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pegkerrTomorrow, as part of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work, Fiona is going to be visiting Rob's store and spending the day with him, learning about his job. The last two years, she has spent this day with me at my office, learning about my job.
I'd like her to give her the chance to learn about a lot of jobs. Specifically, your job.
Won't you tell Fiona about your job, so she can get an idea of the vast possibilities in the World of Work out there?
If you can, please leave Fiona a comment by tomorrow night, telling her about your career. Something like:
What your job title is, and what that means
A description of a typical day
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
Why you like it and (if you dare)
Why you dislike it
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
What kind of person thrives in your job
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
I'd like her to get as many replies as possible. Thanks ever so much!
Cheers,
Peg (and Fiona)
I'd like her to give her the chance to learn about a lot of jobs. Specifically, your job.
Won't you tell Fiona about your job, so she can get an idea of the vast possibilities in the World of Work out there?
If you can, please leave Fiona a comment by tomorrow night, telling her about your career. Something like:
What your job title is, and what that means
A description of a typical day
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
Why you like it and (if you dare)
Why you dislike it
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
What kind of person thrives in your job
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
I'd like her to get as many replies as possible. Thanks ever so much!
Cheers,
Peg (and Fiona)
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For Fiona, then. Job #1
Date: 2003-04-23 10:34 pm (UTC)Job #1
Job Title: Department Manager
I'm a Department Manager (third level manager) for a Barnes & Noble. The Managment team is broken into the Store Manager (first level, in charge of the entire store), two Assistant Managers (second level, in charge of Merchandizing and Operations, respectively, as well as supervising the staff), two Department Managers (third level, in charge of half the store each, and the booksellers to maintain the store) and Specialty Managers (third level, in charge of Receiving, Cafe, and Community Relations, respectively). Under me are the Leads and then the general Booksellers of the store. I am in charge of keeping my half of the store stocked, organised and the merchandizing (tables, waterfall displays, top shelf displays and endcap displays) fresh, full and current each month.
Typical Day: Well... First thing I do every day is check the manager's communication log, to see what information the other managers have shared about customers, orders, displays, and building operations, so that if I need to do something I have the information I need. After that, I need to make sure that all my displays are looking good (customers tend to mess them up when they browse the bookstore), and make sure that all the booksellers are doing what they need to be doing. If something isn't getting done, I have to adjust the daily schedule to make sure it gets done. Then I have to do MY work. I have to make certain all the labels are correct (so customers can find books), all the shelves are in place and are solid and secure (customers like to lean on the shelves and they bend and break frequently, causing a danger), I have to make certain all my sections are alphabetized (remember, that's HALF THE STORE), and I have to make certain all the books that customers are forgetting to put back are put back. Besides that, I have to follow up on special instructions to my booksellers, and make certain they are doing their jobs on time. I also have to count money, balance tills, the safe and the change drawer, make change, deal with customer concerns and complaints, and make certain that the store is running smoothly, in general.
Training for the Job: I need to know how to handle money. I need to know how to direct people, with clear instructions. I have to be able to work computers, and use a database. I also have to be able to do my booksellers' jobs of shelving books, finding books for customers, working in the cafe (making espresso), and putting out magazines and newspapers. Also, I have to be a very good cashier (more than just handling money, also ringing up items and doing returns and exchanges). Most of this training, I got on the job. I started as an opening level bookseller and was promoted to Lead and then to Department Manager.
Why I Like It: I ADORE reading. I'm a total bibliophile. I also THOROUGHLY enjoy talking about books and sharing books and recommending books. I love helping people find what they need, even when they don't know what it is... It is SO much fun to have someone walk up and say "I'm looking for this book... I don't know the title, or the author, but... its about THIS" and be able to say "Oh, yeah! That's that new book out about Marines. Jarhead. Its right over here!" and have them go, "YES! THAT'S IT EXACTLY!"
Why I Dislike It: I hate my manager. Really really I do. If I wanted to be in BootCamp, I'd have joined the Army. I used to have a really cool manager, but my new one is driving me totally crazy. The job itself? it can be very stressful having to deal with customers who are unhappy that you don't have the book they want RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. And i have to say, I really REALLY hate when I tell a customer I don't have a book in and they turn up their nose and say "Well, I'll just go order it from AMAZON, then." and walk off. I mean... really. Why should I care if you order it from Amazon and pay shipping when you can order it into my store, just as fast, and NOT pay shipping? But the manner they do it, delibrately done as if to imply a snub... that's just not cool. Really annoys me.
(continued below)
Job #1 part 2
Date: 2003-04-23 10:40 pm (UTC)What Goes Wrong: Money goes missing. Very bad. Books also go missing.... usually inventory error, but that really irritates the customers! Also, my town has a lot of panhandlers -- we have to chase them away from our doors frequently, because they irritate the customers. But the big thing that 'goes wrong' is when books don't come in, or come in for a special order, then get misplaced... then you have to deal with irate customers and THAT is NOT fun. AT ALL.
