To become a grain merchandiser, you should have a bachelor's degree in agriculture. For some positions, a bachelor's degree in a business discipline could also be sufficient. You will probably have a better chance of finding a job if you have at least five years of experience working in a related field. You can occasionally find entry level jobs, however, that do not require applicants to have any related work experience.
As a general rule, you should plan to be proficient with some basic computer systems, such as word processing, email, and spreadsheet management. While it could be helpful to also have some trouble-shooting skills, the majority of jobs will not require applicants to have this ability. If you have some previous experience in a supervisory or management role of any kind, it could give you an advantage over your competition.
In order to be successful in most of these positions, you should have a variety of flexible business-related skills. If you want to become a grain merchandiser, you will need to be capable of prioritizing your daily and weekly activities so that you can meet deadlines without fail. People who are good at multi-tasking tend to excel in these types of positions, simply because there is usually quite a bit going on all the time.
Candidates for these positions should have exceptional interpersonal skills and have the ability to communicate well with others. To become a grain merchandiser and be successful, you may need to have the ability to speak to others in a way that is easily understandable. You should also be able to write information or instructions that are clear, concise, and to the point. A certain amount of report writing may be a part of your responsibilities, so having some familiarity with this process should give you a bit of an advantage.
This kind of work is typically fast-paced, so candidates who are comfortable working in non-stop environments generally do very well. If you want to become a grain merchandiser, you should have the ability to work under pressure without becoming stressed. The majority of employers require people in these jobs to function at high capacity even under tight deadlines or pressure from superiors. You may also do quite well in this type of position if you can work successfully as part of a team, as a certain amount of project work is usually required.
