| | Want a farm job? Seeking trained employees? Now, it all begins at www.agriculture.alberta.ca/gced.
The new Green Certificate Employment Directory website went live on Valentine's Day. Nicole Hornett believes agricultural employers and employees will quickly find lots to love about it.
Hornett, Edmonton-based Green Certificate Program Coordinator with Alberta Agriculture and Food, describes the website as a natural extension of the program’s three-decade mission.
Founded in 1975, the Green Certificate Program is an agricultural apprenticeship training program that’s offered throughout Alberta. Trainees access Green Certificate learning through an employer such as a feedlot, pig barn or dairy farm, or through the high school system. The curriculum covers eight key sectors—feedlot, cow-calf, sheep, swine, dairy, irrigated crops, field crops and beekeeping— with an equine module now under development.
The Green Certificate Employment Directory website (www.agriculture.alberta.ca/gced) allows potential employees and employers to find each other, fast and free.
“The website is very easy to follow,” says Hornett. “There are four headers on the home page: jobs available, workers available and two for training opportunities. The first step for both employees and employers is to register who they are and what they’re looking for.”
Once registered, visitors can dig deeper into what the Green Certificate Employment Directory can do for them, and it’s a lot.
Employers can post job opportunities, specifying a preference for Green Certificate trainees and graduates. They can scan directory postings to assess interest and education levels of potential employees in their area.
Employees can browse a wealth of employment opportunities for those involved in various stages of the Green Certificate program: potential trainees, current trainees and program graduates. Personal privacy was a key consideration in building the website. You can indicate an interest in finding employment in your sectoral specialty without posting personal information.
Students and schools can scan a list of farms willing to take on new trainees in specified Green Certificate specialties, helping improve the placement of training-minded students.
When the Green Certificate Employment Directory opened for business on February 14, employee, employer and training listings weren’t yet present. These will be added by website visitors over time. To help achieve a strong volume of initial listings, Nicole Hornett plans to criss-cross the province this winter and spring, attending agricultural trade shows and other events to put out the word. In Hornett’s view, there’s a lot at stake in the success of this project.
“Agriculture is Alberta's largest renewable resource-based industry and it impacts one out of every seven jobs in the province,” she says. “To remain competitive and to grow the industry, we need to keep young, skilled people in rural communities and attract workers who will help maintain vibrant communities. One way we can do this is through the Green Certificate Program and its Employment Directory.”
To register as an employee, employer or student, visit the Green Certificate Employment Directory website at www.agriculture.alberta.ca/gced. For more information, please contact Nicole Hornett at (780) 644-5378 or nicole.hornett@gov.ab.ca. |
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