Melinda Knuth (center) with her Ph.D. students Vanessa Woods (left) and Amanda Solliday (right) at NC State University’s horticultural science program | Melinda Knuth
One of the things that has been on my mind lately is how we engage with entry workers in floriculture. One of the reasons for this is because of my work with students doing internships and seeking out jobs as juniors and seniors in the horticultural science program at North Carolina State University (NC State).
Labor has been one of the most consistently discussed issues I have heard for the past 15 years that I have been in the industry, and well before that time. So, I want to share some interesting insights I have seen about students and industry interactions that may help paint a picture of how our industry is communicating.
I have been fortunate to be an advisor for NC State’s horticulture club and graduate student club, advising internship courses, and mentoring students for a few years now. I also have been fortunate to be a past AmericanHort HortScholar, and I have worked with a couple of iterations of the program through the GenNext Community Connector Group. I have seen students in the American Floral Endowment’s Young Professionals Council, as well as my peers, seek out jobs. With these experiences, I have been able to engage with students across the U.S., across career types in horticulture, and through different organizations.
How Do Students Find Jobs and Internships?
The feedback I hear from students and past peers is that they are not able to find job postings easily in horticulture, controlled environment, or floriculture. I personally have observed this perception in some of the student panels I have attended where the perception is that job postings seem to be scant. The key to these comments is that they are perceptions. After seeing various university systems, it has become apparent that many students are using their internal university job boards exclusively to search for jobs and internships.
This is convenient for students; however, it limits their opportunities. For example, a business in California may not be putting its job postings on a New Jersey university job board. Another problem I hear is that students don’t know where to search for jobs. This is where I believe faculty can act as synergy points between students and industry. However, there are national job boards such as Indeed.com, the American Society for Horticultural Science Career Center, and the American Floral Endowment job board that list job opportunities.
How Does the Industry Share Job Offerings?
There’s an interesting phenomenon that I’ve seen where jobs are not always posted. In fact, anecdotally, I have seen frequent cases where a talented individual approaches a company to say they are interested. The company recognizes the talent and creates a job around this person. That seems to be a rather common concept within our industry. Jobs are filled “upstream” instead of the typical “downstream” method. As a result, instead of posting a job and finding an adequate person, an adequate person is placed in a position that is to their strength and benefits the company. I don’t think this is wrong. Yet, this does influence how we should communicate and advertise our offerings. This is a hidden barrier for people who don’t know they can approach firms in the industry.
In-Group Bias
We are a tight-knit industry, which is so heartening to experience when I attend events and reach out to people I know. There is usually a two-degree separation when meeting new people. Many of our members have life-long friends and colleagues from having been in the industry for 20 to 30 years.
Yet, this creates in-group, which refers to a social psychology term for a social group that a person identifies with and feels they belong to. Consequently, new individuals to the green industry experience the opposite, which is out-group — any group a person does not belong to and may view as different or “other” or “they.”
Speaking to well-established industry members is very intimidating for students and newer employees. For example, have you ever been to a party where everyone knows each other except for you? It can be uncomfortable or perceived as difficult to integrate into the in-group. Students don’t want to say the wrong thing or simply don’t know how to approach you. When you are communicating, take this into consideration and introduce yourself first. In conversations, don’t use the word “they” when referring to young people or students — use the words “us” or “we.”
Melinda Knuth (right) with NC State University student Emma Arlene (left) | Melinda Knuth
These are circumstances I have discussed with many young professionals who are employed in our industry, as well as existing students. There needs to be better connections between the industry and students. This is not new. In fact, this has been stated by many different people and at many different points in time.
I propose some potential solutions to this issue, although this would require everyone in the industry working together to potentially address the problem. It should be noted that this should be an open discussion, and these proposed solutions are not all-encompassing.
Proposed Solutions
Encourage Greater Collaboration between Participatory Faculty at Universities and Motivated Industry Members.
People like me want to help students be placed. In my position, I have played “matchmaker” between seeking employers and skilled students. I’m always happy to share job postings with our undergraduate student body and print off the job posting for our departmental job board. Please don’t be afraid to reach out to your closest horticulture department.
Invite Industry Members to Present and Engage in Courses and Club Events.
This is a solution for my academic peers. Lean on expertise in the industry and allow students to network in an environment they are comfortable in — the classroom. How do you identify industry members? I find this easy, as I don’t have a problem picking up the phone to call someone local who I have Googled, but using LinkedIn and professional association directories can be excellent resources if you are less confident in a direct-call approach.
Create Low Financial Barriers for Students to Attend Industry Events.
Since our industry is focused on retaining good talent and creating jobs for good people, we need those good people to interact with current industry members.
This can be done by providing travel scholarships to industry events, individual companies sponsoring students to attend events, or universities bringing club groups to industry events. I know a few organizations are brainstorming these ideas and I think this is an excellent avenue to engage with future employees.
Consider Where You Are Posting Jobs and When You Are Posting.
This may seem odd; however, students are usually looking for jobs in February-March and September-October. Why these times? This is about two months before graduation. If you are sharing job postings too late, such as April-May or December, most of the students already have prospects. Another consideration is that students are looking for summer internships in December and January for June. It really does make a difference when you post jobs.
Consider the Title You Are Using for the Posting.
Creating simple job titles can help students identify if they are qualified for the job and what the job means. Simple is a difficult ask, but clearly identifying what the job does really engages the student. For example, when we are talking to potential students entering our program, we struggle with students not knowing what the word “horticulture” means. This has been a barrier to potential students finding our program at NC State, and I’ve had discussions with Seed Your Future and other instructors about this. This word is ingrained in our industry. However, people outside our industry don’t automatically know the term. Terminology and acronyms (which the green industry is riddled with) are a hidden barrier for new entrants. Are there other simple terms that you can use?
Create a Talent Posting Board for Students or Others Looking for Employment.
There may be logistic problems with this, but it is an avenue for job seekers to find talent and create jobs with their strengths.
