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Going the extra mile

Animal sciences student treks the Midwest to become best 2009 Pfizer intern

Charles Spencer Thompson, left, displays an award given to him by Pfizer's Kevin Yaeger, right. Photo courtesy Kevin Yaeger.

Charles Spencer Thompson, a senior studying animal sciences at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, was the top-rated dairy pharmaceutical sales intern for Pfizer Animal Health, among eight interns from across the United States.

As a regional salesperson in a four-state area including Missouri, his job was to meet with dairy producers the company's representatives do not usually visit. He saw about 300 producers during his 10-week internship, telling them about company's products and rebate program and garnering more than $150,000 in sales.

Kevin Yaeger, a senior dairy territory manager for Pfizer Animal Health and Thompson's mentor, said Thompson excelled because of his strong work ethic. He pored over training materials to learn details about the products he was selling, and he programmed his GPS each night to efficiently plan the next day's sale route.

"Thompson comes from a beef farm, so he was knowledgeable about this aspect of agriculture," Yaeger said. "He took every opportunity to learn more. "

Thompson, a Nevada, Mo., native, hopes to be accepted into a college of veterinary medicine and practice as a large-animal veterinarian after his graduatation from CAFNR.

Starting students on their career paths

The Pfizer sales internship program is designed to identify talented, well-educated young professionals and give them experience in sales. The program is an opportunity for the interns to determine whether they are suited for sales careers and for Pfizer to determine whether interns will fit into the company.

Each intern is paid $700 per week and is provided with a car, a GPS device and a laptop computer. The company also pays for meals and travel expenses.

"Internships are a great way for students to clarify educational and career goals," Yaeger said. "Internships also enhance their classroom experiences, build new skills and knowledge of a field of interest, bolster a resume, network with people in the profession of interest, and increase employment marketability and earning potential."

They also give students a way to sample the working world.

Many companies and organizations offer internships to CAFNR students, including the St. Louis Zoo, Monsanto, the Missouri Attorney General's Office, the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, the National Weather Association, the City of Columbia, the U.S. State Department, Rocky Mountain National Park, John Deere and the Missouri Corn Growers Association.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' 2009 Experiential Education Survey, 67.7 percent of 2007-08 interns received offers for full-time employment.

"In this competitive market, students with multiple internships have a definite advantage," said Stephanie Chipman, director of CAFNR Career Services. "From the knowledge and skills gained to the professional contacts made, those with multiple internships are more likely to receive desired full-time offers."

Success through hard work

"The greatest challenge I came across was time management," Thompson said about his internship. "I worked with multiple vet clinics each week and was given a list of producers that I was to call on. To avoid much backtracking, it took a large amount of time to organize a sensible route to go from one farm to the next. Also, planning travel time was essential, as my territory covered from western Wisconsin to the southwestern part of Missouri."

Thompson's most surprising moment came when he found out that the interns would be meeting in New York City to give a presentation to senior Pfizer executives who wanted to hear about the interns' experiences and suggestions.

"The aspects of the internship I enjoyed the most were being able to cover such a large area and working with multiple vet clinics each week," Thompson said. "Being able to travel around such a large area exposed me to different environments and gave me the chance to learn variations between multiple dairy operations."

Did the internship better prepare him for his intended career?

"Absolutely," he said. "Not only was I able to learn about Pfizer and some of their pharmaceutical products, I was able to learn the economics that drive the dairy industry. Coming from a beef background, I really wanted to learn the dairy industry as a whole. This internship went above and beyond my expectations."

CAFNR intern Blake Ballard earns award

Thompson wasn't the only CAFNR intern recognized for excellence this summer. The Helena Chemical Company named Blake Ballard of Fulton one of two 2009 Outstanding West Central Division Intern award winners. Ballard is a CAFNR senior majoring in agricultural business management.

Ballard was selected from a group of 24 interns from upper and central Midwest universities. Ballard worked as a summer sales and marketing intern at the Osmond and Brunswick, Neb., retail locations.

Ballard worked with growers to evaluate agricultural chemicals, seed and fertilizers. He completed his internship in early August after completing assessments of 25 product plots and giving a presentation about his summer internship to the West Central Division Leadership Team, which evaluated his award-winning performance.

Ballard's award, designed to encourage creativity, provides $1,500 to assist with his college expenses.

Posted Sept. 22, 2009
Story: Randy Mertens

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