#88: Why Good Workers Aren’t Applying for Your Ag Jobs with Zoe Carter From Agriculture Jobs Auswide

G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a resource created to help the next generation of primary producers.

In this episode, I sit down with Zoe Carter, a passionate advocate for Australian agriculture and the founder of Agriculture Jobs Auswide.

Zoe didn’t grow up in agriculture, but an early interest in the industry eventually took her from working in meat processing and sheep studs to cattle stations, trucking and farm management across Australia.

After a serious horse accident and years of ongoing injuries eventually made physically working on-farm difficult, Zoe had to find another way to contribute to an industry she loved.

That journey, combined with her own experiences trying to find agricultural work, eventually led her to create Agriculture Jobs Auswide — a platform designed to better connect agricultural businesses with Australians looking for work.

In this conversation, we take a deep dive into employment and workforce challenges across Australian agriculture.

Zoe shares what she is seeing from both sides of the jobs market — employers trying to attract and retain good people, and workers trying to find the right opportunities.

We talk about what workers actually value in a job, why salary isn’t always the biggest factor, the importance of accommodation, career progression and workplace culture, and how employer reputation can directly affect the quality of applicants a business attracts.

We also dig into job advertisements, recruitment, retaining staff, helping newcomers get their first opportunity in agriculture and some of the trends Zoe is seeing through Agriculture Jobs Auswide.

This episode is a great resource whether you employ people in your agricultural business, are looking for work yourself, or simply want to better understand how we can build a stronger agricultural workforce.

In this episode, we chat about:

🌾 Zoe’s pathway into agriculture and becoming an advocate for the industry

💼 Why she started Agriculture Jobs Auswide

👩‍🌾 What Zoe is seeing across the agricultural jobs market

🔎 Why there can be a mismatch between people looking for work and the jobs available

📱 The role social media plays in attracting people into agriculture

📝 What makes a good agricultural job advertisement stand out

🏡 Why accommodation, lifestyle and creating a sense of home matter to employees

📈 The importance of career progression and giving employees a pathway to grow

🤝 How employer reputation and workplace culture influence recruitment and retention

👷 What employers can do differently to attract and keep good people

📄 How job seekers can better present themselves through resumes and interviews

🌱 Creating more opportunities for people with little or no agricultural experience to enter the industry

Resources Mentioned
🐂 Classic Livestock
🎓 ChemCert
🐄 Young Aussie Farmers Beef Handling Course
🌱 Dairy Australia training & Pastures 101
🥩 MLA Red Meat Ambassador Program

Stay connected with Zoe:

📘 Facebook: Zoe Carter
📸 Instagram: Zoe Carter
🔗 LinkedIn: Zoe Carter | LinkedIn
🌏 Website: Agriculture Jobs Auswide | Farm Jobs & Ag Contractors

If you enjoyed this episode

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Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
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📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au

This season of A Place to Call Home is proudly brought to you by 

Rabobank Australia.

A big thank you to Rabobank Australia for supporting the podcast and helping us continue sharing the stories of people building their future in Australian agriculture.