My name is Genevieve and I'm an agribusiness student and I'm
here with Ammar an agribusiness lecturer today we are going to answer some of
your questions
all right I've got the first question what are some of the coolest jobs your
former students are doing? There's a lot too that comes to mind one
is a commodity broker in the united states in the US yeah and
there's another one who created I can't remember the name it's it's
sustainable it's banana that's waste yeah and he's making
them he's turning them into ice cream I think it's exciting. Okay I've got a
question for you Gen how does the way you learn at UQ teach
you the skills you need to face and unknown future? I
think it teaches us the skills Ammar to face in the unknown future
because it's about hands-on experience it's
about applying the knowledge that the lecturers teach us
and putting it into practice every day and it gives us the skills because
if we already have a base ground coming from agricultural backgrounds
in agribusiness it teach us the skills to talk to
businesses, not just the farmers and that's important in agriculture
thanks Gen, you got a question for me? Yeah my turn, so what opportunities
do your students have to get your hands-on experience in our industry?
Well we've got what we call capstone course what it does it builds on
your experience in the first semester in the second semester in the third
semester you get to actually ask consultants with you
with major agribusinesses i think that one's also good
because it's a whole everyone from your agribusiness course is in there as well
so you guys know who you're studying with and it's a it's
a group project is that what you're going to be doing
next semester yes good luck. What do you think employers in your
industry are looking for and how do you think UQ has equipped you
with these skills? I think employers in the industry are
looking for people who show a commitment integrity
um a passion for agriculture and agribusiness
and also driven in the industry to not just go we're doing
say we're just doing this at the moment but to go all right we're doing this but
how can we expand the commodity or expanding the
enterprise thinking outside the box, exactly yeah i'm thinking outside the
box and how do you think UQ has equipped with that skill,
thinking outside the box? I think because it's given us
yeah updated knowledge of the industry and it's always
reoccurring and because you can look at it and go
in 2020 this happens so then they'll apply it to a subject
where you can have a real hands-on about the technology that's coming through
and everything and learn do you find the industry
you know getting CEOs from different companies coming in do you find that
interesting do you find that you know? Yeah I think it's interesting because
you get to hear from their side of farming and you can sit
there as a student and go would you like that to be me in five
years in that working for that company and
then maybe in 20 years or 25 years I could be
another thing in that company. What makes a good student and are they
the same things that make a good job candidate? My perspective when I see
someone committed turning up the class doing their work on time um that's
that's half of the battle won already that's that's if it's that's the sign of
a good student and um I guess the other thing that makes a good student and I
think I see this a lot is that when you're a good student
generally you're also a good employee or potential employee. What makes UQ a
great place to study agricultural science and animal science?
The greatest thing is the Gatton campus is here to watch teaching agricultural
and animals animal science it's about 60 minutes away from the St
Lucia campus and there's buses three buses that takes you from St
Lucia to Gatton twice a day. What do you think a regional university
campus like Gatton offers students? We've got students from you
know that come from different backgrounds we've got students that come
from livestock industry students that come
from cropping and we also got students coming from
from other countries that's number one where you get to share you know
wealth of experience amongst yourselves and the other thing is about the
facilities that we have at Gatton, we've got a dairy we've got a piggery um
quite clinical experience yeah it's clinical experience and um
oh and of course one of the most important thing is where right smack
center in the middle of you know where agriculture
happens yeah where you know you go up to Toowoomba, you can go to
broad acre cropping and you've got horticulture just around a few
and the other thing i think that's also important then is that the world-class
agricultural science that's happening the research that's happening at UQ
students have the opportunity to expose themselves to the ongoing research
that's happening and keep up to date with what's changing
Okay Gen tell me, what does the day in the life of agribusiness students
look like? I'll tell you a day in a life of an Agribusiness student
what it would look like but not a general day so
you would start going to class in the morning and then you might have a break
for like two hours in the middle so you'd
go get something to eat from the cafe again and then you'd sit in the library
and study and then you'd go to your next lecture
and then past after class there's also
associations like the UQ Agribusiness Association and
if you're the president yes i'm the president of that and
they do other outside activities like dinners
with social networking so you can get to know
outside of uni companies and future employment and have a chat to
them about what they're doing or things like that what about learning
from other cities as well I mean you all come from different
backgrounds right yeah different farming activities and stuff how do you find
that interesting how you know how does that shape you as a student?
I think it shapes me as a student because I've got to know
for example I have a good friend who's a cotton farmer so I've got to know about
cotton farming where I come from a property that is not
involved in cotton where now i could tell someone about cotton and
about the enterprise instead of just going I know about sheep I know about
cattle I know about crops but i don't know anything like that I
don't know anything about it no you do exactly
excellent alright If you were employing the next
agribusiness graduate what would you be looking for? Someone
who actually thinks outside the box because one of the things that i think
is important you know when students come in
especially new students and they come in and you know in the first year it's all
right you know how do I do this how many pages should I write how many
references should i include but as you progress you want to see them
thinking for themselves students that can critically
think I think that's that's that's really important Gen
what is the most interesting thing that you've learned that has not been part of
your coursework? Well I think outside of the coursework
the clubs and associations do a really good job
of teaching us different skills that not just
the lecturers or the courses teach us for example the UQ Agribusiness
Association has taught me how to network with people who may be CEOs or heads of
big companies and to look up to them but also
to just understand that they're actually a person and to
ask them about how their days or ask them about
what their business is and trying involved that way
What have you learned about yourself since you began
your studies at UQ? This taught me to be down to earth
be in love with agriculture which I am and take hobbies up there and revolve
around agriculture and agribusiness and to broaden my
communication skills with everyone and especially like you said we
get people coming in to speak to us from the companies
and I think that also gives me more experience when I've learned that
I can communicate with them on a general knowledge
basis. If you could give me one piece of advice
that would set me apart as a job candidate what would it be? Number one
is getting the experience while you're working while you're studying getting
experience and and iIm saying this not just from my
perspective but from what i've heard from all those you know
ceos that we've got coming and telling what they're looking for so they want to
see experience you want to step up that you've done
some little you know you've done some work outside
they want to see you to be brave someone who would stand up and ask a question
not afraid to ask a question and they want someone who can think outside the
box here's a problem solve it for me and i
guess that's one or three piece of advice that i could
give you to do a good job thank you