PODCAST: Engaging Gen Z’ers to Agbiosciences Sector
![PODCAST: Engaging Gen Z’ers to Agbiosciences Sector](https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/19938456_G.jpg)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe senior director of talent for AgriNovus Indiana says Indiana is doing a good job training and attracting talent in core agricultural careers, but Melissa Rekeweg says there is more room for growth to recruit students in allied fields.
She says as the state continues to build its agbiosciences sector, Indiana will need more students to pursue careers in IT, engineering, and business with a focus on agriculture.
“We need to find a way to attract students to the sector and let them know that their biology major or business major has a great fit here,” said Rekeweg in this week’s edition of the Ag+Bio+Science podcast presented by AgriNovus. “I think they (students) were not making that connection.”
Rekeweg says that’s why AgriNovus launched its Field Atlas, an online tool to help high school and college students take a deeper dive into career choices associate with agbiosciences.
“When you go to the site, you’re going to find really three main areas, careers, pathways and employers. Currently, we have 91 careers out there, and there’s going to be more every day,” Rekeweg told Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick.
Rekeweg acknowledged there is no shortage of career resources and websites which offer an abundance of information. But she says many of those are basic descriptions pulled from government data.
“We knew that would not engage Gen Z students,” said Rekeweg, which is why she says the AgriNovus Field Atlas offers a different perspective.
“We pulled that information so that we have the correct information, but we rewrote it in a Gen Z fashion so that when students are on the site, they’re going to really engage and find interest in what they’re looking at.”
Rekeweg says when she talks to IT students, many are looking at careers at Google, Amazon or Salesforce. She tells them their digital skills can translate into other overlooked careers.
“We have a lot of companies within the agbioscience sector where the skill and the abilities that they have and would use it those companies, they can apply to our companies as well,” Rekeweg said.
If you want to learn more about the Field Atlas, click here.
The full podcast will be available Monday morning. Click here for more information on how you can listen.