Potential Employers
Currently I work for High Plains Farm Credit as a System Administrator. As part of the Farm Credit System, there are many options to move up in my employment or outward in another community. I chose potential employers that would still fit with my current employment as I would like to retire in this line of work. The places of employment I chose to look into were CoBank, Farm Credit Services of America, Farm Credit Bank of Texas, and Farm Credit Administration.
CoBank
Address: 6340 South Fiddlers Green Circle, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Homepage: https://www.cobank.com/
Phone: 800-542-8072
Contact: Deboleena Bose (Chief Human Resources Officer) or Ashley Konsowitz (Corporate Recruiter) via recruiting@cobank.com
General Information:
CoBank, while founded in 1989, has a very extensive history dating back to 1916 when congress first created the Farm Credit System (CoBank, 2022). Within this system, twelve banks were created for agricultural financing that later expands to thirteen (CoBank, 2022). When the Farm Credit Act was passed in 1987, this allowed eleven of the thirteen banks to merge (CoBank, 2022). The merge created CoBank, that has grown since and as of today, CoBank provides funding in 23 states to various Farm Credit Associations (CoBank, 2022).
Why I’m Interested:
As stated in my opening, CoBank is a part of the Farm Credit System. Where I work, we use CoBank as our funder for our land loans. CoBank plays a large role at my association and many trips are made to Denver for meetings and trainings. Due to the travel to CoBank, I have had the luxury of meeting several employees and sharing our professional knowledge together. CoBank would be an option for future employment if my husband and I decided to move out of our current community but due to proximity working remotely could be an option as well.
Questions
- Due to my current employment, would my retirement benefits carry over to CoBank?
- Would you provide relocation benefits?
- What would the travel requirements be for this position?
Farm Credit Services of America
Address: 5015 S. 118th St, Omaha, NE 68137
Homepage: https://www.fcsamerica.com/
Phone: (402) 348-3333
Contact: Ashley Lovell or Pernell Toney via phone number
General Information:
Farm Credit Services of America is a part of the Farm Credit System that services Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa (Farm Credit Services Of America, 2022). Farm Credit Services of America offers agricultural loans as well as home loans (Farm Credit Services Of America, 2022). With 42 different locations FCS of America services more than 50,000 customers (Farm Credit Services Of America, 2022). Corporate headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska and their 2020 loan volume exceeded 32 billion dollars (Farm Credit Services Of America, 2022).
Why I’m Interested:
Farm Credit Services of America does not have any association with CoBank or my current employment. They offer other services that my current employer does not and use different systems. The reason I would consider employment here was due to the opportunities advertised on their career page. As a system administrator I manage multiple systems and applications at my current employment. I found on their website a similar job title with very competitive pay and only managing one system. I would enjoy learning the different software provided by FCS of America.
Questions
- What type of training would be offered to gain knowledge in your systems?
- What expectations do you have for learning these systems?
- Would training be provided by the servicing company to increase my knowledge of the systems?
- Do you offer yearly training plans to continue education in various informatic fields?
Farm Credit Bank of Texas
Address: 4801 Plaza on the Lake, Austin, TX 78746
Homepage: https://www.farmcreditbank.com/
Phone: (512) 465-0533
Contact: Jenny Best – Senior Recruiter, able to contact by phone unless interesting in applying. If applying for an open position, locate the careers page, select the option, and complete the application. If selected for an interview, Jenny will reach out to the individual.
General Information:
Farm Credit Services of Texas offers lending services for the areas of New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (Farm Credit Bank Of Texas, 2022). Within these five states there are fourteen different cooperative locations that provide loans to over 100 thousand borrowers (Farm Credit Bank Of Texas, 2022). With headquarters in Austin, Texas, Farm Credit Bank of Texas has a loan volume of over 24 billion dollars (Farm Credit Bank Of Texas, 2022).
Why I’m Interested:
I used to live in Florida and miss the warm weather. Texas would be a great re-location area for my family and Farm Credit Bank of Texas would be a perfect fit located in Austin, Texas. Farm Credit Bank of Texas also uses a different system platform than what my current employer uses. It would be an opportunity to learn a new platform and expand my knowledge of sales systems. When researching the cooperative locations, they have similar loan volume and employee sizes as what I am used to working with. This type of a career path sparks my interest as I would love to eventually move towards warm weather but have the same feeling of family that Farm Credit Services offer.
Questions
- What does employment look like at Farm Credit Bank of Texas? What is the environment like for employees?
- Are there options for advancement?
- What would the travel requirements be for this position?
Farm Credit Administration
Address: 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102
Homepage: https://www.fca.gov/
Phone: (703) 883-4135
Contact: Employment_Opportunities@fca.gov
General Information:
Farm Credit Administration (FCA) was created in 1933 when President Roosevelt, via executive order, created the branch to oversee agricultural creditors (Farm Credit Administration, 2022). FCA falls under the United States Department of Agriculture and ensures credit lenders provide reliable services to rural Americans (Farm Credit Administration, 2022). The Farm Credit Act of 1971 allows the FCA to regulate associations within the Farm Credit System (Farm Credit Administration, 2022).
Why I’m Interested:
Working under the Farm Credit System, most individuals within the company know of the FCA. Audits are required by the FCA and are done on a yearly basis. Depending on the results of the audit, the bank’s future can be impacted if they are not following FCA regulations. Since I am already familiar with the process of what is required for an audit, I looked into an FCA Examiner position. The first benefit I found was that telework is allowed. Relocation to a new city would not be required, and this could be an option for future employment if my family was not ready to move. FCA Examiner’s travel across the United States, and up to 50 percent of the job can be traveling. I also find interest in this opportunity because according to the FCA website, even though up to 50 percent of the job is traveling this also includes attending conferences and training. Training throughout employment is important to me to keep my skills sharp.
Questions
- What type of training would be offered for the position and how much time is spent in training?
- What are the expectations for the one-year probationary period? Are the requirements to meet given prior to accepting the position?
- Since a CISA (Certified Information System Auditor) is required, do you cover costs associated with training and renewal?
- What are the expectations for travel? How many auditors travel together? Are there any requirements for needing to be close to a major airport?
Sources
About CoBank. CoBank. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://cobank.com/corporate
About Us. Farm Credit Association. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.fca.gov/about/about-fca
About Us. Farm Credit Bank Of Texas. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.farmcreditbank.com/about-us
Who We Are. Farm Credit Services Of America. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.fcsamerica.com/about/overview/who-we-are