• Use our resource library to download the standard job descriptions.
• You can find out more about typical tasks and responsibility levels for each of the sector’s primary roles in Dairy Farm Career Pathways.
• It’s also a good idea to think about what kind of person will fit into the culture of your team. What knowledge, experience, skills, values and attitudes are you looking for in an applicant? Make a list of the 'essential' vs 'preferred' characteristics you seek, as this may help you compare candidates.

• Here’s your chance to stand out in the crowd! You need to provide enough information to make the job sound appealing and encourage potential applicants to take action. Make clear why someone would want to work in your team – do not simply describe the property.
• You may decide to advertise by:
  • Word-of mouth or referrals from other team members
  • Direct approaches to a potential applicant
  • Using websites such as Farm Source or TradeMe Jobs
  • Posting on certain social media pages, local notice boards, in the newspaper
  • Or using agencies such as Work and Income or Student Job Search
• A common advertising format includes:
  • Advert Title
  • Sales pitch
  • Job title and property description
  • Description of the job
  • Type of person required
  • Contact details and closing date
• Qualified applicants are less likely to reply to vaguely worded or ill-defined advertisements, so spend time planning your advertisement and doing it well. Find out more about advertising your role here.
• To better showcase your business’s values and purpose, you may also consider providing an Employer CV which can make your advertisement more appealing than others similar to it. This CV may include your contact details; farm information; details of your work history and history as an employer; type of training, skills and experience you have as an employer; your vision, values, strengths and weaknesses; details about what past employees have gone on to do; and references from both current and past employees.
• Links to any social media accounts or videos your business owns may also be valuable to share.

• It may also be useful to ask your candidate:
  • What the notice period is for their current role
  • What their salary range expectations would be for the role you are advertising
• Notify those who you have short-listed and tell them you would now like them to complete an application form and attend an interview with you. Also notify those that were unsuccessful.
• Download the phone screening questionnaire here.

• There are important legal reasons for getting your short-listed applicants to complete an application form (e.g. it allows you to do a police check, contact referees) - so don't overlook this step!
• The use of an application form is also a good way to compare applicants more fairly (as preparing a CV can be a barrier for some people), and it allows you to ask questions you are not comfortable asking people face-to-face.
• Download our application form templates here.

Before the interview:

• Contact the short-listed applicants with an interview date and time.
• Inform applicants of any additional material you may like them to bring (e.g. production records, evidence of qualifications or skills etc.)
• Provide a copy of your job description to each candidate. Email it or provide it on the interview day. Be sure to have added any additional responsibilities relevant to your farm.
• Provide a copy of a proposed employment agreement* to each candidate. Email it or provide it on the interview day. It should include details such as hours of work, salary offered, accommodation available.
• Print a copy of the relevant interview questionnaire for each candidate.
• Prepare answers to likely questions the applicant may ask (e.g. employment conditions, work expectations, salary, training opportunities, accommodation etc).
• Prepare any planned practical or personality test resources.

At the interview:

• Introduce yourself and any others present.
• Make applicant or candidate feel comfortable – ask casual questions about their life, hobbies, family.
• Give an outline of the interview process.
• Let applicant or candidate know you will be taking notes.
• Go through prepared interview questions from the interview questionnaire you have printed.
• Make sure you get a feel for their attitude and how they would fit in your team and on your farm.
• Carry out any interview activities or tests.
• Let the candidate know what the process from here is and when they can expect to hear from you.

*You must source your own employment agreement. To find out more, visit our employment agreements web page.

• Interviews help you determine how someone might behave on farm and the skills and attributes they bring to your business. By giving all candidates the same, structured questions and tasks to complete, you will be testing their competence against the job description.
• Conversational interviewing is easier for everyone! Try not to make the interview process seem like an interrogation – take your time, smile and relevant talk about any experiences of your own to put your candidate at ease.
• Ask about their family situation to make sure that any farm accommodation you are providing is suitable for them.
• It is a good idea to ask your candidate how they have behaved in certain situations in the past; what they are interested in; their strengths; areas they find challenging and any goals they have for the future. These are also good questions to focus on if your candidate has no experience in dairy. Check out Interview Questions and Examples here
• At the end of your structured interview, you could leave the candidate with the rest of your team for them to also ask some interview questions. Your team members will be working alongside your new employee every day, so their ‘gut feel’ is also very important. Their involvement in the recruitment process also shows your respect for them, and they have some accountability for the decision you come to.
• Practical work tests demonstrate candidates’ competence in a specific task (e.g. in milking, or completing a feed budget). Remember, you cannot legally ask candidates to come onto farm for a trial, but you can ask them during an interview process to demonstrate their ability in a specific task - providing they are fully supervised and you are not benefiting financially from them doing so.
• Check the guide on Interviewing Like a Pro.

• Too often, employers do not check listed referees - and yet it is extremely important to do so as past behaviours are usually the best indicator of future performance (regardless of how well, or poorly, someone interviews).
• As a guide for asking questions in the correct way to understand candidate strengths, weaknesses and their past perfomance, print and use the reference checking questionnaire from our resource library.
• Use the opportunity to clarify any detail or unclear areas from your interview with the applicant.

• You have done everything possible to collect information on and compare your candidates. Now you must choose who is most appropriate to join your team in this role. Review all that you have learned about your preferred applicants and decide which person, if any, is right for your role.
• Remember, the right person for the job may not be the person you like the most or the one with the best qualifications. It should be the person who most closely matches your selection criteria. Candidates will have a range of skills, personalities and philosophies that may make it difficult to decide on the right person. This is where the information gathered in your notes is critical.
• If there is nobody that matches your criteria closely enough, you may decide to:
  • re-advertise
  • go back to the job description and alter the role to suit one of the candidates
  • or consider employing someone fixed term/as relief staff to give yourself time to find 'the one'.
• Do not recruit permanent staff in haste! And be sure to consider how your decisions will affect the overall staffing plan and budget.

• To attract talented and committed people you need to be offering a competitive package. Consider cash items such as salary/wages and bonuses/incentives. Also consider non-cash items such as rostering and time-off, training and development opportunities, meat, electricity, firewood etc. Be clear about the accommodation offered and rent for this. Remember that lifestyle is often as important as pay.
• Remember that making an offer includes confirming the terms and conditions of employment that you will offer your candidate and presenting an employment agreement to that person.
• Use the example of an offer letter here.
• Read more about your obligations when making a job offer here.