all the scientific research presentations and will be available just prior to the conference. When you receive the program schedule read through the topics. Most authors will have their papers and Power Point presentations posted on our website prior to the conference. The Symposium is excellent for learning more about current research in your field of interest, networking with professors from other institutions and making contacts for future collaborations. Some students will be presenting their research papers during the Symposium, You can learn a lot by listening to the comments and feedback given by your colleagues participating in these sessions.

Harvard-Style Case Workshops The Symposium will feature several teaching cases and a case methods workshops that utilizes the Harvard-style (discussion-based) format. Each case session lasts approximately 1-1/2 hours. They include time for preparation, discussion, and feedback. These sessions are hands on and designed to stimulate group interaction. They are open to anyone willing to participate in the group discussions. Students are strongly encouraged to attend at least one of the sessions. A copy of the full cases will be sent to participants who sign up in advance. More information will be available on our website just prior to the conference.

The Student Case Competition The Student Case Competition provides students an opportunity to demonstrate their skills to industry participants and gives universities a venue to showcase outstanding talent. The competition consists of teams representing universities worldwide who simulate a fast turn-around analysis and presentation which they will make to a panel of senior management judges on a corporate hot topic. The Case Study Competition requires your team to work through a complex case study in short time frame. Your team will not see the case prior to the competition. From start to finish, your team has just four hours to digest a complex agribusiness situation, develop a creative and practical solution, and build a presentation that communicates your perspective, analyses and recommendations to a panel of judges. There is little time to spare for redundantly going over information, arguing with each

other over trivial points, and struggling to decide who will present what material. By the time you get to St. Paul, you should know the strengths of each of your teammates and be a well-functioning unit. In order to develop a well-functioning team, it helps to understand the case study method and have some background knowledge about international agribusiness. One idea is to meet regularly in the term before the conference to review cases. Meeting once a week will also hold everyone accountable and keep everyone learning the case study method and working toward small incremental goals. Find as many opportunities to practice with your team as possible and to present in front of a group of students or faculty members. They can give you advice and feedback on your presentations. Have someone from your team be a listener and tell the others where they saw gaps during presentation. This might be a problem with the slides, a need to make eye contact, or the tone and pace of the presentation. Practice trying to finish a case in under four hours. Your team does not have to meet in person to prepare. Take advantage of communication technologies such as group chat sessions. Use Google documents or similar technology to practice analyzing information and writing as a team. A recent article in the New York Times revealed that individuals can get more out of group work conducted via an internet chat room because it requires group members to digest more information and think more independently. Your team has to work together, and go through enough case studies so you learn each other’s strengths to be successful in the St. Paul competition. If you need access to some good cases in order to practice, contact the IFAMA Business Office. The IFAMR has published many teaching cases used in previous years and we will supply the Teaching Notes to your instructor. Even if you haven’t competed in a competition like this before, there are a lot of helpful websites on the Internet.

The Executive Interview Project The Executive Interview Project was developed to give students an opportunity to conduct one-on-one interviews with a professional from the agribusiness industry. The purpose is to learn more about a particular field of interest while producing a publishable article that can later be featured in IFAMA’s Blog or our academic journal. If you’ve chosen to conduct an interview, please spend some time prior to the interview learning as much as you can about the topic and the person you will interview. Based upon your interests and educational pursuits, IFAMA will try to pair you with an executive who has volunteered and has expertise on the topic. You will submit a list of sample questions to the executive prior to the interview so that he or she can prepare for the interview.

“We need a lot of high caliber talent coming into our space in order to meet the future food needs of the world. The unique role IFAMA plays is bringing together young, smart and very capable individuals from many disciplines, and showing them how valuable their contributions to agriculture can be.” Ismael Roig, President ADM, Asia Pacific “I highly appreciated the opportunity to talk with business representatives during the Student Career activities and various networking events. Thanks to these events I learned a lot about the kind of skills and qualifications expected from successful job candidates, and I gained information on the direction I should follow in order to prepare for my future professional career in the food industry and agribusiness.” Marta Wlodarz Texas A&M University “The Student Case Competition was a brief, yet real and challenging glance at what is expected of me not only now, but also in the future. I was able to get an inside look at the agriculture industry for the first time since beginning my graduate studies. It gave me a new perspective and interest in agriculture.“ Krystal Montesdoeca University of Illinois, USA “I learned that collaboration is very important for the innovation of a team and an important skill inside an organization. This was my time traveling abroad. Everyone was so nice. I’ve learned a lot from these lovely friends who came from many different countries. Successful companies must integrate business practices which are sustainable.” Wei Yao Nanjing Agricultural University, China

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“The following business analysis methods provide useful guidelines to understanding the trends and policies brought up during the conference. Take a look at Porters Shared Value, Porters Five Forces, The Political, Economic, Socio, Technological, Political, International (PESTI) analysis. A familiarity with the business language will help you understand the arguments made during the Forum panel sessions and in the Student Case Competition. You will be able to clearly articulate your thoughts during networking events.” Cooper Morris Kansas State University, USA “I found the case study competition to be a rewarding exercise. I was amazed at how fun the competition was and what great company I was in. To meet all of the other students from around the world was a special opportunity to network. I learned about different cultures and grew as a person.” Michael Billikopf Santa Clara University, USA “I will encourage students to participate in the Student Case Competition when they have the opportunity as it stimulates the mind to think strategically. It is the kind of management problems that graduates are likely to face in the real world of work and having a feel of it through these competitions enables the individual to better prepare themselves to face the challenges of the future. Participating in the competition has given me confidence to formulate business proposals and justify it in opportunities that will surface in the workforce.” Charles Appiah South Dakota State University, USA

The interviewee may also suggest additional resources for you to read in advance. This activity is primarily limited to students who have received an Student Assistance Grant; however, if you are not receiving a grant and still wish to participate, please notify the IFAMA Business Office. This is a time consuming project that requires thoughtful execution in order to produce an interesting end product. If you have any doubts about your ability to write well enough in English, this may not be a project to attempt.

The Student Video Challenge This is a optional activity for students coming to St. Paul. The challenge is simple; during the conference, a few student teams (consisting of 3-5 members) will be selected to interview professionals, board members, faculty members, students, and other conference attendees on the topic of careers in agribusiness or a selected topic of choice related to the field of agriculture. Your team will have two weeks following the conference to edit footage into a 3 -5 minute professional video. Here is an example of conversations that could be filmed: Why do individuals enjoy working in the agriculture industry? What does the current job market look like in the interviewee’s field of expertise? What does the future job market look like for students graduating in the industry? What are the ‘hot’ jobs in agribusiness? Students wishing to compete should develop an outline and submit a proposal to the IFAMA Business Office by June 10, 2015. The proposal should contain team contact information, include a description of the proposed topic, and a list of sample questions. If your proposal is accepted, all content must be captured between June 14-17 June during the 2015 conference in St. Paul. Footage can be shot with a simple video camera. The proposal must be approved prior to the conference. The winning videos will be posted on the IFAMA website. Deadline for final video submissions is July 1, 2015. Check out our YouTube Channel to see a previous winner. For inquiries, please contact: Kathryn White: ifama@ifama.org

International Food and Agribusiness Management Association 1010 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 201 Washington, DC, 20005 (202) 429-1610