Pigs and the shower-in entry before the interview: recruiting operators for a pig farm

01 / The request

An advert in which the farm didn't want to write the word 'pigs'

A closed-cycle pig farm in the Volyn region asked for twenty operators for animal care and pen cleaning. We recruited in India: there are many people there with farm experience who are ready for long contracts. Citizens of India need a D visa to work in Ukraine, so the route takes eight to twelve weeks on average.

The farm proposed its own advert text: 'work on a livestock farm, housing, stable pay'. No mention of the animals or biosecurity rules. The logic was clear: don't scare candidates off at the start, and people will somehow get used to it on site.

Rajesh, our manager for workers from India, explained to the farm why that won't work. In India some people won't work with pigs for religious or personal reasons, and that's their right. If someone finds out only on the farm, that's where they'll refuse, after the farm has paid for the permit and the person has been through the consulate and flown thousands of kilometres. A refusal at home, before filing, costs nobody anything.

The farm didn't agree at once: the director feared an honest advert would leave no candidates at all. We suggested testing it on the first wave of CVs: if responses were too few, we'd talk again. There were plenty to spare, and the question never came back.

Who we're looking for

20 operators for animal care and pen cleaning

The farm's proposal

An advert without the animals or biosecurity rules

Our approach

A direct job description and a farm video before the interview

The aim

People decline at home, not on the farm

A refusal at interview takes five minutes. A refusal on the farm costs a permit, a visa, a flight and an empty place.

02 / The information sheet

What we wrote plainly in the candidate's sheet

The information sheet is a document the candidate signs before departure. It covers the employer, job, pay, hours, housing, meals, insurance and the costs the person bears. For the pig farm we added what an honest description can't do without: which animals, what an operator does, and which rules apply on site.

Biosecurity rules on a pig farm are strict, and not on a whim: they protect the animals from disease. People pass through a shower-in entry on the way in and out, change into the farm's workwear, and bring no outside food onto the premises. For some that's a detail; for others it's a reason to decline. We wanted everyone to know before signing. We agreed the sheet with the farm's vet so as not to add anything unnecessary or miss anything important. The vet added a point we hadn't thought of: for several days before their first entry to the farm, people shouldn't be in contact with other pigs, for example on smallholdings at home. Candidates from farming villages learned this in advance.

03 / The video

Four minutes of farm before the first interview question

Words on a sheet are good, but someone who has never seen a modern pig farm can't picture a shower-in entry or the pens. So we asked the farm to film a short video: the road from the housing, the shower-in entry, changing, the aisle between pens, feeding, cleaning, the canteen. No music or promotional shots, just as it is. The farm's vet filmed it himself on his phone, which is exactly why people believed it.

Candidates received the video from our partner along with the interview invitation, with Hindi subtitles. Rajesh asked them to watch it with their families and take their time. Those who came to the interview had watched it and hadn't changed their minds. Rajesh's first question wasn't 'tell me about your experience' but 'what surprised you in the video'.

Answers varied: some asked about the smell, some whether they could pray during breaks, some how many showers a day there would be. Rajesh answered every question honestly, and whatever he didn't know he asked the farm and answered the next day. Praying during breaks is fine, and the farm confirmed it in writing.

04 / No discrimination

We don't ask about faith; we show the work

The farm first asked us to 'screen by religion'. We refused. The Labour Code prohibits discrimination at work, including on grounds of religious belief and foreign origin. Asking candidates about their faith and selecting by it isn't allowed, and WORKIN doesn't work that way.

Instead we show the work as it is, and everyone decides for themselves whether it suits them. Someone for whom working with pigs is unacceptable declines on their own, without giving reasons. Someone who agrees does so knowingly. The farm gets people who know what they're signing up for, and candidates get respect for their choice. People declined for all kinds of reasons: the smell, the farm's remoteness, or no reason given, and we didn't ask.

