College Experiences That Helped an Agricultural Economist at California Department of Food and Agriculture Succeed
Miranda's career success stemmed from "internships, networking," and leveraging faculty connections. The EPA internship, obtained through networking rather than formal applications, exemplifies the power of building relationships and utilizing "these huge networks of people" for career advancement.
Networking, Internships, Career Exploration, Faculty Connections, Undergraduate Preparation
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Miranda Townsend
Agricultural Economist
California Department of Food and Agriculture
UC Santa Cruz, 2020
UC Davis, Agricultural and Resource Economics Masters Program
Environmental & Related Sciences
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, Government & Public Sector
Research and Development (R&D)
Pell Grant Recipient
Video Highlights
1. Internships are crucial for gaining experience and exploring different aspects of the field.
2. Networking with professors and professionals significantly boosts career prospects; utilize faculty networks.
3. Actively seek out less formal networking opportunities; these can lead to internships and other valuable experiences
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
Definitely internships. I did all those kind of random, oddball internships, just kind of feeling the water and seeing what I liked and what I didn't like. Going back to the last question about networking, talking to a professor, I honestly wish I had someone telling me this when I was in undergrad.
I would have done it more, but I talk to a lot more faculty in my master's program. Faculty love to help students get jobs, internships, whatever, or just give general advice. They have these huge networks of people that they know, and if you can connect into that, it would definitely boost your success.
I did a little bit of that, but the networking I did was significantly helpful. It has all kind of chain-linked together to get me where I am now. Especially my internship at the EPA, that was all basically based on I knew somebody. They were like, "Oh yeah, we could do a summer internship and get you in here, and you can kind of experience what's going on."
It wasn't something I saw on LinkedIn or officially posted somewhere. She was just kind of like, "Yeah, we could use an intern if you want to explore your field." So, internships and networking, I would say.