Rising Through the Ranks – to Find the Perfect Role

Ashley Murphy started his agricultural career as an agronomist, working up to Area Manager for Landmark, State Manager for Ruralco Holdings and National Manager for Yara Australia, before branching into senior management consulting. When he went looking for his next career move he turned to Agricultural Appointments. Though he grew up in the agricultural area…

Ashley Murphy started his agricultural career as an agronomist, working up to Area Manager for Landmark, State Manager for Ruralco Holdings and National Manager for Yara Australia, before branching into senior management consulting. When he went looking for his next career move he turned to Agricultural Appointments.

Though he grew up in the agricultural area of Yelarbon in southern Queensland, Ashley began his working life in the army and then the police force but “I always knew that’s not where I wanted to end up,” he says, “so I went to uni and, being a country lad, agriculture was what I liked and studied.” He graduated as an agronomist and rose through the ranks of Landmark, Ruralco and Yara before contacting Agricultural Appointments to assist him with his next career move. Ashley dealt initially with Felicity White and then with Managing Director Ray Johnson when a senior appointment became available.

“I worked with Felicity for about 18 months looking at roles and talking every week to find out what was on offer,” he says. “Then Ray contacted me to see if I was interested in a national appointment that we both thought was perfect for me. Agricultural Appointments really helped me to find the right role for where I wanted to be and where I wanted to go.”

That perfect role was as National Sales Manager for Belgium firm Tessenderlo, manufacturers of liquid and potassium sulphate fertilisers. Ashley was flown over to Belgium for an interview and was successful in securing the role. He is now based in Toowoomba, Queensland with regular travel to Victoria to oversee trials and sales. Working with anything from trade agreements to product pricing he employs his extensive leadership ability and strong negotiation skills to develop the Tessenderlo business in Australia, and appreciates the autonomous nature of the international role.

“I was attracted to the position because it was a National Manager’s role and being an international company they don’t just look on a regional basis – they have a bigger mindset and a bigger view on how things should happen,” he says.

Ashley has firm views on the opportunities and challenges facing Australian agriculture. “Export (to developing countries) is our biggest opportunity. Who would ever have thought you would export chicken manure to Vietnam, but there is that much demand you can’t keep up with it.”

Ashley appreciates the work behind the scenes of Agricultural Appointments, in particular in identifying him as a potential high-level candidate for his current role. “They have such good knowledge and intuition on how a candidate and client can fit together, they get this right, and I could not be happier”.

For over 35 years Agricultural Appointments has helped agribusinesses of all types meet the hardest challenge: recruiting the right people. From farm managers to food technologists, winemakers to research scientists and product developers to CEOs, they recruit for roles right across the food supply chain.

“From paddock to plate, we know people: how to find them and make sure they’re right for your role and culture.” Dr. Ray Johnson, Agricultural Appointments

Follow us on Linkedin for more interesting life stories and latest jobs…

The Latest Updates

03.18.2024

Employee retention matters. Organisational issues such as training time and investment, lost knowledge, mourning, insecure co-workers and a costly candidate search aside; failing to retain a key employee is costly. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organisation up to 100 percent of their salary. The loss of a senior executive is…

AI, An Essential Future Tool in Recruitment and Selection
03.18.2024

It is widely acknowledged that finding and hiring superior talent is a major source of competitive advantage for organisations, hence keeping abreast of the tools involved in the hiring process is, by itself, a source of competitive advantage. If we reflect on changes to hiring over the last 30 years, a revolution has taken place….

02.20.2024

Welcome aboard! The first few days and weeks in a new role can set the tone for an individual’s entire journey within an organisation. Hence, it is paramount to make these initial stages count. Let’s explore why timing matters and how to optimise it for the best onboarding experience. Why Timing Matters First Impressions Are…

What’s new?

Top Ten Tips to Retain Your Employees: Understanding the Importance

Employee retention matters. Organisational issues such as training time and investment, lost knowledge, mourning, insecure co-workers and a costly candidate search aside; failing to retain a key employee is costly. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organisation up to 100 percent of their salary. The loss of a senior executive is…

AI, An Essential Future Tool in Recruitment and Selection
AI, An Essential Future Tool in Recruitment and Selection.

It is widely acknowledged that finding and hiring superior talent is a major source of competitive advantage for organisations, hence keeping abreast of the tools involved in the hiring process is, by itself, a source of competitive advantage. If we reflect on changes to hiring over the last 30 years, a revolution has taken place….

Mastering the Art of Onboarding: Creating an Impactful Introduction for New Team Members.

Welcome aboard! The first few days and weeks in a new role can set the tone for an individual’s entire journey within an organisation. Hence, it is paramount to make these initial stages count. Let’s explore why timing matters and how to optimise it for the best onboarding experience. Why Timing Matters First Impressions Are…

Skills Based Hiring. A Step Towards Solving Talent Shortages in 2024?

In addressing talent shortages across various industries, employers’ traditional approach of hiring based on qualifications and years of experience is proving inadequate. A shift towards skills-based hiring is gaining momentum, offering a promising solution. This practice involves a reassessment of the job requirements and determining instead the underlying skills that are required. It may also…

Year in Review

Another year is quickly coming to a close… the first half of 2023 saw a firm demand for skilled people in the agriculture and food sectors. Despite the scarcity of talent, we successfully filled  a record number of jobs in the first half of the year.  The mid-year forecast of a return of El Nino and…

How Filling Empty Seats in Your Business Can Lead to Success

In today’s competitive market, it’s more important than ever to have a talented and engaged workforce. But when key roles are left unfilled, it can have a negative impact on your bottom line. Here are just a few of the ways that empty seats can impact your business: Inhibited growth: When you don’t have the…

Talent Market in Ag
Job Ads down, Applications up: Talent Market in Australia’s Ag industry remains competitive

The latest SEEK employment trends data for the Australian agriculture sector, shows that job ads have decreased by 9.6% across all categories except Conservation, Parks and Wildlife, compared to last year. However, applications are up, compared to the five-year average. 78% of candidates are currently actively looking or monitoring the market, the highest level in…

Competitive Positioning in a Candidate-Poor Talent Market

In an industry such as agribusiness, it is essential that commercial companies adapt their hiring processes to source top talent to drive their business growth. One way of achieving this is to tap into a broader talent pool and in a candidate-poor talent market, this is the key to competitive positioning. We recently conducted a national…

The State of Women’s Careers in the Agricultural Workforce

As we celebrated International Day of Rural Women on the weekend, let’s revisit an article published by Margaret Alston, Professor of Social Work, University of Newcastle about women in the agricultural workforce of Australia from our 2020 Trend Report. The contribution of women in agriculture has been historically ignored in Australia, even when at least…

Why Commercial Companies Avoid Using Recruitment Agencies for Employee Hiring – Cost Considerations

Recruitment agencies play a significant role in connecting job seekers with employers, providing a range of services, including candidate sourcing, screening, and selection. However, in our recent survey of Australian agribusinesses we were surprised to see that only about 20% of agribusinesses used a recruitment company to find potential candidates. This analysis aims to explore…