26 Key Attributes Farm And Home Management Advisors Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Noah Smith

Monday, January 4, 2016

Farm and home management advisors advise, instruct, and assist individuals and families engaged in agriculture, agricultural-related processes, or home economics activities. Demonstrate procedures and apply research findings to solve problems; and instruct and train in product development, sales, and the use of machinery and equipment to promote general welfare. Includes county agricultural agents, feed and farm management advisers, home economists, and extension service advisors.

The core tasks that farm and home management advisors are likely to carry out include:

Collaborate with producers in order to diagnose and prevent management and production problems.
Conduct classes or deliver lectures on subjects such as nutrition, home management, and farming techniques.
Advise farmers and demonstrate techniques in areas such as feeding and health maintenance of livestock, growing and harvesting practices, and financial planning.
Research information requested by farmers.
Prepare and distribute leaflets, pamphlets, and visual aids for educational and informational purposes.
Collect and evaluate data in order to determine community program needs.

In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that farm and home management advisors would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Having a strong preference for social work environments. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 100%

Being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 93%

Being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 93%

Being honest and ethical.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91.8%

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 91.2%

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 90%

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 90%

A willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.4%

Being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.4%

A willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 88.2%

Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 87.6%

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 87.6%

Developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 87%

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 85%

Maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 84.2%

Establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 84.2%

Being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 84.2%

Analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 83%

Being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 83%

Accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 81.2%

Creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 81.2%

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 80.6%

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%

Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%