Steve dollar enology student

[Sdollar2]

Iam fixing to graduate with a enology cert from atu ozark in Arkansas have 9 months winery experience and lots of vineyard and irrigation hours iam having trouble finding a job in the industry anybody have any ideas. I also put one of my wines a 5050 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and merlot I called caberlot it won three golds in Altus at the grapefest did anyone else enter to that comp..

 

[GreginND]

I think the following suggestions would be valid for any industry, not necessarily enology/wine.

Make as many contacts as you can. Have the faculty you worked with make contacts for you in the wine industry. Being hired is not necessarily about being the best, it's about being the best connected!

Move to an area that has a high concentration of vineyards and wineries. Talk to those folks who are already in the jobs you are interested in and get advice on how to break into the industry. I would think California and the west coast is probably saturated with qualified people. Maybe target some of the other areas in the US such as New York, Michigan, Missouri, etc.

Look for the professional trade magazines in your specialty. They will have the most appropriate job postings. You could also contact the Grape Growers Association in the states you are interested and see if they can get the word out to their members that you are available.

Finally, and please don't take this the wrong way, you should pay attention to how you write. Proper grammar, spelling and terminology is important for making a good first impression. Frankly, if I was looking to hire someone and I saw a post like yours above, I wouldn't even bother looking further. I realize we now live in a "texting" society, but your post implies that you are too lazy to type out complete words, pay attention to spelling and that you don't care about grammar. This shows lack of attention to details and not a trait one would want in an employee. I would suggest being careful in ANY public arena that you are writing in.

 

[Runningwolf]

I think Greg's comments are accurate. Another avenue to make contacts is Linkedin.

 

[robie]

I would suggest being careful in ANY public arena that you are writing in.

Oh, and never end a sentence with a preposition!!! Practice what you preach.
Being a little hard on the fellow aren't you? There is a difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism.

..................
Steve,
Good luck on your new career. There is lots of wine-related activity around Arkansas, but you really will need to broaden your search. Of course just north of you are Missouri and Iowa - both grow lots of wine grapes.

There is a job posting section at http://vinoenology.com/. Check morewine.com; I know they have a nice wine-related bulletin board which may help you locate prospective employers. Send a resume to every winery you can find and be willing to start at the very bottom.

Winning the gold is not a bad thing, either. Congrats!!! Put together a sharp resume and be sure to mention your metal.

Good luck to you and let us know how it goes for you.

 

[DoctorCAD]

As a hiring person, I agree with Greg. I have thrown resume's out for "texting" language. I don't care if the person is fully qualified or not, if they cannot communicate via written message, I'm am not hiring them...period.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Missouri has over 100 winerys. You can go to Missouriwine.org for a full list. There are also countless vineyards where people only sell their grapes to the winerys but do not operate a winery. Good luck in the job search!

 

[winemaker_3352]

Oh, and never end a sentence with a preposition!!! Practice what you preach.
Being a little hard on the fellow aren't you? There is a difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism.

..................
Steve,
Good luck on your new career. There is lots of wine-related activity around Arkansas, but you really will need to broaden your search. Of course just north of you are Missouri and Iowa - both grow lots of wine grapes.

There is a job posting section at http://vinoenology.com/. Check morewine.com; I know they have a nice wine-related bulletin board which may help you locate prospective employers. Send a resume to every winery you can find and be willing to start at the very bottom.

Winning the gold is not a bad thing, either. Congrats!!! Put together a sharp resume and be sure to mention your metal.

Good luck to you and let us know how it goes for you.

That is too funny. I agree - this is just a forum and he was looking for some answers.


MO has a lot of wineries in the Herman/Augusta Region and in the Ste. Gen area and Ozark area.

 

[Sdollar2]

i appreciate any criticism i know this is a public place and people can see it but i would never use "text talk" in any formal type of documents. with that being said thanks to all for your help i will continue to look around, probably going to have to look at a different state iam not getting a lot of help from the winiries around here partially because of lack of grapes this year and partially because of this wierd altus thing where i worked for wiederkehrs for an internship and ive been told by a certain winery where i was looking to go next that i was spying for mr. wiederkehr. This industry should be about helping eachother. Thanks for all the help i have gotten.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I am sorry to hear that. Such a political world.

Good luck to you - and keep us updated...

 

[robie]

i appreciate any criticism i know this is a public place and people can see it but i would never use "text talk" in any formal type of documents. with that being said thanks to all for your help i will continue to look around, probably going to have to look at a different state iam not getting a lot of help from the winiries around here partially because of lack of grapes this year and partially because of this wierd altus thing where i worked for wiederkehrs for an internship and ive been told by a certain winery where i was looking to go next that i was spying for mr. wiederkehr. This industry should be about helping eachother. Thanks for all the help i have gotten.

Steve, you don't owe anyone an explanation. Think about the type of person it takes to come on a forum and blast someone they don't even know.

I am sure you already realize you must be willing to start at the very bottom. That could mean working in the winery for years and never directly affecting the wine. Maybe a good read for you would be the book "Judgement of Paris". In it you will see how two wine makers started at the very bottom but eventually, with lots of hard work and perseverance made it to the top.

It's a long road, so just get started somewhere.

I frequently have to evaluate resumes. If you have the need, PM me your resume and I'll gladly look it over for you and if needed, provide you with some "constructive criticism".

 

[GreginND]

Think about the type of person it takes to come on a forum and blast someone they don't even know.

Robie, I apologize if I have somehow offended you. I did not provide my feedback to blast anyone but to provide insight and help. I have seen so many very qualified students make this mistake and lose out on great opportunities because of lack of attention to these details. I think you may be misinterpreting my intentions. That's easy to do on a forum where we only see written words and no body language context. Perhaps we can start over?

Steve, please accept my apology if I came across harsh. I wanted only to give you advice. I realize this is "just a forum" but winemakers and winery owners do read this site. A post about seeking employment in the industry, on an industry related forum, should be carefully crafted in my opinion. And that's all this is; my opinion.

Sorry to hear you had to deal with suspicious winery owners. In my experience most winery owners are cooperative and want to work together. But there's always a few spoilers in the bunch.

Have you looked at some of the on-line winery employment websites? Here's one that I found quickly: http://www.winebusiness.com/classifieds/winejobs/. Perhaps there are some leads there or on some of the other job sites.

Best of luck to you.

 

[robie]

Robie, I apologize if I have somehow offended you. I did not provide my feedback to blast anyone but to provide insight and help.

You haven't offended me. There is more than one way to convey an idea. Some ways of conveying that idea are better received than others.

 

[Sdollar2]

Awesome I will do that I was waiting for next semester to look hard because I will be graduating in the fall thought it would be better to have the cert. on there and now my medals

 

[Sdollar2]

Well starting Monday I will start my new job as the winemaker for a local winery (small farm). On Tuesday we will be harvesting 10k lbs of cynthiana(norton) and I will be deciding yeast ,nutrients cold soak mlf it's all me I can't wait to see how this wine turns out. I have been reading up on this hybrid variety and I will be ready to make a wine that will turn this winery around. Also this is a huge chance to make a name for myself.

 

[Runningwolf]

This sounds great. Best of luck to you and Congratulations!

 

[GreginND]

Congratulations. How exciting for you. I've tasted some pretty exceptional nortons but I've never had my hands on the grapes. Best of luck in your new endeavor.