Good employees are the lifeblood of any thriving business, and the Pork Checkoff has created new Web tools to provide job seekers with a better understanding of the skills, knowledge, and experience required to get started on a successful career path in the pork industry.

The Checkoff recently launched the Careers in Pork Production site on Pork.org at www.pork.org/Careers/. The site, which includes links in the resources tab for job postings, also includes an organizational chart to provide an overview of the vast array of jobs available in pork production including production-managers, human resources, accounting, environment, logistics, nutrition, marketing/communications, and purchasing/facilities.

The chart is interactive and includes links to job descriptions and online videos, including "A Career in Pork: It's Not What You Think." The Checkoff worked with Christensen Farms and Iowa Select Farms to produce the videos, which feature a sow division manager, a farrowing department lead and other pork industry professionals. Additional video clips from other pork production companies will be posted to the site in the future.

In addition, the career pathway guide explains how real people arrived at their pork industry career. Featured employees include Tyler Peterson, a department lead in the pork industry who is responsible for overseeing the animal well-being at sow facilities; Lili Alonzo, a bilingual human resource professional who reviews job applications and recruits at various colleges, universities, career fairs and industry events; and Patti Olsen, an administrative assistant for the director of purchasing who handles the daily feed procurement duties at her company's swine operations.