FAQs on how we hire

Important notice: One Acre Fund never asks applicants to pay any sort of fee to apply for a job. If you have received such a request, that means you have received a fraudulent email from someone posing as a One Acre Fund staff member. Please do not deal with any such people and apply directly through our website or via a job posting on a legitimate job board. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address.

Are all roles on your website accepting applications?

Yes, all roles listed on our website are accepting applications.

Why do you advertise so many roles? Do you have a lot of turnover?

No, we don’t have unusual turnover. In 2024, our staff attrition rate was at 11%, which is in line with the industry average for an organisation of our size. We simply need more leaders to build our next generation of services for farmers. For more information on our retention strategy, check out our People Report.

Why do you decline so many candidates? Why didn’t my application go through?

Given our growth, we constantly publish job listings and attract a high volume of applications. In 2024, for example, more than 75,000 talented people applied for 400 office-based roles. So most of our roles are highly competitive, and we invariably decline people with stellar skills and credentials. For more on what we look for, see Qualifications.

Why do your roles stay open instead of closing on a set date?

In response to your valued feedback and to align with common best practice, we now have set deadlines for all our roles. This means that although we still interview on a rolling basis, i.e. we process every application as we receive it, all open roles will remain live on our website for up to 90 days. If we make a hire before the 90-day deadline, the role will be taken offline.

If we have not made a hire by the deadline, any active applicants will continue to be taken through our hiring process even after the role has been taken offline.

Why are so many of your roles in rural locations?

We are proudly headquartered in rural areas to ensure we stay connected to our customers. We believe strongly that this helps us respond to customer needs, innovate quickly, and see the impact of our work firsthand. We also believe in flexibility, and offer options for splitting time between field locations and capital cities, particularly for more senior roles. For more information on our offices in our various countries of operation, please check out our Locations.

Why do you use the Plum test?

We receive applications from around the world, with many different styles of resumes and cover letters. The short psychometric assessment provides another data point that is consistent across candidates. It also helps us assess skills and potential beyond what appears in a resume. We review the results together with your CV and cover letter. 

Do you re-use my exercise answers?

We absolutely do not re-use or share your interview exercises. They’re designed to be realistic to give you a concrete sense of the daily work. However, they typically cover problems we’ve already worked through as an organization. We only use them to make hiring decisions, and they’re never shared beyond the hiring team.

Your interview process takes much longer than what I am used to, why is this the case?

We appreciate that our application process is a little different to others you may have experienced. We believe that this process should help both of us figure out whether we’d work well together. For this reason, we evaluate candidates through a unique mix of interviews and practical exercises which are meant to imitate your day-to-day responsibilities should you land the role.

Overall, our process typically lasts between 1-2 months, with 1-2 weeks between each stage. We understand that this is a significant time investment, and we’re working to speed it up where we can. For more information, please see our Job Application Process.

Why do you share information on the salary range for your open roles during the application process?

We understand that our approach here might be atypical to the standard hiring process. We also acknowledge that our application process requires a significant time commitment on both your and our part. To respect your commitment, we prefer to align on compensation expectations in advance, ensuring that candidates who get to the latter stages are comfortable with the expected remuneration for the role prior to investing more time.

What kind of feedback can I expect? 

We carefully assess every single application and get back to every single person. We aim to share a decision within 7 working days after an interview. Given the high volume of applications, we can only offer detailed feedback when candidates reach the later rounds. Candidates are also welcome to ask their Recruiter for more information at any point. 

I interviewed/applied last year and wasn’t selected. May I reapply?

Yes, you are welcome to re-apply for any role that matches your background and skill set. We encourage you to carefully review the job description and tailor your application to the qualifications of the role. 

Do I need work authorization to apply for a role?

Hiring national staff is a top priority, so many of our roles are only open to nationals of the country of operation. In each job listing on our website, we indicate if work authorization is required for the role. Please check the individual listings under the 'Eligibility' heading for details on each role.

Does One Acre Fund accept volunteers?

We appreciate the interest but are unable to accept volunteers. Instead, we run a Young Professionals Program, which is a paid internship for nationals of African countries who have recently graduated from university.

Have a question that’s not been covered here? Please DM us on X and we’ll be happy to respond!