Senior agribusiness major Dan Dudney graduates in December and is already prepared to be a seed technician at Monsanto, a corn production facility, in Waco, Neb. Dudney interned with the company in the summer and received hands-on experience in the agriculture industry.
 
“I had four main responsibilities,” Dudney said. “My job included stand counts, field inspections, detassling machine driver and yield estimations.”
 
Dudney participated in every step of the detassling and seed corn production process. The experience gave him intimate knowledge of the backbone of a major part of Monsanto’s business operation, which in turn prepared him for employment.
 
“I was given something new each day. I learned the warehouse and office activities, and worked with fantastic people all summer,” he said.
 
Dudneyalso traveled to Monsanto’s headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., and learned from executives at the company.
 
“Meeting key executives was great, and I also had the opportunity to network with other interns who were located throughout the country at other production facilities,” Dudney said.
 
Jeannine Berge, an assistant director and career coach in CBA’s career services office, has seen the number of students gaining full-time employment from internships rise during recent times.
 
“We’re seeing a lot of employers using that internship program as their pipeline for their full-time recruiting process,” Berge said. “Companies are spending more time recruiting internships and some companies have a goal of converting 90 to 100 percent of their interns into full-time employees.”
 
The internship solidified Dudney’s career choice to go into the agricultural industry.
 
“The connections and friendships I made this summer through Monsanto will last a lifetime,” Dudney said. “The experience has really guided me into making a career choice that I love.” Published: December 3, 2012