News

Employment skills competition prepares FFA members for life

The long-running FFA Employment Skills competition continues to prepare members for entering the workforce. 

Wisconsin FFA contest judge Natalie Killian tells Brownfield the FFA member participants must submit a resume, a cover letter, and fill out a job application. “All of these are so world-applicable for these students, and then they participate in a ten-minute interview with all of the judges, and we have an opportunity to really dig down deeper into their motivation.”

Contest judge Rae Nell Halbur says it is not about the contest but about life in general. “They may need it next week for a job at Taco Bell or in four years for a job at Microsoft, I mean, it’s a lifetime skills contest.”

Halbur says the top state FFA participants go on to compete at a higher level, and students often ask the judging team what they can do better, even if they are not advancing to the next competition.

Killian says it is obvious the people who participate in the FFA employment skills competition at the state level will go on to be successful, in or out of production agriculture.

Halbur, Killian, and contest judge Teyanna Marx spoke to Brownfield during the 2021 Wisconsin FFA convention.