05 / Selection

Sixty videos, twenty-five withdrawals and twenty acceptances

We recruited through a licensed partner in Punjab and Gujarat. We received CVs from a hundred and ten people, and sixty watched the video. Twenty-five candidates then honestly wrote that the work wasn't for them. Another eleven didn't pass the interview for lack of experience with animals. Twenty-four agreed: twenty went into processing and four stayed in reserve.

Each of the twenty-four signed an information sheet in English and Hindi with the same job description as in the video, and confirmed they hadn't been charged for placement. The farm received these sheets with the CVs and approved each candidate. We didn't release the four in reserve: each knew they would travel if anyone in the main group changed their mind before departure, and signed the same sheet.

1. Week 1

   Information sheet and video agreed with the farm; CVs from the partner.

2. Week 2

   Subtitled video sent to candidates; 25 withdrawals at home.

3. Week 3

   Interviews with Rajesh; 24 acceptances and signed information sheets.

4. Week 4

   Applications for 20 permits; fee paid from the farm's account.

5. Week 5

   Permits issued; D visa files prepared.

06 / The consulate

Consulate answers that match the documents

For a D visa, candidates filed a work permit copy, the farm's invitation and an insurance policy of at least EUR 30,000, and attended biometrics in person. At a consulate interview a person may be asked where and as what they'll work. If the answer doesn't match the permit and invitation, unnecessary questions follow.

This is where the honest information sheet paid off a second time. Every candidate knew their job title, the farm's name, the region and exactly what they'd do, because they'd seen it on video and signed it on the sheet. Rajesh didn't have people memorise answers; he simply reminded them to describe what they'd seen in their own words. The job title in the permit, invitation and sheet was identical: animal care operator. The consulate returned one candidate's file because of a wrongly sized photo, and Rajesh arranged a new photo and a new appointment within a day.

1. 01

   Permit

   A permit copy for the animal care operator job.

2. 02

   Invitation

   The farm's letter with the same job title, address and contact.

3. 03

   Insurance

   A policy with cover of at least EUR 30,000 for the visa term.

4. 04

   The candidate

   Knows the job from the video and sheet, and answers in their own words.

07 / Arrival

A first day on the farm that surprised nobody

1. Arrival day

   Meeting, the drive to village housing, a guide in Hindi and English.

2. Days 1-2

   Employment contracts, copies within 10 days.

3. First working day

   Shower-in entry, workwear, the farm's briefing. All as in the video.

4. First week

   Tax numbers, bank accounts, registration of residence.

5. Weeks 2-3

   Residence permit filings in groups with Rajesh.

On the first working day Rajesh was at the farm. People went through the shower-in entry they'd seen on video, changed into the workwear they'd read about, and nobody stopped at its door. Training and briefing are run by the farm, and our work with the group ended with handover to the shift with documents in order. Temporary residence permit and registration of residence filings went through in the first weeks. One question did come up: two people wanted to bring spices from home to their shift. The farm reminded them that no outside food goes onto the premises but said the canteen could add spicier dishes, and it was settled within a day.

08 / Outcome

Twenty people who knew where they were going, and no refusals on the farm

Job description

Animals, biosecurity and conditions in the sheet before signing

Video

60 candidates saw the farm before the interview

Withdrawals

25 at home, before any spending on permits and visas

Selection

No questions about faith; the candidate decides

Result

20 operators on the farm, 0 refusals in the first month

There's nothing WORKIN can't solve in recruiting for work with special conditions: we describe the work honestly, show it before the interview and select those who agree knowingly. The following year the farm asked for ten more people using the same sheet and video. The WORKIN replacement guarantee lasts at least 6 months from the worker's first shift, provided the agreed working, pay and housing conditions are kept. How specialists were recruited for a poultry complex is covered in the scenario about specialists from abroad for a poultry plant, and how skills are checked before a permit in the scenario about checking bakers. Conditions for candidates are on the working conditions page, the farm's obligations on the employer duties page, and the whole route on how it works. More on our pages about workers for agriculture, workers from India, recruitment and the work permit.

09 / FAQ

Questions and answers