How to hire animal scientists
A job description you can copy, interview questions tied to the real work, and what to pay. Free.
Job description template
Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.
[Job title] at [Company name] [City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range] About the role [Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.] What you will do • Advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts. • Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes. • Develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals. • Research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality. • Study effects of management practices, processing methods, feed, or environmental conditions on quality and quantity of animal products, such as eggs and milk. • Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials. • Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public. What you bring • [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any] • [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Bachelor's degree] • Strong reading comprehension, critical thinking, science, writing, active learning and active listening skills • Working knowledge of biology, mathematics, English Language and chemistry • [Anything else you would really turn someone away for] Pay and benefits [Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $33.14 an hour ($68,940 a year). [Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.] How to apply [Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]
Interview questions for animal scientists
Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.
- Tell me about a time you had to advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
- Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
- Tell me about a time you used scientific or technical knowledge to solve a work problem.
- Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?
Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.
What animal scientists do
- Advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts.
- Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes.
- Develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals.
- Research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality.
- Study effects of management practices, processing methods, feed, or environmental conditions on quality and quantity of animal products, such as eggs and milk.
- Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials.
- Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public.
Skills that matter most
Education, experience and outlook for animal scientists
- Typical education to start: Bachelor's degree (BLS)
- Job outlook: +5.8% over ten years, faster than average · about 200 openings a year (BLS)
Related hiring guides
- Food Scientists and Technologists
- Soil and Plant Scientists
- Biochemists and Biophysicists
- Microbiologists
- Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
- Biological Scientists, All Other
- Conservation Scientists
- Foresters
- Epidemiologists
- Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
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Post a job freePay by areaJob duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.