The following lists the most frequently asked questions that we hear regarding various aspects of the Farm Credit Career Development Program. Click on a question to find the answer.

• What is the best way for me to get ahead at Farm Credit?
• What is a typical day in the life of a Farm Credit employee?
• What is the turnover like at Farm Credit?
• What does the future look like for Farm Credit?

• What is the best way for me to get ahead at Farm Credit?

• When young people begin their careers at Farm Credit, they often ask what they need to do to succeed. I usually respond by saying that, first, you should set goals for yourself. This means to determine where you want to be in a year ... three years... five years, and so on.

  Development of key character traits is essential, too, such as sincerity, self-confidence, objectivity and patience. Effective presentation skills are part of the mix.

  Study the right people. Choose a mentor. Ask questions. And study more than one style to figure out what works best for you.

  Take advantage of opportunities. Seize the moment when you see a chance to do something that will benefit the organization, and participate in as many professional development programs as possible.

  Finally, learn our business culture. Understand the core values. And focus on being the best over the long haul instead of searching for a quick payoff.

  - Bill Lipinski, CEO
  Farm Credit East

• What is a typical day in the life of a Farm Credit employee?

• A typical day varies depending on where you are in your career - and for some of you, there might never be a "typical" day, depending on how you choose to structure your career.

  Taking the long-term view, you can assume that you will progress from being an "order taker" early in your career to the point where you are essentially a self-employed consultant serving your own client base and managing your own time. Taking a closer look, you will generally spend your first year learning, watching and being mentored.

  First-year employees who want to "fast track" themselves often do their learning after hours. I often tell the story of how I spent my off-hours poring over every loan file in my office so I could learn as much as possible. Then when everyone else was in the office, I was available to provide value by delivering information on a moment's notice. The complexity of my assignments increased rapidly, so I learned faster.

  Perhaps 25 percent of the first-year employee's time is spent getting out with customers, gathering information, learning about their needs, and doing the legwork that supports our more experienced staff.

  Later, after you acquire a basic understanding of how our services match up to customer needs, you'll spend about half your time with customers, assuming greater responsibilities in customer relationships as you go along. You'll spend the rest of the time in the office, documenting customer discussions, writing loans, doing tax returns, servicing troubled credits, and so on.

  Because we are a customer-oriented organization, you'll find that, as you acquire more experience, you will spend more time out in the field - literally and figuratively - marketing our services, identifying needs and enhancing relationships with your customers.

  As I said at the beginning of my response, eventually you will evolve into a personal consultant for your own set of clients.

  - Bill Lipinski, CEO
  Farm Credit East

• What is the turnover like at Farm Credit?

• Turnover at Farm Credit is very low. This is because success at Farm Credit depends on developing and maintaining long-term, meaningful relationships with customers.

  From our customers' perspective, we know it's important for them to build trust with their loan officers over time. Customers don't want a different loan officer every year or two.

  From a business standpoint, low turnover is our strategic advantage. Every association will tell you that customer relationships are very important, which is why we spend so much time and so many resources recruiting, hiring and training our employees. We get the most out of these resources by hiring the right people and helping to ensure that they stay with us for many years.

  Farm Credit is in the value-added credit business, which means we need knowledgeable people who know how to develop long-term, successful relationships with their customers. We help ensure longevity at Farm Credit with excellent salary and benefits packages, an outstanding work environment and career-long professional development opportunities.

  - George Putnam
  President and CEO
  Yankee Farm Credit

• What does the future look like for Farm Credit?

• The future for Farm Credit continues to be very bright.

  I base my optimism on two reasons:
  
  1. The strength of agriculture and related industries in the Northeast and its history of successfully adapting to changes in its markets.
  2. The underlying financial strength and deep-seeded commitment of Farm Credit to these industries.

- Ray Nowak
President and CEO
Farm Credit of Maine