Does LinkedIn have a new competitor? Of the West


Does LinkedIn have a new competitor? Of the West 

 

https://ofthewest.co/ Image accessed at Of the West, 2021

 

The Burning Question 

From the time a teenager starts their freshman year of high school they are continually asked the ever so common questions over the next four years, “where are you applying to college?”, “what do you want to study?” and most often their reply is, “I don’t know.”. The harsh reality is those two questions never go away even in college but have their own adult like twist. As a college student these questions consist of, “what are your plans after school?”, “do you have a job?”, “are you going to get your Masters?”. While all these questions are crucial to one’s future and those asking them are doing it in good faith, when you are the one thinking about and answering them it can be quite mind blowing. 

 

New Ag Media 

As a graduating senior this spring I can’t even count on my hands the number of times I have been asked the questions listened above, with my answer most commonly being, “I’m still looking for a job”. While word of mouth, LinkedIn and career fairs serve as a key place to find a job, I have found that being located on the central coast  can be quite difficult to find a job within the agriculture industry. With this challenge, I was surprised to find scrolling through my Instagram one day an account titled, Of the West, stating that they were and agriculture-based job service, sharing with its readers that their mission is, “serving and supporting the people who keep our way of life alive” (Of the West, 2021). 

 

 

 


Image accessed at Of the West, 2021

 

 

Of the West is a freshly 2021 created agricultural service based cite that provides job listings and trades within the agriculture industry to those who are in search of a career. Created by Jessie Jarvis, an Idaho cattle rancher who had in mind to create a program like LinkedIn with that agriculture twist. Stated on the website the goal for Of the West is “ Together, these two platforms are able to bring the people of the west together, proving that American Agriculture and  all aspects of the west, are alive and well” (Of the West, 2021). On the website there are tabs that include, post a job, find a job and a page that shares different agricultural trades in the western states. Since the cite just launched, all those listing trades or jobs are able to use this resource free of charge which serves as both a promotion for Of the West as well as the employers who are in search of new hires. 

 

 

Benefits of an Ag specific job cite

            I found that an idea such as Of the West is quite beneficial to those involved within the agriculture industry and are seeking employment. While LinkedIn may be a more widespread employment app, I have always found it to be stressful scrolling through all the job options and seeing many of them be located in the southern part of the state. Where with Of the West, while not all of the jobs they offer may be what I am qualified for they provide a more catered background towards the agriculture industry. Of the West does a great job promoting the cite by keeping up to date on some of the most popular social media cites including Instagram and Facebook, two places where college age/job seeking people would be scrolling. 

 

 

 

 

 

Image accessed at Of the West, 2021

 

Suggestions 

            Overall of the West’s website was easy to navigate and gave off the western agricultural vibe as soon as you opened their page. As a young adult looking for a job though I would recommend that they either share their link to the cite more frequently or provide a better search engine for it. A problem I frequently ran into when I was searching for the cite online typing it into the search bar many options came up none of which were the correct cite. This issue may discourage some from logging on or being directed to the wrong page which would dampen their experience. Another suggestion I have is to find more job listings/recruit companies to post jobs on the cite. While Of the West is fairly new program I feel that it would have been in their best interest to have had more job opportunities lined up to share when their website was launched. 

 

Final Thoughts

            I believe that Of the West will continue to support the agriculture and western industries and help those wanting to be a part of this movement. While they may be at the start of their career in the job finding industry, good things are headed in Of the West's way as well as for those seeking an agricultural profession. So the next time LinkedIn may be stressing you out with the hundreds of job listings, scroll on over to Of the West!


Maureen LaGrande 


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