Having just completed their theses for their Master's degrees in Food Studies, Teaghan Rose and Amanda Wakefield are already stepping into the next challenge: putting their knowledge into practice in internship placements. We caught up with them just as these placements are beginning, and they shared some insight into what they can expect from the coming months.
My internship is with the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) in the Human Resources, Business Partner unit. There are basically two parts to my job. The first is managing IFAD's internship program which involves screening possible candidates and then once a candidate has been selected I process them in order to create a contract and set them up with everything they need to start the internship. I also work with organizations in other countries who sponsor interns at IFAD, for example South Korea's Department of Agriculture has an internship program at the moment. The second part of my job involves assisting in the recruitment process for staff positions. This involves screening candidates, assisting in the disbursement of tests for candidates, and recording details of interviews. So far, it has been an interesting job and I am excited to continue.
Teaghan Rose
I am working for the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT as a Communications Intern for the Cocoa of Excellence Programme. The Cocoa of Excellence Programme celebrates the diversity of cacao and recognizes producers from around the world through a global competition. Every two years, producers have the opportunity to send a sample of their beans to Cocoa of Excellence to be evaluated, recognized, and potentially awarded. The beans are given a blind code and are carefully evaluated by a Technical Committee. Once evaluated, the top 50 are selected and there is a ceremony in Paris. Moreover, the programme provides market opportunity for producers and encourages the preservation of cacao diversity.
Amanda Wakefield
Congratualtions to Teaghan and Amanda, and we look forward to catching up with them later on in their internship experiences.
