Stand Out to Employers With Training and Verification for H-2A Jobs
Welcome to the USA Truck Labor blog. You’re here because you’re interested in acquiring the skills and training necessary to compete for the top H-2A jobs in America. Our program is designed to give you that extra edge over other farm job seekers. Whether you’re interested in working on a farm or for a specialized ag business, such as a farm labor contractor or custom harvesting business, our 2-day and 4-day training courses teach you some of the skills you need to know to succeed in an American farm job. We’ve partnered with USA Farm Labor, a top H-2A agency in America, to train and verify the next generation of skilled seasonal farm workers.
Let’s kick this blog off by looking at the benefits and importance of training for H-2A visa jobs in the United States.
Importance of training and verification for H-2A visa jobs
Working on an American farm is a demanding, grueling job that requires a great deal of dedication and commitment. Think about it. You’re leaving home, traveling to a foreign land in the U.S., and trying to provide a better life for you and your family by working on a farm.
Most times, skilled H-2A jobs require you to live and work directly on the farm, around the farmer’s family, making it an even more demanding job than other, similar visa jobs. In most cases, you’ll be an extension of the farmer’s family, and that’s an important job, no matter how you cut it.
And U.S. farm employers hiring for skilled H-2A positions expect you to know what you’re doing on day one. So, you need to be trained.
That means H-2A job seekers need:
proficiency with driving left-hand drive American-style semi trucks
a thorough understanding of the English language, U.S. traffic laws, and road signage
experience with or exposure to modern farm equipment, such as John Deere tractors, harvesters, and their attachments
a fundamental understanding of how to connect trailers to trucks, and sprayers, mixers, and attachments to equipment
Training and verification for skilled, seasonal H-2A jobs isn’t optional anymore; it’s the standard.
“Many times, one of the first questions out of a new farmer looking to hire South Africans for H-2A visa jobs is ‘Can they do the job?’ and our first response is to tell them about USA Truck Labor’s training program and our partnership,” explains Crystal Plank, Head of Sales and Onboarding for USA Farm Labor. “News that we have the training partnership immediately puts their minds at ease since that means we can connect them with skilled workers.”
Addressing the growing H-2A job skills demand
By partnering with USA Farm Labor and sending our team to visit American farms in person, we were able to get a feel for the expectations and needs of American farmers. They want and need skilled South African drivers and equipment operators.
Our team learned that many American employers and their existing H-2A workers were losing valuable production time teaching the newcomers how to drive an American truck and operate U.S. farm equipment.
As a result, the most in-demand workers were those with previous American job experience, and newcomers weren’t being hired or even considered for a job unless farmers were desperate. That lack of trust in the H-2A environment wasn’t sustainable for the future of American ag or the South African workers who depend on these jobs to feed their families.
The Gold Standard was created and continuously developed with feedback from American ag employers and focuses on:
Safely, accurately, and efficiently driving a left-hand drive semi truck
Performing basic maintenance and service on trucks and equipment
Demonstrating practical farm driving skills such as backing, docking, and parking in various situations
Maneuvering the truck alongside harvest equipment across various terrains such as dirt, gravel, and grass fields
Understanding American traffic laws and signs through theoretical testing
On the road, or ‘around town’ driving scenarios that involve shifting up, down, and through the gears on an 18-speed Fuller Gearbox while maneuvering safely through traffic
Verifying you can perform the skills listed on your resume through practical and theoretical testing
Training focuses on preparing you for real-world American farm scenarios and jobs through both 4-day and 2-day course offerings. Verification tests you on the skills learned either through previous H-2A farm experience or during training, and provides your future employers with a peace-of-mind reference when considering hiring you for a position.
Benefits of training for H-2A jobs in the USA
Employers want to hire workers who already know what they’re doing on a farm. A trained, skilled, safe, dependable, and teachable worker is exactly what American farm employers are looking for when filling those seasonal H-2A jobs. Let’s look at some of the benefits of training for H-2A jobs before applying for work or starting a new job in America.
Training is a safety precaution
Farm work in America, or anywhere, is a dangerous occupation. Many of the skilled H-2A jobs available today require you to operate multi-ton pieces of equipment and large farm trucks or both, and you must understand how to operate these machines safely, or you risk severe injury and even death.
There are countless dangers on an American farm, and those perils only increase when you aren’t sure what you’re doing or how to operate certain pieces of equipment and trucks. Being trained before you set foot on an American farm in an H-2A job is a safety precaution that can literally save your life.
Training can earn you a higher wage
More skills mean better pay. The new H-2A job wage rates are set to pay skilled, experienced positions more than low-skilled or inexperienced H-2A jobs. The skills you acquire at USA Truck Labor can earn you a higher-paying position in America. That’s precisely why we developed Gold Standard training and verification—to help you land better, higher-paying H-2A jobs.
Training is an investment in your future
Training shows you care about your future enough to gain additional skills—similar to college for H-2A jobs.
You have to remember, U.S. ag employers are taking a chance on you, investing in you, and bringing you over to live and work on their farm. Many times, you will even live and work alongside their family. The risk these employers take intensifies if you’re unproven, can’t verify or demonstrate your skills, and have never worked on an American farm before.
Sometimes, training demonstrates to potential employers that you have more than just skills; it shows them you’re responsible and take their open H-2A jobs seriously enough to take the extra step and voluntarily pursue additional skills training to be the best H-2A worker possible. You have the potential to send a powerful message. Employers want and appreciate a skilled and motivated worker who is willing to learn.
Training gives you proof of practical knowledge
Claiming you have skills on your resume won’t cut it with American employers. They want proof. Your training programs here at USA Truck Labor were developed with the sole purpose of helping you provide proof that you can drive their trucks and work in their operations. You’ll receive complimentary drone footage of your practical training, behind the wheel of our Peterbilt rig, as you perform various maneuvers and techniques just as you would on their farm.
Training puts you in a position to succeed from the start
Adjusting to life in a new country is hard enough. It’s even harder if you have to learn from scratch and train on every small aspect of your H-2A job as you go. If you can step off the plane in America already possessing the skills necessary for the job, you are automatically in a better position to succeed. You’ll be more comfortable and have the confidence you need to impress your new employer. Training will also eliminate costly training periods and cut the time it takes to adapt to your new role. Employers will appreciate that.
You’ll also be able to confidently perform the job right away. That’s not to say there won’t be a few growing pains, but the training and skills you acquire now will only make adjusting to life in America as an H-2A worker easier and less stressful.
USA Truck Labor ensures Gold Standard H-2A training and verification
USA Truck Labor finds what American employers are looking for in their H-2A employees and develops your training and verification program around those needs. As a result, we’re continuously improving our course offerings and adjusting the skills we teach you to meet the needs of American ag employers.
USA Truck Labor specializes in training you for skilled, meaningful, and good-paying H-2A jobs in America. Whether you’re interested in general farm work, operating farm equipment, driving farm trucks, or a combination of all of these tasks, USA Truck Labor’s Gold Standard training and verification services can make the difference between landing the H-2A job of your dreams and spending yet another year on the sidelines, watching from South Africa.
Our close partnership with USA Farm Labor, the leading H-2A agency in America for skilled, qualified South Africans, means you will be marketed to their clients (American farmers) as a skilled, qualified, and verified H-2A talent.
