Grow your career on AgCareers.com
Advanced Search

Virtual Recruitment in Agriculture


Virtual Recruitment in Agriculture
  • AuthorKristine Penning
  • DateMay 05, 2020
  • MediumNewsletter Article
Continue to reach your company goals set for attracting and hiring talent with virtual recruitment. To remain competitive in the virtual recruitment world, here are some tactics to help you align your strategy with today's changing conditions.

 

Most agribusinesses have been working from home for a little while now. Our AgCareers.com “Agribusiness Workforce Preparations for COVID-19” survey report notes that 86% of U.S. agribusinesses and 75% of Canadian agribusinesses have allowed some or all employees to work from home due to the pandemic. So while at home, how can you and your HR team continue to drive your company’s staffing needs forward?

Continue to reach your company goals set for attracting and hiring candidates via virtual recruitment. In fact, the majority of agribusiness employers are continuing recruitment and hiring efforts despite COVID-19 (67% in the United States and 53% in Canada). To remain competitive, here are some tactics and tips that will help you align your recruitment strategy with today’s changing conditions:

  1. Continue Recruiting. Now is a great time to actively recruit agricultural talent despite challenging and disappointing circumstances. More than 20% of both US and Canadian agribusiness employees that participated in our research noted that their employment status had been affected by COVID-19. Furthermore, employees are exploring different options due to the pandemic. Approximately 50% of both Canadian and US employees were actively or casually searching for new employment.
  2. Candidate Selection. Continue to review resumes, phone screen, and narrow your candidate pool during this time.
  3. Video Interviewing. This may be run-of-the-mill to some employers in agribusiness, but to others, navigating video calling tools like Zoom, GoToMeeting, or Google Hangout is new territory. Get familiar with these tools by practicing calling your colleagues and meeting with them virtually. You’ll find that you can create a high-quality interviewing experience with applicants.

    There are a few things to note while video interviewing to make the best experience possible for both you and your candidates. Be sure you have a secure internet connection and consider hard wiring in with an ethernet cable to ensure your video call has the best quality. You might consider doing a test run beforehand with a coworker to ensure technology is cooperating.

    At AgCareers.com, we regularly advise job seekers to treat a video interview professionally, and we would advise employers to do the same. Dress as you would for an in-person interview at the office. It is also recommended that you choose a clean, well-lit area to conduct your interview. A blank wall behind you would be ideal. Finally, be as personable as you would be in person.

    For Interviewing Tips to Uncover Soft Skill Competency, including a virtual interviewing component, register for our Friday, May 8, 2020 webinar.
  4. Video and Screen Sharing. Choose a platform that will allow you to vide and screen share with your candidate(s). This will also allow your candidate(s) to share their personality with you as well as non-verbal cues. Screen sharing will allow candidates to present examples of past work.

Virtual recruitment can be unfamiliar, but we’re here to help. Contact us at agcareers@agcareers.com with questions you might have or explore our product offerings to kickstart your virtual recruitment journey today.

Ag jobs sent
right to your inbox.

Sign Up
Red Alert

Register for your free AgCareers.com account to receive exclusive information and features.

Candidate | Employer