Animal Science Monitor – Issue 100

About This Issue . . .

Celebrating milestones is fun. We should know, since we celebrated our fifth anniversary at the end of last year. nd now, another milestone is upon us . . . our 100th issue! However, to celebrate that milestone, we don’t plan to do anything out of the ordinary. In fact, we plan to do exactly what we’ve done for the previous 99 issues, which is to provide you with the best and most pertinent information possible about the animal science industry and the employment market. So once again, we thank you for your loyal readership and for helping us to produce what we hope is one of the best publications in the industry. We hope that you enjoy this issue just as much as you enjoy the next 100!

– Dan and Don

It’s the 100th Issue of The Animal Science Monitor!

(By Matt Deutsch)

You are currently reading the 100th issue of The Animal Science Monitor newsletter. When we started The ASM over five years ago – we recently celebrated our fifth anniversary in November – we had no idea what to expect. After all, it’s not like we set out to begin an email newsletter that would last five years or 100 issues. We just wanted to create a newsletter that would provide valuable information about the animal science and animal nutrition industries, not to mention the world of employment.

We figured the rest would take care of itself . . . and it certainly has!

Revolving around our readerss

For this issue of the newsletter, we decided to forego a retrospective, namely because we did that in our special five-year anniversary edition. Instead, we thought it would be better if we simply re-committed ourselves to doing all of the things that have allowed us to thrive through 100 issues.

Those things revolve around you, our loyal readers. We want to continue to provide value and to help you achieve your goals, whether they pertain to your career or to your job as a manager or leader. (Of course, we want to have fun at the same time!) That being said, our re-commitment to you involves the following:

• Career advice and tips (“Managing Your Career,” Don Hunter’s monthly column)
• Advice for company managers and team leaders (“Tips for the Boss,” Dan Simmons’s monthly column)
• Details regarding upcoming industry events
• Information about industry organizations and associations
• Guest columns by professionals in the animal science and/or employment industries
• Feedback and friends

That’s just some of what we do in order to serve the readership of The Animal Science Monitor. Of course, we’re always open to suggestions for improvement. If you have feedback regarding the content for our newsletter, we want to know about it!

You can send all suggestions, questions, and feedback to matt@animalsciencemonitor.com.

And there’s one more thing that we’d like you to do. If you know of somebody who might enjoy The ASM, please forward this issue to them. You can also have them visit us online at www.animalsciencemonitor.com, where they can sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

As always, we want to thank you for your continued readership of The Animal Science Monitor. Here’s hoping that the next 100 issues are just as good – if not better – than the first 100!

Welcome to the next installment of our ‘In Search of . . .” series. In the first issue of each month, we’ll highlight Dan Simmons and Don Hunter’s hottest job opening. The same job might run in consecutive issues, but our goal is to give exposure to as many openings as possible throughout the year. Below is the position that we’d like to highlight in this issue of The ASM.

SWINE TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

Major feed manufacturer seeks Swine Technical Support Specialist to work with the sales team throughout western Iowa, eastern South Dakota, and Southwestern Minnesota.

Reasons why the right person will be excited about this job:

1. Company is a leader in the field and has a strong research program, allowing it to bring innovative products to the market, which will keep you as a leader in the industry.
2. Growing territory with a good sales force that is technically savvy and understand how a great tech person can help it grow and grow the business
3. Strategically located plants that can provide product to customers quickly and cost-effectively, making the company competitive.
4. Corporate culture empowers you to get things done in the field; not many layers of management; big size, but small company reaction time
5. Company places emphasis on training, including ongoing training for technical support staff and sales professionals, dealers, and producers.
6. Job includes helping producers with trouble-shooting, management support, and problem-solving; working with dealers; and training sales people.
7. The company has many new products in the pipeline, and you’ll have input on new products.
8. Professional development is encouraged; you will attend major meetings and have input on which meetings you attend.
9. You will report to a Ph.D. who understands the importance of your role and having office time to prepare for field days.
10. Excellent compensation and benefits package (401K + pension), car allowance, and expense account

11.  

Duties:

• You may be based in an office in your home or possibly at a plant, but will spend three (3) days of your week in the field with customers. Expect two overnights each week.
• Support sales reps bringing technical assistance directly to the customer; work with dealers providing sales and technical support as both a stand-up speaker and one-on one
• Work with large direct accounts
• Assist customers with technical advice. Customers are independent swine growers and integrated food companies; provide input into research.
• Formulate diets
• Write technical bulletins for customers and newsletters

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition, Monogastric Nutrition, or Animal Science
• Passion for the swine industry
• Ability to overnight travel two (2) nights per week
• Skilled in presenting technical issues to non-technical people AND to technical people
• Practical experience in swine nutrition, cooperative extension, or swine management
• Ability to self-start and self-manage
• Be able to thrive in a team-oriented environment
• Location – candidates must reside in southwest Minnesota OR western Iowa OR eastern South Dakota

•  

If you’d like more information about how you can give your open positions exposure in The Animal Science Monitor, contact Dan Simmons at dan@consearch.com. If you’d like more information about the position listed above, contact Don Hunter at don@bayresourcegroup.com.

Presenting the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

(By Dan Simmons, CPC)

As my role as a recruiter evolves into one that involves both retention and recruiting, I’m studying retention tactics. The Truth About Managing People by Stephen P. Robbins, Ph.D. is on the list of recommended books regarding this topic by the National Association of Personnel Consultants. This is the first step toward my certification in retention. I was struck by Truth #2 in the book, which is titled, “Realistic job previews: what you see is what you get,” since it gave me a fond memory.

