Skills
Extension Educator Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in extension educators, and how to build and show them.
What skills do extension educators need?
Extension Educators need technical skills such as agricultural knowledge, teaching adults, and youth development, plus people skills like communication and relationship building. They also use tools such as Presentation tools and Diagnostic kits.
Technical (hard) skills
- Agricultural knowledge
- Teaching adults
- Youth development
- Program evaluation
- Writing
- Diagnostics
People (soft) skills
- Communication
- Relationship building
- Organization
- Patience
Tools, equipment and technology
- Presentation tools
- Diagnostic kits
- Newsletters
- Social media
- Program databases
- Vehicles
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how extension educators put their skills to work:
- How to run an on-farm field day
- How to identify a plant problem from a sample
- How to measure extension program impact
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Agricultural knowledge” and “Teaching adults.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “communication,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Master’s degree near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our extension educator glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Extension Educator training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.