Eligibility

A decade ago, it was sufficient to have a good educational background to get into the tea industry, and pick up the skills required on the job, but today, most tea companies only take on young graduates, preferably with an agricultural background, for jobs in tea plantations.

Candidates who have completed training in business management or marketing are eligible to join tea companies in the field of marketing.

Training

There is no specialized training course for a career in tea. Learning on the job in a tea garden is the best training any candidate can receive.

A course in agriculture, or a B.Sc. in botany, food sciences, horticulture or allied fields, gives the candidate a distinct advantage.

Tea tasters are trained on the job. Besides training their senses to taste and evaluate the tea, they have also to pick up marketing and managerial skills.

A Tea Tasters Academy has recently come up in Conoor in the Nilgiris for training new entrants into this field.

New entrants are taken on as Assistants at the plantation level. After gaining experience and competence an assistant can get promoted to the level of Assistant Manager, and then Manager of a tea garden. Most assistants can expect to become managers in 12-15 years of service.

Those who go into other areas such as that of tea tasting, or broking, normally have had some years of experience in a tea garden.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

An interest and liking for outdoor life, self sufficiency and an interest in hobbies, knowledge of the
vernacular language, physical fitness, adaptability, powers of self-reliance, leadership, capacity to deal with labor.

Brokers and auctioneers should be levelheaded and disciplined, able to maintain a good rapport with producers and buyers.

Tea tasters must keep their palates clean and sensitive and keep drinking or smoking habits in check.

PRESSURES

Tea plantations are located in remote areas, so life for a tea planter can be lonely, with little companionship Labor in these areas can get belligerent and demanding, putting great strain on the managers of a tea garden.