work ethic, has a willingness to learn and gets along well with the other employees. That will give someone an edge in getting hired.” Whitson has hired many professionals during his
career. Once they have proved to have the proper cre- dentials, he considers their other activities. “Did they work going to college and still end up with a respect- able grade point average? Were they active in things? What were his or her summer jobs? For students from urban backgrounds it will be more important if they want to be employable in agriculture to get some sum- mer jobs in that area.”
The ability to communicate Communication skills range from the ability to write
a letter to sharing information for problem solving to having the ability to listen and learn more about your job or career fi eld. Hireable graduates should be able to spell and use
correct grammar. “Nothing hurts a young person more than submitting a letter seeking employment that con- tains 4 or 5 misspelled words or misused grammar,” Whitson says. Communication is fundamental to successful team
work and leadership. “The ability to work in a team setting is important because so many jobs are not done alone,” Whitson says, and encourages young people to be a part of programs such as 4H and FFA or other team activities. Baize says the ability to be a problem solver is a use-
ful skill for hireable graduates, and solving problems requires the ability to discuss the problem and craft a solution. “You’re not always going to have all the pieces of the puzzle when you’re trying to put a project together. You’ll have to talk to the team, or your coworkers, see what piece is missing and what you can pull in from somewhere else to get it to work.” In summer or part-time jobs, communicate with the
supervisor or employer, letting him or her know that you would like to be involved in a new task that’s outside of your job area. “You might ask if you could tag along, be involved or watch,” Whitson says. Leiber agrees, saying “Interaction with people will
be a necessary part of a job. Your ability to communi- cate and to understand others is important. When you start out and get the fi rst job, you haven’t learned it all in high school and college. You’re always learning and need the ability to grasp things and to learn, and the discipline to stay after it. Even when the topic might not be real interesting, it’s important.”
tscra.org
He adds with a chuckle, “I never got smarter than
I was at 21. I’ve sure gotten a lot dumber since then. I didn’t know what I didn’t know back then, but I was sure confi dent I knew it all. Today I realize I don’t know a lot.”
Willing to respect other’s opinions I asked each person which class in their education
has proved to be the most useful to them almost every day. Leiber says that after his accounting and fi nance classes, the psychology courses he took in college have served him very well. “I learned that there are a lot of differences be-
tween people and the way they think. It’s not right or wrong,” he says. “I learned that you can’t dismiss other people for
the way they look at life and their experiences. You can’t just dismiss it as being wrong. They just look at things differently than you. “It opened me up to be more patient and under-
standing” of others, he says. “It helped in my family life and has helped in the business world, making me realize that often the issues we deal with in the work environment can be complex and there may be more going on than we know.”
Basic understanding of accounting Whitson, Leiber and Baize encourage every student
to take an accounting class. “There is nothing worse than going into a business operation and being thrown into an accounting situation when a young employee has had absolutely no exposure to it,” Whitson says. Baize agrees, “Even if the student doesn’t plan on
having business as a career, he or she needs some good, sound, basic accounting skills. Everyone needs to know how to fi ll out a fi nancial statement and know the difference between an asset and a liability.” Leiber says his accounting education has clearly
been helpful in work, but has also paid off by helping him manage his personal life and care for his family. Share these tips with students to help them become
a hireable graduate. Whitson encourages young people to take advantage of the entry-level jobs they’ll be look- ing for once they are ready to start a career. “Always look for learning opportunities. Look for ways you can go beyond the minimum that’s expected. Put in addi- tional effort and look at it as an opportunity to prove yourself. Be willing to take on additional responsibil- ity when it comes your way. You want to be seen as a person who’s willing to work hard to get where he or she is going,” he says.
October 2016 The Cattleman 145
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