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Agricultural Inspectors

$44.72K Median Salary 2.9K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 9.6% Job Growth

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About This Career

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment, and facilities, and fish and logging operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and laws governing health, quality, and safety.

Reported Job Titles

Brand Inspector, Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI), Food Inspector, Food Safety and Inspection Service Inspector (FSIS Inspector), Food Sanitarian, Grain Inspector, Inspector, Seed and Fertilizer Specialist, Shipping Point Inspector

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Written Comprehension

Far Vision

Flexibility of Closure

Speech Clarity

Perceptual Speed

Speech Recognition

Category Flexibility

Information Ordering

Speed of Closure

Written Expression

Auditory Attention

Selective Attention

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

Administration and Management

Administrative

Law and Government

Mathematics

Public Safety and Security

English Language

Skills

Quality Control Analysis

Active Listening

Monitoring

Reading Comprehension

Critical Thinking

Speaking

Active Learning

Judgment and Decision Making

Operations Monitoring

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Systems Analysis

Systems Evaluation

Writing

Instructing

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software

Presentation software

Electronic mail software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Data base user interface and query software

Tools

Sample holders

Sorting machines for seed or grain or dried leguminous vegetables

Calibration weights or weight sets

Grading machines for seed or grain or dried leguminous vegetables

Truck or rail scales

Mechanical balances

Ladders

Infrared imagers

Laboratory sifting equipment

Utility knives

Moisture balances

Dropping pipettes

Rice cleaning or hulling equipment

Sample preparation bombs

Moisture meters

Grinding mills

Laser printers

Profile projectors

Analytical balances

Medical syringes without needle

Global positioning system GPS receiver

Lux or light meter

Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers

Floor or platform scales

Animal shearing or clipping equipment

Hard hats

Cargo trucks

Digital cameras

Desktop computers

Thermal tape printers

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills

Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Operations Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software

Tools

Sample holders: Sample vials
Sorting machines for seed or grain or dried leguminous vegetables: Color sorters; Cross belt sorters; Shape sorting machines; Weight sorting machines
Calibration weights or weight sets: Gram weights
Grading machines for seed or grain or dried leguminous vegetables: Deformation testers; Firmness testers; General purpose sizers; Seed graders
Truck or rail scales: Monorail scales; Railway track scales
Mechanical balances: Balance scales
Ladders: Extension ladders
Infrared imagers: Infrared analyzers
Laboratory sifting equipment: Sieve shakers
Utility knives: Precision knives
Moisture balances: Laboratory moisture balances
Dropping pipettes:
Rice cleaning or hulling equipment: Rice shellers
Sample preparation bombs: Bomb samplers
Moisture meters:
Grinding mills: Grinders; Tub grinders
Laser printers: Computer laser printers
Profile projectors: Optical measuring equipment
Analytical balances: Electronic balances
Medical syringes without needle: Syringes
Global positioning system GPS receiver: Global positioning system GPS receivers
Lux or light meter: Light meters
Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers: 13C nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers; Proton nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers
Floor or platform scales: Industrial floor scales
Animal shearing or clipping equipment: Electric animal clippers
Hard hats:
Cargo trucks: Logging trucks
Digital cameras:
Desktop computers:
Thermal tape printers: Heat transfer printers

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