LESSON PLAN: Interviews: Analyzing Interviews To Make A Career Connection.
LESSON OBJECTIVE: Students will learn from people currently employed who are working with different types of plant species. Students will understand how their past job experiences have helped them obtain their current jobs.
ASSESSMENT: How students have answered the questions, which follow the summaries of the interviews, they have read.
Access Lifeskills Rubric
SCANS COMPETENCIES: Information processing, written communication, reading, and group dynamics
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: Students are to read the interview summaries and answer the questions. They will get into groups of four and discuss their conclusions
MATERIALS: Interview summaries with questions; Pen
INTERVIEWS
Several different people were interviewed. They were asked to explain about the previous jobs they have held, the formal education they have received, how both of these have contributed to helping them attain their present job, what their job requirements are, and where they are headed with their careers. They were asked to share any insights they felt were important that could help high school students prepare for themselves to have a better future with a career they would be satisfied with. The following information will be summarizing the discussions that were held.
JUDITH BEN
She is a horticulturist at the U.C. Botanical Gardens. To obtain this job, an applicant must have a college degree in horticulture or botany. One must be an expert in the area they are hired to be responsible for, lead speaking engagements, write newsletter and magazine articles, and edit books on their topics of expertise. Additionally, they will be asked to participate with various plant societies. Most of the people who work here stay for twenty to thirty years, producing a low turn over with regards to hiring new horticulturists to replace retiring staff.
DANNY ALVARADO
He is a turf, landscape and outdoor maintenance employee for the U.C. Berkeley Athletic, Recreational and Sports Grounds. In other words, he is a laborer/gardener for the athletic grounds. Danny graduated from high school and then was drafted into the military and was sent to fight in Vietnam. He eventually was promoted to a sargeant and was in charge of helicopters. Danny was discharged in 1971 and was able to get a job with Edcliff electronics, which was a private company that received government contracts. He worked with transducers, which allowed aircraft instrumentation to be automatic rather than manual. He did not receive any benefits and was paid an hourly wage. He got tired of working indoors from eight to five, five days a week, in a facility that had no windows. The building had to be kept sterile and he was required to wear a white suit and gloves. While working there, he attended night school at a junior college and took park administration/maintenance courses over a three-year period. He did not receive his AA certificate, but rather only took vocational courses.
At this point, Danny applied to work for a public school district in San Diego, to take care of all the outdoor grounds at the schools. He was hired and was responsible for pruning plants and trees and for maintenance of the fields. He the got a job as a grounds keeper at Cal Poly University and eventually left this to work for the city of Ontario as a park caretaker. Danny decided he liked working at college/university areas rather than municipalities. He felt there was more professionalism in a campus atmosphere, where more activities were going on. This allowed his outdoor grounds to receive higher exposure from spectators who would appreciate the quality of his craftsmanship. So, he worked for Cal. State Fullerton as a supervisor for their sports complex. This experience allowed him to be hired at U.C. Berkeley. He was responsible for replacing the astroturf on the football field with grass.
To be successful at his job, Danny believes he must have a positive attitude, be enthusiastic, love what he is doing, have cooperative interaction with his fellow workers and supervisors, know in advance what is expected of him and set appropriate goals. Communication is a must for cohesiveness to happen in an organization.
MARK LUCAS
He is a supervisor for the labor/gardener staff at the upper athletic fields and grounds at U.C. Berkeley. He enrolled in several landscaping and horticulture classes that his high school offered. Throughout these years, he would work after school on his family farm. After graduating, he was employed at different places to help maintain crops and grounds. He worked for wineries, school districts, colleges, various government agencies, and started his own landscaping business. He started going to a junior college at night, to take courses on pesticides and horticulture.
Mark feels he has lost out on many management position jobs because he did not have a four-year degree from a college or university. He applied for the job at U.C. Berkeley to be manager of the athletic campus grounds, but feels he did not get the job because of his lack of formal education. Instead, he started at U.C. Berkeley as a labor/gardener. Eventually, he was promoted to supervisor for all the upper grounds crew.
To receive this promotion, Mark had to demonstrate he had the following abilities:
1) To be able to lead, direct, and perform institutional landscape/outdoor area maintenance including equipment operation, chemical applications, and automated irrigation systems.
2) Advanced knowledge of turf, turf systems, and turf care.
3) Knowledge and experience completing event preparations for outdoor activities and competitions.
4) To be in possession of a valid California drivers license
5) To have obtained a CA pesticide applications certificate or higher.
6) Cooperate well with others in order to accomplish these duties.
BOB MILANO
He is the manager off all the U.C. Berkeley athletic grounds. He is responsible for Danny, Mark, and many others. After high school, Bob attended a junior college to receive his AA certificate while working in the landscaping and construction business. He then attended U.C. Davis, studying environmental design and playing on the baseball team. He also had a job as a campus drafts person, that dealt with the campus landscape plans. At one point he took a year off from his studies, but eventually he graduated. Then he became a project manager for the university. He was in charge of all the hard space outside of the buildings. As Bob put it, “The space that was not alive.’ Bob received a temporary assignment as manager of the athletic campus grounds landscaping department. After this he got his present job.
Bob feels he was hired for this job, because he had experience working for a California university in this field, he has leadership and teamwork skills due to playing on athletic teams, he follows through with his responsibilities, and he holds a bachelor’s degree. The aspects he enjoys about his job are that he has control and a significant amount of influence over the outcomes of his projects, and he has a variety of responsibilities. Often his job is frustrating because the university does not have a clear vision about their future goals, and decisions are made slowly because there are so many channels a plan has to pass through before a conclusion is arrived at.
QUESTIONS
1) What difference does having a four-year college degree make when trying to qualify for various jobs?
2) How does persons’ past work experiences help him or her qualify for a future job?
3) What qualifications did all the individuals have to posses to obtain their current job?
4) What career do you see pursuing?
5) What skills, education, and experience do you think you will need to be successful in this career?
Get into groups of four and discuss your answers.