PLANET hosts Student Career Days

JOLIET, Ill. – College students from 60 schools throughout the United States and Canada converged on Joliet Junior College in mid-March to learn, network and compete against each other in industry-related events.

PLANET’s 35th Annual Student Career Days was held from March 17-20 in the Chicago suburb and attracted 1,250 attendees, 875 of which were students, according to PLANET.

The event started with a day full of learning from industry experts. The workshops and seminars covered everything from leadership lessons and repairing small engines to irrigation installation and landscape design.

Day two started with an opening ceremony, which included a roll call where each school stood up and chanted to show school pride. For audience engagement and creativity during the roll call, the spirit award and winner of $1,000 from John Deere was Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture, which only had three students in attendance.

Garret Van Santen, a student from the Canadian school, said attending the PLANET event opens up connections and opportunities for students.

Student Career Days also included a career fair, which brought manufacturers, suppliers and landscaping businesses in the industry to interview students and offer internships and jobs.

Paul Hutcheson, a senior at Virginia Tech, is in the process of opening his own garden center. He said he found the career fair helpful because he was able to network and make three or four industry connections he could see turning into business or mentoring relationships.

“Even though I’m not looking for a job, I enjoyed the career fair,” he said.

Attending his first Student Career Days, Hutcheson said he was looking forward to the competitive aspect of the event.

“I like competing in different events that aren’t purely competitive, but have an atmosphere of teamwork and learning,” he said.

The competitions, which are based on information learned on day one, allow students and ultimately, schools to go head to head.

A final highlight was a keynote presentation by Judy Guido, chairwoman and founder of Guido & Associates. Her message: personal branding.

A personal brand is two things, Guido said. One, it is name awareness: How many people know who you are? And second, it’s reputation: What do others think about you?

“Life is not about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself,” Guido said.

The 36th Annual Student Career Days will be held at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., March 22-25, 2012.

The author is an associate editor at Lawn & Landscape. She can be reached at clawell@gie.net.