Another University year is ending and there will be a new cohort of University graduates spilling out into the workforce.
A few years ago the number of students enrolling agriculture and related studies started to increase and this will translate to many graduates seeking work into our important sector.
If your organisation has the opportunity hire graduates, you’ll be ‘spoilt for choice’ and at this time some tips on hiring the right candidate may be timely as you commence the recruitment process.
- Forget about their geographic location. Look outside the pool of available graduates in your local area. To kickstart their career, they should be willing to move to take up your position.
- Hire on enthusiasm. You can teach an employee anything, but you can’t teach them a positive and enthusiastic attitude or make them willing to learn.
- Attitude adjustment. We’ve all been in a similar situation whether we’ve been to UNI or just left school. You are full of theory and information – some of it is not so practical in the real world. You’ll need to excuse this when hiring your grad, but if you listen carefully, you might even pick up a new idea, innovation or two.
- Don’t discount graduates who do not come from a farming background. They will be keen to learn, have an obvious interest in agriculture and have done the ‘hard yards’ with their study.
- Check their resumes for extracurricular activities. This will give you an insight if they can work in groups or may work well in a team. If they have participated as a Captain in team sports, this will also be a strong indication they have the attributes of a leader.
- Ensure all your candidates are literate. This may sound unusual, but asking them to handwrite answers to questions or even write a small essay on why they want the role may be a good idea. I’ve seen candidates hired who you realise must have relied solely on spell check and had their assignments completed by others.
- Look to see if they have work experience of any kind and check for referees. It will be an easier transition into the workforce if they have worked before.
- Ensure they have researched your organisation, a must for any candidate.
- You must consider their transcript results. You may not require someone with all High Distinctions, but if have just ‘passed’ all of their subjects, this could be a sign about their future work ethic.
- Ensure your search is national to ensure you have the best pool of candidates. Using Agcareers.com will reach your target candidates in any part of Australia.
Sonya Buck
November 02, 2015
Newsletter Article
