Hughson FFA member tops national job interview contest

You might want to hire this kid.

Mark Borges, a senior at Hughson High School, won the job interview contest at the FFA’s national convention in Louisville, Ky., last week. A year earlier, he was part of the poultry judging team that also placed first.

The interview contest involved mock conversations by telephone and in person, along with paper and online applications and a résumé and cover letter. Borges earlier won section, region and state competitions and faced 41 other state champions in the nationals.

“I would say you have to be genuine,” he said of his interview approach. “You have to be yourself and let your personality show.”

Borges added that it helps to do advance research on the job opening – in this case, a vegetable breeding internship with Monsanto Co. – but to also acknowledge what you don’t know.

He is the son of Don Borges, the agriculture dean at Modesto Junior College, and Kathy Borges. He serves as president of the Hughson FFA chapter and plans to study environmental science and agriculture, ideally at Cornell University in New York state. He hopes to work in some kind of food production that “bridges the gap between conventional farming and sustainable farming.”

FFA has many competitions involving crops, livestock, farm machinery and other aspects of agriculture, but it also teaches leadership, public speaking and other basic skills to its 610,000 or so members. Chapters are connected with agriculture classes in junior high and high schools.

Borges said his real jobs so far came through family connections, so he did not do formal interviews, but he values the skills he will need for future work.

Travis Cardoso, an ag teacher at Hughson, said Borges put in many hours preparing for Louisville.

“He’s a sharp young kid,” he said. “That contest is going to be very beneficial for him.”

Borges was part of the four-member Hughson team that won the poultry judging title last year. The others were Kristen Voss, Madelyn Vaca and Zach Rose. They showed their skill at evaluating the quality of live turkeys and chickens, eggs and meat.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Hughson FFA member tops national job interview contest."