Herzog gives students a glimpse into the future at career day event
Praji Ghosh
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Herzog opened its doors for a career day event for students in area schools.
The event offered a hands-on opportunity for students to ask questions about the workforce and explore various career paths.
“We have 30 different stations just to introduce them to anything from the office to the field to the shop, which will expose them to what they might not already know about us,” said Heidi Sweeney, a recruiting manager at Herzog.
Sweeney said it’s up to each high school to decide which students to send and what grade levels will take part.
She also said that students have traveled from as far as Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas to take part in the event.
“We’ve seen Benton and Lafeyette out here today, in addition to that, we have had educators from about 60 60-mile radius that we work with come in the area,” Sweeney said.
One student said his biggest takeaway from the event was learning how crews use backhoes to help unload train cars.
“They’ve got welders and it’s crazy how many job opportunities they offer and I want to go into trades after high school, which is why my counselor wanted me to attend this,” said JJ Higdon, a junior from Maryville High School.
Herzog first launched Career Day in the spring of 2024, and after seeing strong participation that fall, the company decided to keep the event going.
Sweeney pointed out that Herzog offers a wide range of positions at different levels — giving students plenty of options to explore, no matter where their interests lie.
Another student said the environment felt welcoming and that attending the career day was definitely the right choice.
“Everybody knows each other and they work together to help each other out and my biggest takeaway from this was to learn the things that they do here,” said Grace Navarro, a sophomore at Lafayette High School.
The goal of the event is to help students explore potential career paths while giving them a better understanding of what Herzog does.