02/28/08 Working In Agriculture

Working In Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. A good job can be hard to come by and one that you enjoy doing is even harder to find. Fortunately there's a service on the web that allows you to look for a great job in the ag industry. Eric Spell, President of AgCareers.com says they see quite a number of students. SPELL: AgCareers.com is an online community whereby we connect employers with perspective job seekers. We have about 5000 applicants per month that come through our site. Those applicants  basically 40% of the applicants that come through the site are recent or soon to be college graduates from either a community college or a 4-year institution. So if you are looking for a job in the Pacific Northwest Spell says there are around 300 job openings in the region. Although some businesses are suffering the ag industry is really looking. SPELL: The job market is good right now in agriculture. The commodity prices, grain markets are quite good although that is challenging for the livestock sector but the animal health sector of agriculture is quite good. There's been some sectors of agriculture that's been undergoing some changes, consolidation So where are the hot spots for jobs in the Ag industry? SPELL: The equipment dealers association, that being the farm equipment or ag related equipment across North America right now are really feeling the pinch for service technicians, mechanics, parts managers. Positions like that are in high demand. Agronomists are in very high demand right now. Another area that's in high demand is GPS, global positioning equipment. Custom applicators along with ag banking professionals are also in high demand right now. Spell says they also offer seminars and help for both sides of the market, so if you are or soon to be looking for a good job, polish up your resume. SPELL: The website is free to job seekers, perspective candidates who want to either casually or aggressively explore careers and positions on the site they do not have to set up an account although we do encourage them to set up an account and post their resume if they like. If they choose not to set up an account they can go to any job on the site, view the position and attach their resume and it goes straight to the employer or the recruiter that has the position up there. If you are an ag related business looking for help, there are packages available for posting your listings. For more information, visit agcareers.com and happy hunting. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.