These days, people use the internet for everything - including job hunting. With everybody looking for jobs online, there’s even more competition to find the right workers for your ag business. 

There are only so many employees out there, and the job market is more competitive than ever. Those few shining stars who will work well within your team and help grow your business are in demand. But, these top talents aren’t just looking to work with you. They’re looking to work with whoever can give them the best opportunity. 

With the rise of online job hunting you have to be able to show how you’re the better company to work for if you want to get the ideal employees into your agricultural company. 

Today we’re going to look at nine ways you can attract the right kinds of employees to your company by using your website, your email marketing, and most importantly, your social media profiles. 

1. Know who you’re targeting 

Before you start writing out your job descriptions and posting on your website about the career opportunities within your company, you have to know who it is you’re targeting. 

How do you figure out what kind of employee you’re targeting?

Well, the easiest way to do this is to picture your current best employee. Who works the hardest for your agricultural company? Who puts in the extra hours, has their work done on time, and is always a pleasure to work alongside?

When you figure this out, you’ll know exactly who you’re targeting. You want to attract another great employee you can trust to do their job and get along with our members of your team.

By basing your job advertisement around your number one employee, you’ll be able to address what they’re looking for in a job - and present your company as the perfect place to work to achieve their ambitions. You'll know what to say - whether it’s a specific salary, a great working environment, health benefits, or even your location. Highlighting these key factors will attract the right kinds of employees to your company.

2. Know where you can reach your target employees

The internet is a big place and with so many different websites out there purposely made for job hunting, you’re going to have to narrow down your options to figure out where your potential employees are hanging out. 

There’s no point putting up a load of ads on a website or social media platform that your ideal employees aren’t on - it’d be a complete waste of your time and money!

So before you start crafting your beautifully-worded job description, it’s time to take a moment to discover where your target employees are. 

Do some research and find out where your competitors are posting their applications. Find out which social media platforms are getting the most attention. You could even organize a survey to find out where your audience is hanging out online. 

3. Find your cheerleaders

If your company is a great place to work, then you’re going to have a lot of current employees who want to spread the word about how great it is to work at your company. 

Some of your employees will be active on social media, so encourage them to post about your company. For example, they could post behind-the-scenes work-life, selfies with colleagues, or images of holiday parties. You can then retweet or reshare these posts to show future potential employees that you’re a fun, supportive company to work for. 

The more positive you are with your employees online, the more it’ll reflect how positive your working environment is. These days, many job seekers want to work for a company that has a good company culture. Sometimes people even prefer this over a high salary, particularly Millennials and Gen Z.

4. Showcase what makes you unique

Showcasing what makes your brand unique isn’t just crucial for attracting customers. It’s also vital for getting potential employees interested in your company. 

There are lots of agricultural companies trying to attract the right kinds of workers for their business, so job seekers will have a lot of choices when it comes to who they want to work for. 

If you want to be the company that's at the top of their list, you’re going to have to show them what really makes you shine over your competitors. 

Tell them about:

• The average workday
• Job benefits
• Highlight happy employee testimonials
• Offer upskilling opportunities
• Let them know that you care about their work/life balance
• Give them a look at what you’re company is like to work for
• Describe your positive company culture
• Talk about company events and special occasions

One of the best ways to figure out what really makes your company unique is by talking to your current employees. Listen to what they have to say and include all the positive things in your job description. 

5. Make sure your website represents your company culture

After your potential employees see your job offer on social media, in their email inbox, or on a recruitment website, they’re going to have a look at your site. They’re going to want to learn a little more about your company to see if you’re what they’re looking for in their career. 

So if your website isn’t up to par, isn’t professional, or doesn’t represent what your company stands for, then talented workers might think twice about applying for your open position. 47% of people actively looking for a new job pinpoint company culture as the main reason for wanting to leave their old job so it’s important to show them that your company culture is like no other. 

To make sure your website is representing what your company stands for ensure:

• It’s updated with all the latest information
• Your voice and tone is consistent with your job ad
• You have plenty of images showing what the workplace is like 
• The content on your website is easy to read, digest, and understand 
• Employee testimonials are on your careers page 

By keeping your website updated with all the information a potential employee needs to know, you can rest assured knowing they’re going to apply for your open position. 

6. Post your job openings on social media

Posting your job openings on social media is vital to getting the attention of the new talent hitting the agricultural industry. Everybody is on social media, and more often than not, they’re looking for jobs on social media over the likes of recruitment websites. In 2020, people spend an average of 2 hours 24 mins a day on social media and 79% of these people search for job opportunities on social media.

So if you haven’t posted your job listings on social media yet and are struggling to find any suitable candidates, consider posting a short job description plus a link to your careers page on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 

Remember to take advantage of stories when posting your job openings too. Many social media platforms have a ‘story’ function now, so why not use it to improve your chances of bagging yourself a fantastic employee.

7. Always emphasize the benefits

Whether you’re posting your job opening on social media, on your website, or through email, be sure to emphasize the benefits of working with your company. 

These can be simple things such as:

• Flexible working hours
• Personal development opportunities
• Holiday hours 
• Paid sick leave
• Bonuses 
• Company vehicles

Anything that your company does to help improve the lives of your employees is a significant benefit to list on your job description. 

8. Don’t just post about yourself 

Posting about yourself constantly on social media can get a bit overwhelming for your customers and your potential employees. 

When posting on your social media or sending out emails, don’t forget to post about brands you work with within the agricultural industry. You could also post about past clients and highlight employee birthdays or achievements.

These types of posts will help strengthen a positive company culture and show your potential new workers that you’re a good business to work with who cares about others and not just themselves. This is something a lot of new workers are looking for when it comes to working with companies. 

9. Always have a mobile-friendly careers page

A careers page is a must for any company looking to get more skilled workers into their team, but nowadays, you have to have a careers page and a mobile-friendly website. 

Everybody, especially the younger generations of workers, will be searching the web for a job from the comfort of their phone. Your careers page might have the job they’ve been searching for on it, but if it’s too difficult to read or your application form is too hard to complete on a mobile device, then they might not even bother applying. 

To avoid losing out on the best employee you’ve ever had, make sure that your careers page:

• Is easy to read on mobile devices
• Has a simple application form 
• Has large buttons that are easy to click on
• Is easy to upload resumes to 

By creating a mobile-friendly careers page for your potential employees, you’ll be able to secure more job applications from highly skilled and educated workers. 

We hope these nine steps have helped you understand how to better use your website and social media for attracting more employees. 

If you need some help attracting more amazing employees to your business we’d love to help you out. 

Get in contact with our team today if you need an extra push in the right direction when it comes to making your website more attractive to new employees.