The Internship in Agriculture, Environment, Food, and Communities lasts about 16 weeks
A new course at the University of Guelph is helping students connect with employers in the ag sector.
The Internship in Agriculture, Environment, Food, and Communities, run out of the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), is open to master’s level students in food, ag and resource economics, and plant agriculture and animal biosciences fields.
The university plans to include additional students in the future.
This internship builds on a recent trend, said Dr. Emmanuelle Arnaud, a professor and assistant OAC dean (graduate programs).
“We’ve been seeing a desire from students to seek higher credentials but not necessarily interested in committing to doing a full-blown thesis project,” she told Farms.com. “The idea is the students learn in their courses and then in their last semester, do a paid work experience by an employer for four months.”
The placements last between 12 and 16 weeks from May to August 2025.
But the university is engaging with students and employers now to have the matching process finished by February 2025.
“The students give us an idea of what they’re looking for and sectors they’re interested in, and then we do our best to match them with an employer who has similar interests,” Arnaud said.
Potential employers must fill out an intake form highlighting needs, goals and kinds of projects it can commit to.
An online hub allows employers and students to set up interviews with one another, and employers rank their top candidates.
And employers are eager to find workers.
With the Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council predicting more than 100,000 jobs needing to be filled by 2030, finding capable and reliable employees is crucial.
“There’s a lot of turnover expected in the next few years and there’s still a lot of gaps in the industry for highly qualified people that know something about plant sciences or livestock agriculture or reporting metrics or addressing consumer concerns,” Arnaud said. “Employers are looking for an opportunity to highlight their business and recruit talent.”
Once a match is made, the student and employer will have regular communication with the university.
This ensures everyone involved is benefitting from the experience.
“At the beginning there’s a learning contract about the project the student is going to do and the deliverables, so both parties see what they’re committed to,” Dr. Arnaud said. “About midway through there’s a reflection from the student about things are going, and the instructor will touch base with the employer to address any concerns.”
At the end of the internship, the student completes another reflection, and the employer completes an assessment of the student’s performance and of the overall experience being part of the internship program.
Dr. Arnaud encourages students and employers to signal their interest by Dec. 1, with the goal of having the ranking and matching completed by February 2025.