The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) is developing a centralized National Agricultural Job Board, AgriJobMatch. The National Agricultural Job Board will work as a job matching tool that will have various customizable options including commodity specific, regional, provincial or association specific models depending on what works best for producers. This important work is part of the CAHRC’s National Agricultural Occupation Framework (NAOF) project which is developing a road map of the competencies necessary for individual agricultural jobs. The NAJB will be a centralized, searchable site for agricultural employers to post jobs and job seekers to find jobs. Stay tuned for updates as we continue our exciting work on this initiative.
Pilot Partners needed for the National Agricultural Job Board
This fall, CAHRC will be piloting its National Agricultural Job Board with 3 or 4 associations interested in offering a commodity and/or regional specific customizable NAJB through their association website.
Get Involved
Please contact Jade Reeve (Reeve@cahrc-ccrha.ca ) NAOF Project Manager, should you have any questions about the National Agricultural Job Board or if you would like to participate in a focus group to develop job skills involved in the following commodity groups:
- Crops(excluding forage)
- Apple production
- Mushroom production
- Potato production
- Honey production
The National Agricultural Job Board will be a centralized location for agricultural employers to post jobs and search for possible candidates. Plus – it will be a new one-stop shop for agriculture which will include:
- National Agricultural Job Board: The NAJB will assist agricultural employers with recruitment efforts and help workers connect with agricultural employers using a job matching tool. This tool will ensure the hiring process becomes quick, easy and with a better pairing of the right person for the job. This NAJB will be the first of its kind addressing Canadian agricultural labour requirements.
- Job Description Templates: Job description templates will be accessible for employers to clearly define the tasks and skills involved in their agricultural operation. Employers can use the templates provided to easily post a complete job description ensuring they have an accurate description of the work which will help find the best candidate for the job.
- Interview Guide: Provides a “how to” to assist employers with their recruitment and selection ensuring employers systematically determine which candidate is the best fit for the job.
- Ranking Assessment: A tool to provide employers the ability to filter candidates to ensure they find the best fit for their operation.
- Performance Assessment Capabilities: For job seekers, the NAJB offers a personalized skills self-assessment to determine what competencies they have and where they can be matched to the various jobs posted by employers.
- Resume Builder: A tool to provide job seekers with a template for resume writing and detailing their skills and job experience.
- …And many more!!
As any hiring manager knows, finding the right candidate with the right combination of skills for a particular job is a challenge. Knowing what specific competencies are required for the job and how to identify candidates who have them goes a long way to creating a successful recruitment process. The right supports can make all the difference – not only to worker advancement, but also to the success of your business, especially in a competitive labour market.
The Canada West Foundation’s ‘Competence is the Best Credential’ reports:
“Canada has one of the best-educated, most highly credentialed workforces in the world – but that doesn’t mean it is the most competent. In a world where competencies are the new credentials, Canadian workers could become even better at their jobs if we took some lessons from other jurisdictions. Slow adoption of competency frameworks is creating missed opportunities.”(page 1)
Competence is the Best Credential
Competency skills profiling has widespread benefits that pay off in cost savings for employers:
- Better recruitment plans which offer career advancement opportunities for workers;
- Better workforce development which helps small and medium sized businesses reward and retain the right people and manage workforce succession planning;
- Better informed skills training for the agriculture industry and;
- Better policy development; i.e. information can be used to inform National Occupational Classification codes and minimum wage standards.
With the support and guidance of 150 agricultural industry leaders, a framework capturing competencies for core agricultural jobs, is part of the important work that is being developed through NAOF. This initiative will clarify the competency skills involved in modern agriculture farm operations and research the exact jobs and skills involved in today’s agricultural workforce. To date, 20 National Occupational Standards (NOS) have been developed with input by 270 industry stakeholders from the pork, sheep, aquaculture, beef and poultry commodities. Research and work on five more commodities will be forthcoming in coming months.
The National Agricultural Job Board goes a long way to support the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Workforce Action Plan’s Recommendation to improve Access to the domestic labour supply through: Development of a Jobs Resource Centre for Industry. Central to this recommendation is the “development of a centralized mechanism to support career promotion for the agriculture and agri-food industry. This includes the development of a searchable and robust On-line Jobs Resource…”
