9 Steps How To Work In A Greenhouse (Complete With Pictures)

How To Work In A Greenhouse - For people with a deep interest in horticulture, there may be no job more rewarding than working in a greenhouse. You'll be getting your hands dirty and coming home tired everyday, but there's no replacement for the sense of deep satisfaction you get when you cultivate flowers and plants. In order to find a job in this field, you need to make sure you have the right qualifications.

Getting the Right Qualifications

1. Complete your high school education. If you want a job in a greenhouse, you’ll need to have at least a high school diploma. If you’re still in high school, there are subjects you can pick while in high school that will improve your employability. Biology and chemistry courses will get you prepared for working with plants and pesticides.

2. Consider a two-year technical program. You don’t absolutely need a college education to get hired in many greenhouse jobs. However, many technical colleges offer greenhouse technician certification programs. These are two year programs that can increase your chances to get hired by giving you knowledge and experience in the field.

Horticulture degrees, botany courses, and taxonomy courses are best if you’re looking for applicable experience.

Pursuing a four-year college degree may be useful if you are interested in owning or operating a commercial greenhouse.

3. Check if you need licensing. In certain jurisdictions, you might need a license to work with the pesticides you’ll find in a greenhouse. This may be governed by municipal, state, or federal law. Do some research to determine if having a pesticide applicator license will improve your chances of being hired in your area. You can then find certification programs that will grant you these licenses.

While certification programs vary depending on your territory, they usually involve preparatory workshops and studying safety materials. Following that, you’ll need to complete an exam.

Being certified as a pesticide applicator can be costly, with fees for the study materials, exam and the license itself. Make sure you need this license before applying for it.

Getting Work Experience

4. Apply for a job at a nursery. Nurseries are businesses that specialize in growing specific types of plants or trees. As such, they usually have a greenhouse. Even if they don’t have jobs in the greenhouse, an unrelated position can still get you experience working in the field and gives you something to put on your resume.

5. Start a gardening project. This is a good place to start if you have absolutely no experience with plants. If you own your home, you can build simple plant beds around it. Depending on your interests, you can work with flowers, fruits or vegetables relatively easily.

If you live in an apartment building or a rented home, try to find a community garden near you. This will give you the chance to work on your gardening projects and network with other gardeners.

6. Build your own greenhouse. If you’re unable to find a suitable job in a nursery or a greenhouse, make your own! You may need to hire professionals, such as landscapers and electricians, to help you with this. If you have the time and money for it however, working in your own greenhouse will help you gain significant amounts of experience you can use to apply for jobs later.

Finding a Job

7. Craft your resume carefully. Your resume is your first impression on a possible employer. You need to make sure you include any past experience you have in the field, even if it doesn’t mean working in a greenhouse. Any experience with plants can be seen as an asset.

If you don’t have any experience in agriculture or horticulture, try to find other skills you might have that would be useful in a greenhouse. Even if your only work experience is in an office environment, good time management skills and drive will look good on a resume.

8. Look for job postings online. Your first step to finding work in a greenhouse is to go looking on the internet. You might be able to find a job posting in your area and submit your resume online. Use websites such as Indeed and Monster to look for greenhouse jobs.

Setting up a LinkedIn profile is a good way to make your resume available online and find employers looking for greenhouse workers.

9. Network with businesses in your area. Most greenhouse jobs involve working with or for a farm, but job postings might not necessarily be made public. Since most job postings aren’t listed, you’ll need to network with farms in your area. A farmer’s market is a great place to meet local farmers and let them know you’re looking for work.

Nurseries are also a good place to check for jobs. Find out what nursery your local gardening or home improvement store gets its plants from; get in touch with them to offer your services.

You can find representatives from businesses that operate greenhouses at local fairs and trade shows. They can be from nurseries, farms, or other businesses.