Fall Harvest Jobs

The summer isn’t over yet, but farmers across the United States are now beginning to harvest crops, and this will only continue as we move into fall. Most farmers hire temporary workers to take seasonal farm positions during the harvest, so you can snag one of these jobs if you know where to look. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Think outside the box when looking for a farm job.

While your first reaction might be to find a job picking pumpkins or selling ears of corn at the farmer’s market, these aren’t the only farmers who need help during harvest season. For example, every fall, you can find winery jobs as vineyards begin picking grapes and preparing them for wine. Or, consider working at a tree farm, which typically hire additional workers in late fall and early winter to help during the busy Christmas season. Non-traditional farms can be a great source for seasonal jobs.

• Pound the pavement – literally.

Looking for a job is often called pounding the pavement, and while you can do this virtually, especially at the JobMonkey Job Center, when it comes to agricultural jobs, you might want to get out there and actually visit farms to ask about open positions. Farmers often don’t use job posting sites or even newspapers to list openings – they just draw from the local community, hiring people through word of mouth. So, unless you ask, you might never know that a farm in your local area is hiring.

• If you do a good job, a temporary position could become permanent.
  

Farmers need workers who are hard-working, reliable, and honest – if you can show these qualities while working in a temporary position, there’s a good chance that they’ll keep you around for more work if they can. Farmers sometimes have to lay off workers when things are slow, but they hire the best workers to stay on year-round if they can. Talk to your manager or the owner about your desire for a full-time position and do your best every day at work even if the job is temporary.