The success of your agricultural business depends mainly on your employees. They ensure operations run as smoothly as possible day after day.

When filling a vacancy, knowing what to look for in candidates is beneficial. Hiring the best candidate improves your team’s and company’s performance.

Bringing aboard the most effective candidate saves time and money on recruitment. It also improves your bottom line.

Implement these tips during the interview process to determine which candidates are most qualified for the role. 

Remain Open-Minded

During a tight labor market, you may interview candidates with little or no agricultural experience. However, they likely have transferrable skills that can benefit your business.

For instance, ask questions about a candidate’s work experience. This provides insight into their skills and methods for overcoming challenges.

Include behavioral questions that often begin with “Tell me about…”. These questions may involve a job the candidate disliked or what made a supervisor their favorite.

Listen for specific, relevant details in the answers. See how they relate to agricultural work.

Discuss Learning Methods

Find out how each candidate approaches learning new skills and tasks. This is especially important for candidates with little or no agricultural experience.

For instance, ask the candidate what they do when they need to learn something new. Or, ask them to discuss something new they learned to do in the past 2 years and how they went about it.

Focus on the details provided in the answer. Consider how they apply to the position.

Ask About Collaboration

Look for how well a candidate gets along with their coworkers. Effective collaboration is important for productivity.

Ask questions like, “Tell me about a previous coworker you had difficulty working with. What were some steps you took to improve the relationship?”

Listen for concrete examples in the answer. Determine how well the candidate may get along with your workers.

Listen More Than You Talk

Aim to have the candidate do 80% of the talking. You can do the other 20% of the talking.

Have a list of questions ready to ask each candidate. This ensures you cover everything you need to know.

Ask follow-up questions to gain additional information. Also, restate what you hear to check your understanding.

Encourage the candidate to ask questions about the position and company. This shows genuine interest in the role.

Partner With Morris Bixby Today

Morris Bixby Group has the experienced agricultural candidates you need to reach business goals. Get started with us today.