FRS Recruitment has placed 230 people into a wide range of positions in the agri sector in 2015. These include graduates recently qualified and seeking their first job as well as many with previous experience who are seeking a career change.

Over 80 of these jobs were as GLAS advisers employed by FRS Network to deliver the new agri-environmental scheme on behalf of Teagasc. Some of these 80 graduates were seeking their first role in the agri sector, while a number were more experienced, having worked across a range of different positions.

With a total of 11 recruitment offices nationwide, FRS Recruitment offers a service to many agri companies and merchants, advertising job opportunities within the sector, screening candidates, interviewing candidates and even preparing candidates for interviews.

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FRS Recruitment does this across multinational and SME companies within the agri-food and business sectors. Candidates are placed in small private ag merchants, large co-op merchants, animal feed manufacturing businesses, fertiliser manufacturers and distributors, animal nutrition companies, animal health companies and machinery manufacturing and distributing companies – to name but a few.

Candidates have been placed in roles such as agricultural consultant, technical support staff, ruminant nutritionist, technical sales advisers, product support and counter sales, among many others.

Grad programmes

John reports a higher number of ag graduate programmes being advertised through FRS, offering graduates an opportunity to gain vital experience in all sectors in a company before deciding on a specialised career path. John says that employers look for agri graduates who have a specific focus or interest in an area of the agricultural sector.

“Employers look for motivated, high-performing graduates, who are decisive when asked what area of the sector they hope to work within,” he adds. “They want to see people that have prepared for their interview, researched the area, and are well presented.”

However, John also reports a noticeable trend in recent years with over one in five students returning to work on the family farm after completing their four-year ag science degree, which brought us on to the topic of on farm employment opportunities within the agricultural sector.

Relief work and farm manager jobs

FRS (Farm Relief Services) provides labour for relief milking, dairy relief work, general farm work, fencing and farm management, and also supplies specialised services such as hoof care, scanning, freeze branding, calf dehorning and other services to farmers. FRS has 1,500 to 2,000 trained and skilled operators on its books at one time for this kind of work.

However, Peter Byrne, CEO of FRS Network expects this demand to increase significantly next spring.

“We are currently putting a major recruitment plan in place to identify over 200 more suitable operators to meet the demand we expect next spring. We encourage any person, male or female, with an interest in working with FRS to contact their local FRS office. Training will be provided as required, especially on our Best Practice in Milking Course.”

Colin Donnery of FRS Recruitment says FRS has seen a major increase in the number of on-farm managerial roles being offered in recent times, both in Ireland and internationally.

Donnery says that farmers are looking for experience and qualifications and when looking for a farm manager – it’s not just about being a good farmer.