Summer Internship Student Spotlight: Omar Vargas-Torres

Ag business senior Omar Vargas-Torres had an enlightening internship this past summer working remotely with Cargill's operations management team, and gained key organizational, leadership and communication skills.

Read more about this experience and also competing in various national ag marketing and business competitions last year in this recent interview.


Q: Give us a quick overview of your internship at Cargill.

Vargas-Torres: "When I accepted this internship at the end of 2019 I never expected that it would have to be done virtually. Due to the current situation, Cargill decided that it would be best to keep all interns out of the various plant locations for the safety of current employees and interns, so I wasn't able to do my 3-month internship actually at their plant in Columbus, Nebraska. Instead, I was sent a laptop in order to work from home for a shorter time period of 2 months. I am grateful that Cargill continued on with the internship and allowed us to stay around family during these uncertain times."  

 

Q: What types of jobs & tasks did you do generally?

Vargas-Torres: "Throughout the internship I completed various projects and assignments for both my personal development and the continuous improvement of Cargill. There were four main projects that were assigned to each intern group. The group projects were focused on animal welfare, employee turnover, changeover time studies, and data analysis."

 

Q: What skills or experiences did you gain from the internship that they can apply to your potential career options? 

Vargas-Torres: "The virtual work environment allowed me to further develop my time management, communication, and leadership skills. I had to allocate my time in order to complete my independent assignments and group projects while also attending various virtual meetings. The group projects allowed me to take on leadership roles that presented interesting challenges and improved my interpersonal skills."

 

Q: Give a quick description of the department and types of clients you worked with typically? 

Vargas-Torres: "Since this internship was focused on the operations side of the company I was able to work with internal employees like the animal welfare advisor Lacey Alexander as well as the general managers of various plant locations." 

 

Q: What types of ag-related clubs are you involved with on campus?

Vargas-Torres: "I am a member of the ag business club."

 

Q: Do you directly work with any faculty on campus with research projects, etc.

Vargas-Torres: "In the fall of 2019 I was approached by department chair Dr. (Srini) Konduru about joining the National Grocers Student Case Study Competition for the following spring semester. I was able to work with Dr. (Patrick) Berends, Dr. (Serhat) Asci, and four other Jordan college students. Together we created a 15-minute presentation that provided an Ohio-based grocery store, Buehler’s, with some possible solutions to a problem of low coupon redemption rates. We made it past the first round but sadly were eliminated in the semi-finals. All in all, I had a great time and got to explore the expo with food industry leaders like Michael Ridenour from Kraft Heinz."

 

Q: What is your background in agriculture before you started at Fresno State?

Vargas-Torres: "My background in agriculture is more on the crop harvesting side. I come from a family of farm labor workers. My grandfather was given legal status by working in the U.S. harvesting crops. Growing up I worked alongside my parents harvesting oranges, grapes, olives, blueberries, grapefruit, and more. Although it was hard and back-breaking work, it gave me a great appreciation for our farm labor workers and gave me motivation to continue my education."

 

Q: After graduation, what's your potential next career step? 

Vargas-Torres: "At the end of August, I was offered a position by Cargill as an operations management associate and start in that position on May 31."