Dairy farm consulting officer

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON

Name: Jo Sheridan

Age: 27

Job title: dairy farm consulting officer

Working hours: 37.5 hours in spring and summer, 40-45 hours in other seasons

Employer: Dexcel; other farm consultancies; self-employment

Pay: $30,000 to $70,000 depending on experience


Qualifications needed: agricultural science degree, or extensive farm experience

Career prospects: Dexcel regional manager, specialise in fields including banking or fertiliser consulting, researcher

Q. What do you do?

A. My day begins at 7am in my office at home and then I'm visiting individual farmers or groups anywhere from 9am to 3.30pm when they go to milking.

I'm mostly involved with discussion groups from 11am to 2pm and might have another event on in the evening. Also, at night you're often on the phone.

You need to be flexible because you need to work when farmers are available or when they have a problem.

Dexcel is funded by [industry funding organisation] Dairy Insight so it's really the extension arm of research. It's an awesome area to work in because you can provide the building blocks for farmers to try new things.

You are putting out the information about what works and what doesn't so they can learn, and you facilitate that process. We're an important link between research and farmers.

Q. Why did you choose the job?

A. I finished my Massey University Bachelor of Applied Science degree in 1998 and intended to go overseas for a job. It fell through so I returned to university and did honours in soil science.

I spent two years overseas and when I came back I looked around for a company I'd like to work for. A friend raved about Dexcel so I went along to interview them.

The Dexcel style appealed - people spoke highly of it - and I could see it had strengths in a whole lot of areas. The career prospects are huge because our work is quite generic, so we can slot in well to specialist fields like as bank and fertiliser reps. It's a big stepping stone to whatever you want to do.

Q. What's the best part of the job?

A. I've been in the job three years and the best part's been getting to know people on farms, seeing families change, the kids grow up and seeing them implement changes.

Travelling can be a problem for some COs - they have to travel three or four hours a day - but my area around Te Awamutu is not so bad for travelling.

I don't enjoy the night work - it's a challenge when you've got other things you want to do but it's hard to say no and stop work when you want to help people.

The COs have a bit of a competition to see how many lunches we can eat in a day - one guy's had five - because people are so hospitable and offer you coffee or lunch.

Of course, then, it's a challenge to find public toilets in your district. I have a few farmers up my sleeve that don't mind if I fly in just to use the toilet.

Q. What are your strengths?

A. As a facilitator I identify how people learn and cater to the different learning styles, motivating people, building relationships so they trust me. I'm a good organiser of field days and seminars.

It's a challenge to keep up with the technical knowledge - you can be forever trying to find out answers. A good CO wants to help people and help people learn.

You've got to be patient and understanding, and have energy to burn. It's a demanding job and you either love it or hate it.

Q. What are your goals?

A. In five years I'd like to be working part-time or on contract to Dexcel and be starting a family. Fifty per cent of COs are women and the company is trying to work on maternity leave provisions to keep them.

Q. What would you tell others?

A. Identify companies suitable to work for. Find out which are good companies with good structures - it's just like buying shares.

Ask present or past employees about them. Interview the company, decide who you want to work for then offer your services.