One graduate hired in agri food industry every day

There were 365 graduates hired by the 72 agri food companies surveyed by the Irish Farmers Journal. Almost one-third were hired by dairy companies such as Carbery, Kerry, Glanbia, etc. Almost 90 graduates were hired by beef and lamb processors.

A further 100 graduates were hired by the agri-supporting industry; of those Bord Bia hired a massive 69 graduates in its largest intake of talent for the agri food industry to date.

Dawn Meats

With over 40 graduates taken on in 2019, Dawn Meats is one of the largest graduate recruiters in the agri-food industry.

The Dawn Meats graduate programme itself has been streamlined over the last few years, with a closing date in February and a structure placed around mentoring, training and experience for the graduates coming in.

However, it is not one for the fainthearted and David Lyons, the regional HR manager with Dawn Meats, says that they are clear with applicants that the graduate programme starts by spending time on the factory floor learning the ropes.

“The time on the floor is of benefit, depending on the discipline you’re going down. You need to learn the margins, yields and hides. Similarly, the engineering guys would need to know the process and the mechanics of the shop floor,” Lyons said. “We offer a huge amount of training to graduates when they do come, things such as emotional intelligence, teamwork, communications, problem-solving. You could argue that they should learn that in college but we like to reinforce it.”

We’ve a guy running an abattoir and another running a boning hall that came through the programme

The programme is in partnership with IBEC. Graduates are offered a permanent contract, but the programme itself is two years long. On completion graduates are moved on to other roles within the company.

“From a Dawn Meats point of view, we get very excited when we see good people and talent. We plough a lot of time and energy into those people.

“We’ve a guy running an abattoir and another running a boning hall that came through the programme,” said Lyons.

Our CEO Niall Browne took part in the graduate programme

“If people have the capacity we give them the reins to drive on. There’s no point keeping them on a grad programme if they are excelling.

“Our CEO Niall Browne took part in the graduate programme. Nine times out of 10, everyone completes the two-year programme,” Lyons said.

Growth in the Chinese market means there is a requirement for more graduates, recruitment off the list of shortlisted candidates is ongoing throughout the year where needed.

The closing date for the Dawn Meats graduate programme is February 2020 and the company is looking for people from a range of disciplines including engineering, agriculture, accounting, food safety and quality, health and safety, HR, production and operations and commercial sales.

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