Another crop of new college graduates is out looking for jobs to start careers, and the ag industry is a good place to begin. Tammy Jensen, president of AgriCareers Recruiting Service, talks about where graduates should start looking.

“I would say, within the ag industry during the last 12 to 18 months, I have seen unemployment probably be higher in the ag industry than it typically has been, but that is more for your seed and chemical companies and equipment manufacturers. There are quite a few risks in that arena, but there is still demand in the service side of it, whether it be for maintenance or equipment, agronomy, hands-on farm positions where it’s physical labor, caring for the animals, or planting crops. Those jobs are still plentiful, I think.”

Jobs on the service side of the ag industry are in high demand but hard to fill/

“They think it’s an unglamorous job, possibly. They want to be more involved in a sales role or management, but like anywhere else, I think the place to be in employment right now is in service, whether it’s the retail agronomy, whether it’s starting as a technician at an implement dealership, if you have the training and skills, you can advance quickly in that industry or outside of Ag, like electricians, those types of things, are also service repair work where we’re always going to need them.”

Going after jobs that are in demand can mean starting careers with a good paycheck.

“I would say they’re paying more than they were ten years ago. Salaries, I mean, have gone up a lot for agriculture. They probably still lag behind some other industries, but they definitely are paying better. Oftentimes, especially if they have no experience, it may require them to prove themselves first. And from an employee perspective, if they make you an offer, maybe counter with once I’ve proven myself, whether it be in six months, can we do a salary review? Can you lay out what I need to accomplish to earn more, those types of things?”

Jensen says graduates should be willing to get their hands dirty.

“Be willing to go in and prove yourself before moving up into sales and management. I had an individual – this was years ago – he was graduating from college, and I placed him as a custom applicator with a retail agronomy facility, and within six months, he had moved up to a branch manager role. Now, probably coming right out of high school, that would not happen in six months, but you probably would be able to take on additional responsibilities. They might even help with schooling if you want to take some classes in agronomy or something of that nature. Just be willing to prove yourself. Work hard. Put in the extra effort. Ask what you can do to help.”

For more information, visit www.agricareersinc.com.