My high school choir teacher recommended me for a stock boy job at his favorite clothing store when I was 17. This was my first job interview. I will never forget how the store manager spent the first five minutes of my interview telling me all about the bad parts of the job – from the heavy boxes to be unloaded from the dirty trucks to mopping the stockroom floor. She then asked if I still wanted the job.

At 17 years of age, I had some habits I wanted to keep and needed cash flow to maintain them. I had become addicted to girls wearing strawberry lip gloss, McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese sandwiches, and driving everywhere. Gas had just skyrocketed to 32 cents a gallon. My savings from cutting lawns all summer was about spent. YES! I still wanted this job.

Then the store manager proceeded to discuss all the good parts of the job. These included being flexible with my schedule to some extent, working with a nice group of sales clerks and a loyal customer base, and receiving an employee discount. She said that she never wanted me to come to her and say no to something I didn’t want to do because it wasn’t part of the job I had hired on to do. The work turned out just like she described; the good, the bad and the ugly. I have fond memories of my first job.

As a professional recruiter, I help companies market their job opportunities and often have to remind employers that they need to provide reasons why someone would want to apply for the job. It’s important to get prospective employees to become applicants. It’s also important to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly once they’ve become applicants, so they will have realistic expectations of the work environment, challenges, team, and desired results.

Presenting both sides of the opportunity will weed out those who are not going to commit to the less appealing part of the job so they can enjoy the good part. By providing all aspects of the role, you can help the applicant keep from making a bad career decision and keep you from making a bad hiring decision in the process. Tell the whole story.

If you have any questions about this article, you can contact me at dan@consearch.com.

What Makes a Company a Great Place to Work?

(By Don Hunter)

What makes a company “a great place to work”? Do you work for a company that inspires you and allows you to use all of your talents and skills? Do you have a workplace that is enriching, cohesive, and encourages a healthy work-life balance? If you’re fortunate enough to, what do these companies do in order to achieve these things?

If we were to conduct a poll of our subscribers, I’m guessing we could compile a list of several hundred factors that makes a company a great place to work. As I look back on my own career, the companies that really inspired me and unlocked my talents seemed to have three basic qualities in common:

1. A company with an aggressive “quality program” opens the door to employees to be directly involved in decisions about how best to do their jobs. This type of program also increases the level of trust between employees and management. The employees feel respected because they can see their suggestions being implemented. I could go on about the positive results achieved in not only products, but also in employee morale, trust, and team building.

1. Trust between the employees and company management. This process must start with upper management and not supervisors or middle management. Senior management must be directly and personally involved in making it a specific company goal to achieve a positive and appealing work environment for the employees. Unfortunately, my experience has been that senior management will turf this responsibility to Human Resources, thus creating a disconnect between the employee and management. Establishing trust is the absolute key to a company achieving the title of an exceptional place to work.

1. Career growth and training opportunities is another key to becoming a great place to work. A company must provide their employees an opportunity to grow their skills and knowledge through ongoing training. This will allow the employee to perform their current job better, along with offering future growth potential. It has to be part of the culture to provide each employee with growth, training, and additional learning. As a recruiter, I ask each candidate what their motivation is for making a change. The most frequently given reason is lack of career advancement and becoming stagnant at their present job. Many are happy with their company, but feel trapped, as there’s no room for advancement or enrichment at their current position.

Before you begin your next job search, make sure you ask the question, “What makes a great place to work for me?” Remember, this is where you’ll spend the greater part of your waking hours.

In addition, I’d like to hear from you and what your “musts” are for a company to be a great place to work. This will allow you to identify the core of your career happiness. If the response is large enough, maybe we’ll continue this discussion and share your comments in our next issue. Let me know!

You can email your thoughts regarding this topic to don@bayresourcegroup.com.

(By Beth Hilson)

You might be wondering why we have the “Video Link of the Month” in this issue of the newsletter. Well, our next issue – the 101st of our existence – will be jam-packed. (See “Coming Up in the Next Issue . . .” for more information.)

You might also be wondering why I’m introducing “The Video Link of the Month” segment, since that’s usually done on a stand-alone basis. The reason is that I share a common thread with this month’s link. That thread involves the name of the dog included in the video: Roscoe. My dog is also named Roscoe, so it made the video all the more personal for me.

Speaking of the video, it highlights the special bond that formed between a dog and an orangutan during the filming of a segment for the “National Geographic Channel.” The segment is as heart-warming as it is unique. Does this mean I’m going to run out and buy an orangutan for my dog Roscoe to play with? Um . . .no, for a variety of reasons. However, we at The ASM thought it definitely made the cut for our “Video Link” series.

So, without further adieu, click here to view the “Video Link of the Month” for March.

Please remember that we’re currently accepting submissions for this feature, which will typically run in the last issue of the month throughout the year. These videos can be humorous in nature or they can pertain to a university or organizational production regarding research or development. Above all, of course, submitted video links must deal with animals or animal science.

You can send your links to matt@animalsciencemonitor.com. As always, The ASM staff reserves the right to reject any submission for any reason.

So . . . what’s the deal with all of this social media stuff that’s sweeping the Internet, not to mention everyday life? As big of a question as that is, we at The Animal Science Monitor are going to tackle it. In our next issue, we’re going to break down the what, the why, and the how of social media in hopes of helping you – our readers – take full advantage of it professionally. This is one issue of the newsletter that you won’t want to miss!

The next issue of The ASM is scheduled for publication on Tuesday, March 22.