AGCAREERS FOOD & AGRICULTURE CAREER GUIDE 6 Technology impacts every organization, and employers are seeking tech-savvy employees to join their teams. A prime example is the remarkable AI transformation over the past couple of years. You bring the latest education and unique approaches to social networking and outreach. Express your experience and comfort with digital tools! GROWTH MINDSET FOR THE LONG-TERM Employers stress the importance of lifelong learning as the industry evolves. As a student, your learning doesn’t stop in college and will continue throughout your career (AI is another good example here). Your generation demonstrates a growth mindset, adaptability, and dedication to turning setbacks into opportunities for progress. Employers highly value these employability skills, but students often underestimate them. Related to growth and longevity, you’re just beginning your career and could make a long-term commitment to your employer of choice. Agriculture and food employers report that their most concerning human resource matter is employee retention—keeping their top employees for the long haul. Training and onboarding a new employee are significant financial and time investments. Will you choose to commit, stay, and develop with the employer? If so, the company gains an excellent return on its investment. RELOCATION FLEXIBILITY When AgCareers polled agriculture and food industry professionals, those with more years of experience often stated that they didn’t apply to specific jobs because they were unwilling to relocate. This presents a powerful opportunity for students and recent grads: if you’re open to moving, you immediately stand out in a talent pool where many seasoned professionals are geographically limited. Often, new graduates are flexible; they do not own a home and have other local commitments preventing them from relocating for a new job. Make it known if you’re open to relocating—whether to another city, state, or even country. Flexibility like this significantly increases your marketability. When setting up your free job seeker account on AgCareers.com, be sure to select the “open to relocation” checkbox! REASONABLE SALARY EXPECTATIONS While it may not be the most exciting news, hiring inexperienced talent is a cost-effective option and an advantage for employers. Even if this doesn’t lift your spirits, it should motivate you to apply and compete, even if you don’t think you have a chance! When AgCareers polled job seekers, they found that salary wasn’t as crucial for inexperienced candidates, and they were more likely to apply for a job than seasoned candidates. YOUR SKILLS & EXPERIENCE Internships and student work experience in your field are invaluable. But I also encourage you to count any other work towards your total years of experience. Even part-time jobs in high school and college teach you valuable transferable skills in customer service, communication, and dependability. Emphasize volunteer work, class projects and research as well. Agriculture and food employers today prioritize employability skills such as problemsolving and decision-making when hiring and are willing to train for technical skills. A push of positivity: Be confident in highlighting the experiences you’ve already gained, along with your eagerness to learn and grow. ONE FINAL BOOST You are not alone: job seekers of all ages readily admit that lack of experience is a significant personal barrier to completing the application process (AgCareers Application Motivation Survey). So, you don’t meet all the qualifications listed in the job posting…what do you do? Check if the qualifications are required or preferred. Do you meet some of the criteria? Do you check many of the boxes but not quite all of them? Apply anyway! PHOTO: Just_Super / iStock / Getty Images Plus 3 4 5 START SEARCHING AND APPLYING TODAY AT: www.AgCareers.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQyMDk=