4 Ways to Appeal to the Non-Ag Student

Recruiting for your openings can be difficult, especially when you are an ag company looking for students without agricultural backgrounds or degrees. When your entry-level accountant position is open, do you really need an employee that understands the industry, or just a really good accountant? Now finding recruiting strategies that do not cause you to have two separate recruitment strategies or spend twice as much money on your recruitment needs can be a little difficult. However, you will be amazed at how AgCareers.com can be a resource for non-ag students! In 2015, 35% of our applicants held a non-ag degree and 41% of applicants were currently in a non-ag related occupation.

A few ways to strategically recruit non-ag students may be:

1. Look into attending non-ag career fairs or entire college career fairs. This allows you to interact personally with those students. A new option that we are launching this fall is the AgCareers.com Virtual Career fair. With over 35% of our job seeker community not currently in or with a background in agriculture you can interact with them from your desk. No travel fees, or wasting excessive amounts of time makes a virtual career fair the perfect place to recruit!

5 Ways to Use Social Media to Recruit Ag Talent

Social Media has become a necessary evil. According to our the 2015-2016 Agribusiness HR Review, 74% of companies used or planned to use social media to recruit ag talent, but how? We have a growing love-hate relationship with it and deciding whether or not it is or isn’t appropriate to use for work is a constant debate in board rooms. When it comes to recruitment, having the time, resources, and knowing the best ways to utilize social media is key. If you don’t have a website, starting with one is key to your social media presence and recruiting online. This will allow you to have a centralized location that your social media account(s) will link back, to share more about your company culture. To streamline your social media efforts here are 5 ways to use social media to recruit ag talent!

5 Ways to Use Social Media to Recruit

1. Either creating your own following on Facebook or utilizing the AgCareers.com Facebook page which has already established a following with agriculture job seekers is a great way to post your job openings and connect with job seekers, passive and active. Facebook also allows others to share posts to their own following, or send it to a friend. This is a great way to capitalize on Facebook followers. AgCareers.com also offers a consulting service to help your company build its social media presence.

10 Positive Attributes Millenials Bring to the Workplace

More than 1 in 3 workers in America are millennials, which is anyone between the age of 18 and 34 as of 2015. Since the beginning of my career I have had to overcome many stereotypical attributes associated with me because of my age/generation. I’d like to think that I’m not your typical millennial but after working on the top 10 positive attributes they bring, I’m completely okay with that label! I reached out to my social network (imagine that), tweeted, posted on Linkedin and Facebook and asked my professional and personal network what they thought were positive attributes of milleniials. Some I wouldn’t have thought because I feel like it comes naturally but maybe that is what makes us a benefit in some office environments.

1. Networking – They know how to build and leverage their networks online, on the plane and at Thirsty Thursday happy hour!

2. Communication – They know how to utilize multiple communication channels to keep their office in tune of their status and have a great understanding of appropriateness/professionalism.

3. Confidence – whether it is in a meeting, at a reception, or turning in a project, millennials are confident in their abilities and themselves.

Selling the Job in a Job Posting

A resume is supposed to sell a job candidate to the employer, but how do you get top talent to want to apply to your position? When thinking of job descriptions think of it as selling a product. You are trying to sell your company culture, position, and benefits to multiple qualified individuals, and more importantly trying to get them to think your company is better than others OR their current company. Think about when you attend a career fair. Those questions asked by job seekers are the questions you should be answering in your job descriptions! Many people use their internal job descriptions for online job postings, but with some minor tweaks your jobs will stand out above the rest!

Top 10 best practices of Online Job Descriptions 

1. Including Benefits – insurance, 401k, vacation days, tuition reimbursement, clothing allowance, etc. These are all benefits that help sell your position/company. You don’t have to give specifics away but showing that they are there is a plus!
2. Clear Understanding of Travel – 10%, 25%, 75%…estimate before you spend time and money interviewing someone who isn’t interested or wants more or less.
3. Company Culture – Do you have an annual field day with your employees and their families? What company morals do you feel is important? You should include 3-5 sentences on what makes your company unique.
4. Awards – Was your company voted best place to work, dog-friendly, fastest growing, featured in articles? Putting your top 3-5 awards will show that your company strives to be the best.
5. What does your company do? – You should include 2-3 sentences on the type of business your company does, products/services you offer. Not everyone will recognize your company brand or have time to Google you. Help them understand to make a quick decision while reading your description.
6. Videos – Day in the life or company commercials are perfect on Online Job Descriptions. It allows a job seeker to see first hand the work environment.
7. Job Requirements – Make sure you include bullets clearly explaining what the position will be doing. Giving the job seeker a clear understanding of the job helps them shape their resume and cover letter and will make it easier for the hiring manager to sort through resumes.
8. Minimum Qualifications – 3+ years, B.A. in agriculture, etc. are all ways to give job seekers a clear understanding of who you are looking for.
9. Promoting your Employer Brand – How do you promote your employer brand? Does your company have a marketing campaign for it? Check out Southern States job postings for a perfect example of promoting your employer brand.
10. Salary – Nobody wants to be the first to throw out a number but putting a range or minimum salary could increase your applicant traffic. Need data to see what the competitive salary is for certain positions, contact AgCareers.com’s Compensation Benchmarking Review Team to benchmark your roles or current openings, compensation@agcareers.com.

Hopefully these tips will help you in your recruitment strategies and make your online job descriptions the voice of your company culture and brand.  Remember, anything that makes your employer brand stand out should always be included! Don’t forget to check out our Online Job Description Checklist!