Who Thrives: Readers who are very active and want to share. Very organized people. People who like to Serve other people. People oriented people.
Anything Else: Its a lot of walking! And a lot of reading, that you might not usually do. I get handed books from the local rep and my manager and told "Here, read this and tell me what you think." and lots of times its not something I'd pick for myself... but I have to read it anyway. sometimes the books REALLY STINK, too. *sigh* Also, Christmas time is VERY VERY stressful... and for us 'Christmas time' goes until the end of January... (All those gift cards and books that we sold before the holiday come back AFTER the holiday!)
so. That's Job #1! That is a full time job, and my job that 'pays the bills'.
So! Job #2
Date: 2003-04-23 11:17 pm (UTC)Job #2
Job Title: Canine Search Specialist
I handle a disaster search dog with the local FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Team. My dog and I are on call to respond to any form of 'disaster' that results in collapsed structures -- earthquake, mudslide, fire, bombing, structural collapse... My dog goes in and finds the living victims, then I follow and mark the find so that heavy rescue crews can come in and pull the people out. My dog is also trained to find deceased victims, if necessary, tho FEMA is, I understand, pulling away from using crosstrained dogs like mine, in the future.
Typical Day: A typical training day will involve me getting up at a truely obscene hour of the morning (*grin*, I live a good two hours away from the rest of my team... my own fault. They all get to sleep in!), and driving to our training site for that day. Usually concrete recycling plants, or occasionally we can get permission to train on a building that is being demolished. Once there, we run our dogs thru obedience exercises, then we work on agility (ladders and such), before moving onto search work. We begin with easy things, and work with the newer dogs more, then we actually move onto the rubble pile and work the more advanced dogs. To give you an idea of the goal we are working toward -- the Advanced test (which my dog an I have passed, twice) consists of three search piles with a total of 6 subjects hidden in them (0-3 subject to a pile, and we don't know until after the whole test, how many were in each). One pile has a number of distractions in it (like clothing, food, live or dead animals, etc). We must find 5 of the 6 subjects, and have no more than 1 false alert to pass. We have 5 minutes to interview, then 20 min to search, 5 min debrief, 10 min rest, 5 min interview, 20 min search, 5 min debrief, 10 min rest, 5 minute interview, 20 min search, and 5 min debrief. Approximately 25-30% of dog teams who take this test pass. It is VERY HARD.
On 'non-training' days, my dog and I work at home on obedience, agility, and some easy search work, as well as work on getting/keeping in shape thru hiking and working out.
Training for the Job: MY training consists of a large number of first aid and health-safety classes. Also, I need to learn how to shore up a wall, tie knots, crib up heavy objects (a lifting technique), and how to handle myself on a crime scene. Also, I must learn helicopter saftey, Biohazard saftey, and emergency response procedures. I must also be certain to have all my vaccinations, and have a passport ready to go. I have taken several classes to help me perfect my search technique and to help me learn how to train my dog more efficiently.
Why I Like It: I love working with my dog. (and she is MY dog... I own her and we are a team, deployed together) I also dearly love to help people and if/when my dog and I are deployed, we will be very much needed to help people. And I have a LOT of pride in the fact that there are only about 260 FEMA-certified Disaster Search Dogs in the US, and of those, only about 50 of them are Advanced certified, and my dog and I have earned our place in that 50 or so. We worked VERY hard to get there.
Why I Dislike It: It is very hard to get PAID to do it. You don't get to use your skills very much... its a lot of training and training and training to be good at something that 'never' gets used. They say you need to be willing to wait for two full dog lifetimes before you will get deployed... but as said before, when you go they NEED you, very much. But the waiting really gets to you. And its a LOT of very hard work. I would very much prefer to sleep in many days when I have to get up to go to training.
(continued below)
Job #2 part 2
Date: 2003-04-23 11:18 pm (UTC)If you ever get deployed, what could go wrong -- You could, literally, have a building fall on you. You could have a building fall on your dog and they won't even TRY to save the dog. You could catch some wierd, unknown disease. You could find a living subject... and then have to realise that even tho that person is alive now, they might not be able to survive long enough for a rescue crew to come save them....
Its a very very tough job, emotionally, sometimes. Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often AT ALL. But, it could. And you have to be aware of it.
Who Thrives: People who want to make a difference and are willing to WORK at it. People who want to serve the public. People who are good at being stubborn and who are willing to learn as many ways as they can to help others.
Anything Else: I love this job. Even with the possiblities of bad things, and having to deal with bad things... I still love this job. I wish I could just do this one job all the time, and I'm working on making that happen. This job takes up more time than can really be accounted for, but I would give up even more time if I had it, for this job. This job really makes me feel like I'm making a difference, even if my dog and I never get deployed to a 'real' disaster -- just being there, and being one of the 'elite', is enough.
Oh, and being a volunteer, I have to pay for all my own gear... and when my van, filled with my gear, was stolen a couple years ago.... the gear totaled out at more than the van did, to be replaced. *grin* so if you do this, be aware that its not just hours you are spending!
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask questions if you like! (on either job)
Res