U.S. Department of Agriculture Agencies Organize Historic USDA Career Fair at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Contact: Jay Ivey

Jay.Ivey@usda.gov

706-510-5318

ATHENS, Ga., Apr. 1, 2024 – Eleven agencies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently organized a historic USDA career fair hosted at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). At the career fair, representatives from the 11 USDA agencies shared information on the federal career and internship opportunities available through the Department. 

“With agriculture being Georgia’s largest industry, it is vital that the next generation of agricultural leaders are aware of the wide array of career opportunities available through the USDA,” said Arthur Tripp, Jr., USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director in Georgia. “By hosting this event at ABAC, our collective agencies were able to provide hundreds of students and recent graduates with the information and resources they need to navigate the Department’s available internship and career opportunities.” 

Around 300 students and recent graduates were in attendance at the career fair to learn more about USDA career opportunities. The attendees represented a wide variety of majors and interests. The USDA agencies represented at the career fair included the Agricultural Marketing Service, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Farm Service Agency, Food and Nutrition Service, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Forest Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Risk Management Agency, and Rural Development. 

“We are proud that ABAC was able to host our first USDA-specific career fair,” said ABAC President Tracy Brundage. “It was open to all majors, we had great attendance, and we plan to make it an annual event with even more USDA agencies participating next year.” 

This event was part of the USDA’s mission to support student engagement, recruitment, retention, and agricultural workforce development. With over 100,000 employees at more than 4,500 locations across the world, careers at USDA are diverse, rewarding, and in demand. USDA offers employment opportunities for students and recent graduates to work in agriculture, science, technology, math, nutrition, food systems, management, business, and managing the impacts of climate change.

The USDA offers federal internship and employment opportunities for current students, recent graduates, recent veterans, and those with advanced degrees through several pathway opportunities:

The Pathways Internship Program provides year-round paid work experiences for current degree-seeking high-school, undergraduate, and graduate students. Interns may work during the summer, fall, spring or year-round and are eligible for non-competitive conversion upon program completion.

The Pathways Recent Graduates Program is for graduates within two years of degree or certificate completion, and for veterans within 6 years of obtaining a degree. Fellows are placed in a one-year career development program that may be non-competitively converted upon completion of program requirements.

The Presidential Management Fellows Program is the flagship leadership development program for advanced degree candidates. In addition to salary and benefits, fellows earn a two-year appointment that may be converted to a permanent appointment.

The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is a partnership between USDA and the 1890 historically black land-grant colleges and universities. The program provides full tuition, fees, books, room, and board to students pursuing degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. When the student has completed the academic and summer work requirements of the scholarship, USDA may at its discretion convert the student to a permanent employee without further competition.

In addition to these pathways, the USDA offers a host of different internship and employment opportunities. Those interested in learning more about additional job and internship opportunities available through the USDA can visit www.usda.gov/our-agency/careers or www.usajobs.gov.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit usda.gov.