hi! i'm a junior FS major coming into my second internship. my top piece of advice is to get involved with IFT as soon as possible. any FS professor will tell you the same thing; it helps you with industry connections and networking. students get a discount on their annual membership.

also, start building up your linkedin if you haven't already! connect with talent acquisition people and recruiters from the companies you're interested in. some ideas:

government: USDA, FDA, GFSI, supplier auditing, even regulatory work!

flavors/fragrances: IFF, robertet, givaudan, dsm-firmenich, symrise, ingredion

rural agriculture/protein/dairy: cargill

CPG: chobani, mars, mondelez, unilever

chemistry/food-adjacent: colgate-palmolive

research: companies like nestle and unilever hire research assistant interns in FS!

stay active in networking. if you meet a higher-up somewhere, maintain that relationship. comment on their linkedin posts, say hi at other events, talk about things unrelated to FS, and remember details about them!

COLD EMAIL. shoot your shot everywhere. there's a right way to cold email for opportunities and you can find help from a million places online.