Anne Lee
Social media is fast becoming a way for farmers to connect within their own communities and many are now using it to find staff and jobs.
Facebook has numerous dairy jobs groups and pages with some regional and others national.
Groups are typically closed which means you must ask to join whereas you just need to click on “like” for a Facebook jobs “Page” to see the posts in your own Facebook feed.
For groups, anyone wanting to see or interact with a group must be a member – that goes for those wanting to list a job opening, those wanting to post to say they’re looking for work and those just wanting to browse without posting.
In most cases to join you’ll have to answer a few basic questions aimed at letting the administrators (admins) of the pages ensure you’re a bone fide farmer or job seeker.
You can find groups by searching dairy farm jobs and your region or just searching dairy farm jobs in the Facebook search bar.
Most groups and pages have members that number in the thousands or even tens of thousands so the reach can be wide with new posts popping up on members’ Facebook pages daily.
Admins are typically farmers with most groups having two or more people taking the admin role.
They have the power to set the rules and tone of the pages and are able to delete posts and moderate the pages so both posts and comments are acceptable.
Ads and comments that include inappropriate photos, swearing or accusations about employers or employees are likely to be deleted or not posted at all.
Sophie Lee is the admin for the NZ Farming Jobs Facebook page and runs the NZ Farming Jobs website.
The Facebook page has 21,793 following its page and Sophie says weekly page views number about 2700.
The website includes a section on tips for what to include in an ad both for job hunters and job vacancy listings.
Jobs tips
Many social media jobs groups have been operating for several years and admins have some advice for would be posters in terms of do’s and don’ts to get the best outcomes.
Job vacancies
- Include photos of the farm, the house or accommodation that goes with the job, the farm dairy, local area.
- More is better than less when it comes to detail about the farm and the job but keep the details to a bullet point type structure.
- Include minimal requirements, local schools, some information about you the owners or managers.
- Make sure you include the location and contact details.
- Proof read your ad.
Job seekers
- Include at least one photo of yourself, preferably onfarm but a few photos can get better engagement and can show the range of your interests.
- If you have a family – partner and kids – include a photo of them too, if they’re comfortable.
- Be reasonably detailed about the kind of job you are looking for – job title, level of responsibility.
- Include the location you’re looking in.
- Give some back story so prospective employers can see your level of experience or types of work you’ve done before.
- Make sure you’ve included contact details.
- Proof read your ad.
- Make sure your own Facebook page doesn’t have posts or comments that would put an employer off.
