“I can’t tell you how many pencils I’ve gone through in 25 years, but everything was handwritten. Every interview, every reference call, every candidate presentation was on yellow notebook paper. We didn’t have a CRM. We didn’t have databases. We just had relationships.”
He laughs, but he’s not exaggerating.
As a recruiter for AGRI-SEARCH, Jim Fleming has watched changes within the industry unfold for the past 25 years. He remembers when he joined Dave Allen and Rich Connell that resumes arrived in the mail, confidential candidate presentations were sent via fax machine…and you called ahead to make sure the right person was standing beside the fax machine to pick them up.
Today, he sends a text message before he ever makes a phone call.
The technology has changed, and the speed of communication is lightning fast, but the “people part” will never change.
“Recruiting for AGRI-SEARCH will always come down to helping good people find good companies and helping good companies find people they can trust,” he says. “If that were to change, I don’t think any of us would still be involved in the industry.”
Shifting Gears
Like a lot of us, growing up, Jim just wanted to farm. Spending his days on the family farm near Arthur, Illinois, Jim looked up to his grandpa who served his community and congregation as a farmer and a preacher. He regularly put Jim in front of people, reading scripture and speaking at church from a young age, and those early experiences led to 4-H speaking contests and FFA leadership roles. Jim loved agriculture, loved people and had honed his speaking and communication skills throughout his teenage years. He was equipped for success; however he shares that he only had one goal.
He always expected to take over the farm. The 1980s farm crisis rerouted those plans.
With a love for people and telling the story of agriculture, Jim found himself reporting agriculture news and markets as an ag broadcaster. He spent his days interviewing people, building stories from those interviews and sharing polished news briefs—skills he still uses every day.
For years, Jim traveled the country covering agriculture.
He interviewed farmers, agronomists, seed companies, commodity organizations and industry leaders. He covered county fairs, grower meetings and agricultural policy. And along the way, he built relationships throughout the industry.
“Farm broadcasting enabled me to meet people in all aspects of agriculture, all over the country,” Jim says. “I covered grain organizations, livestock groups, commodity associations and agribusinesses. I was meeting people every single day and building relationships.”
When consolidation swept the radio networks in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jim found himself at a crossroads. In what can only be described as fate, Jim dropped his resume in the mail to a recruiter—Dave Allen. He wasn’t looking for a job in recruiting, he was just looking for a job.
“I sent Dave a resume because I was looking for work. So, when he called me and said, ‘I’m actually looking for a recruiter, and I think with your background you would be a good fit’, I didn’t really know what to think,” Jim says. “I took the offer; I watched Dave for about a day, and then he handed me a list of clients to call. This year will make 25 years I’ve been with AGRI-SEARCH.”
Jim joined AGRI-SEARCH in 2002; Dave Allen had just purchased the business, and learning was on the menu for everyone involved.
Recruiting Principles Don’t Change
“I can’t tell you how many pencils I’ve gone through in 25 years, but almost everything we did when I started was handwritten. Every interview, notes for every reference call, every candidate presentation…everything started on a yellow notepad,” Jim remembers.
There were no databases and text messaging hadn’t caught on yet. Every resume arrived in the mailbox – the one you have to physically walk to and check – or by fax.
The systems have changed. There aren’t a lot of yellow notepads lying around Jim’s office today. Everything is faster, including the process.
“If you get a really good candidate, you better not drag your feet,” Jim says. “If I find somebody who’s a star, they need to be in front of companies within 12 to 24 hours. If I wait a week, someone else is going to hire them.”
Over two and a half decades, Jim has developed an understanding of both sides of the recruiting equation. He’ll be the first to tell you that there are fundamentals that are never compromised for the sake of urgency.
Fundamentals can’t be compromised when the goal is the right fit for both the company and the candidate.
A candidate may look perfect on paper and still fail the company culture. Knowing the client knows as much or more than knowing the candidate. Over the years, he’s learned to trust his instincts. Over the years, there have been candidates he could have presented but chose not to because something didn’t “fit”. Sometimes the role required sixty-hour weeks and although the candidate thought they could make it work, after learning more, Jim knew they couldn’t. Sometimes advancement opportunities didn’t align with personal priorities. The right answer is always protecting both parties from a placement that won’t work.
“You’ve got to know your client and you’ve got to know your candidate,” Jim says. “You can tell when somebody’s going to fit and when they’re not. The goal isn’t to make a placement. The goal is to make a placement that lasts.”
That perspective has become even more important as career paths have evolved.
Twenty years ago, seeing multiple jobs in a short period raised concerns. Today, Jim looks deeper. Did the candidate move sideways every time, or did they take on larger territories, bigger responsibilities and leadership opportunities? The timeline matters less than the trajectory.
“What you have to find out is why they left. If every company is the problem, that’s a red flag, but if they’ve continued to elevate themselves and take on more responsibility, that’s a different conversation entirely,” he explains.
For Jim, recruiting has always been about recognizing potential and acting on it quickly. When the right person comes along, you don’t let the fact that a company doesn’t have a position advertised if you know the candidate is the perfect fit.
You pick up the phone, call the client and get the conversation started.
Because the objective of AGRI-SEARCH’s recruiting haven’t ever changed: matching the right people with the right company.
It’s why Jim says he still loves what he does every day after 25 years.
“The secret to recruiting is just knowing people. That’s really all it is. You have to know your clients, know what makes them tick and know the candidates well enough to understand where they’re actually going to fit.”
