Virginia will soon open medical dispensaries. Only 5 in the state, on of which is local to me. They are currently hiring for nearly all positions, including cultivation and extractions assistants. I’m a high school dropout, big mistake, hated high school, never got my GED. I’ve been working for a plant nursery for 15 years. I have grow and extraction experience, but I’m not sure how to broach the subject considering the legality of how my knowledge was obtained. I assume I don’t mention this stuff on a paper resume? Hope my work history with my nursery gets my foot in the door? Then feel them out?
I’m trying to submit some resumes to medical facilities and hemp farms in northern VA, just looking for some input from others that have transitioned from black to legal markets. Would I have better luck starting with hemp farmers? I assume they have much less regulation, probably more obtainable educational standards
the ad for the legal dispensary says " * Bachelors Degree in Chemistry, Manufacturing, Engineering, or similar field or at least 2 years experience in cannabis manufacturing"
I’ve been making oil for a decade, processing and winterizing for 2+ years. I understand the science, just never run large equipment. Should this stuff be mentioned?
You would be doing yourself a major disservice if you didn’t mention your applicable skills.
I do think if you want to increase your chances to be considered for an interview a GED should be obtained to be able to check off at least something in the education area.
But for the mean time apply, and give your resume with applicable skills and hope you can get in front them for an interview to sell them your talents.
So, I’m a high school dropout as well, I got my ged and attended some college.
I am not sure about the cannabis industry, but any employer I’ve ever applied to didn’t give a crap about the education levels as long as I met the other criteria.
My current employer I didn’t even note my ged, just said attended some college
Edit: should have said, I’m in the IT field so it’s definitely a skilled labor position and I’m not entry level.
When I am hiring I lean towards experience over degrees, you will find a lot of incompetent PhDs in the cannabis industry. Your experience lines up well and you will likely have a lot more to offer than you think, as long as you are interested and have work ethic you can learn just about anything.
In terms of large equipment, I’d guess that most of the licensees will be running smaller scale equipment. Due to the short list of qualifying conditions the market won’t be sizable for awhile.
In terms of wording your qualifications - what type of equipment do you have experience with? What general processes have you done (ethanol extraction, winterization, distillation, etc)? What category of products did you extract (not cannabis but plant resins, etc)?
Also - keep in mind that there were 5 licenses initially issued and Medmen’s was revoked. So the state had another application process that ended in December and will reissue that license, perhaps within the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for when the winner’s announced and immediately reach out to them. Good luck!
I would also read up on any regulations that have been set forth for the types of jobs you are applying for. There very well could be mandatory education or experience requirements required for a given position. For example, to work as an analyst in a CO mj testing laboratory there is a minimum requirement for education and work experience in a regulated lab.
Then there are also qualifications to maintain GMP compliance. Although GMP does not quite officially apply to the cannabis industry yet, many companies are trying to maintain compliance through third party auditors. The company trying to maintain GMP will also have education and experience requirements for certain positions, though these are much more fluid.
I like @BrotanicalMatt s reply, the worst is they say no. (I’d try to work in a little ‘disclamer’ and mention past experience is all hobby and ‘love for the craft’ but I’d save that for the interview not the written application haha)