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What are the daily duties? How often do employees get evaluated? What kind of benefits and healthcare plans do you guys offer?

I am 16 years old and I am going to Job Corps in Oahu. I want to get into the Landscaping field. I enjoy beautifying and maintaining the environment. #job #career #landscaping #job-search

Thank you comment icon Hi Zuriel, are you asking these questions in the context of landscaping? For instance, are you wondering what the daily duties of a landscaper are? If so, I would suggest editing the question to reflect that. Doing so will make the question easier for professionals to understand. Also, try asking one question at a time! Gurpreet Lally, Admin

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James Constantine’s Answer

Dear Zuriel,

Essential Tasks in Landscaping

The scope of everyday tasks in the landscaping domain varies, depending on the specific role and the nature of the projects at hand. However, some of the common duties encompass:

Upkeep Activities: These involve lawn mowing, hedge trimming, flower bed weeding, and irrigation system maintenance. Regular upkeep is key to maintaining the health and visual appeal of landscapes.

Planting and Setting Up: Workers often engage in planting trees, shrubs, flowers, and in setting up sod or mulch. This necessitates a good understanding of different plant species and their care requirements.

Designing: Some landscapers contribute to the design of outdoor spaces, which includes planning layouts for gardens, patios, walkways, and other features.

Machinery Operation: Operating machines like lawnmowers, trimmers, blowers, and sometimes heavier equipment like tractors or excavators is often part of the job.

Client Communication: Landscapers regularly interact with clients to comprehend their needs and preferences. This could involve discussing design concepts or providing updates on project advancement.

Safety Measures: Adherence to safety guidelines while using tools and machinery is vital to prevent accidents at the workplace.

Record Management: Keeping track of work completed, materials utilized, and hours worked is often necessary for personal organization and business operations.

Performance Assessments

In landscaping jobs, performance assessments typically occur regularly, though the frequency can vary based on the employer:

Assessment Frequency: Many firms carry out performance assessments annually or semi-annually. However, informal assessments through regular feedback from supervisors may occur more often.

Assessment Criteria: Employees are typically evaluated based on their work quality, efficiency, teamwork skills, adherence to safety measures, customer service abilities, and overall project contribution.

Feedback: Constructive feedback is typically provided during these assessments to aid employees in improving their skills and performance over time.

Employee Benefits and Healthcare

The benefits provided in landscaping jobs can greatly vary based on the employer’s size and policies:

Health Coverage: Many full-time roles offer health coverage plans that cover medical expenses for employees and sometimes their families.

Retirement Plans: Some employers offer retirement savings plans like 401(k) options with potential matching contributions to help employees save for their future.

Paid Leave: Benefits may include vacation days, sick leave, or personal days that allow employees to take time off while still receiving pay.

Skill Development Programs: Employers may offer training programs or continuing education opportunities to help employees enhance their skills in landscaping techniques or business management.

Flexible Scheduling: Depending on the work nature (seasonal vs year-round), some landscaping jobs may offer flexible scheduling options that accommodate students or those seeking part-time work.

Additional Perks: Extra benefits could include discounts at local nurseries or garden centers, uniforms provided by the employer, or tools supplied for job tasks.

To summarize, if you're considering a landscaping career through Job Corps in Oahu:

Anticipate a range of daily tasks centered on maintaining outdoor spaces.
Be ready for regular assessments that will aid your professional growth.
Investigate potential benefits offered by employers that can enrich your overall employment experience.

Top 3 Credible Sources Used:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
National Association of Landscape Professionals
Job Corps Official Website

Blessings,
JC.
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Timothy’s Answer

As a self employed lawn service/ landscape owner, I find I typically work for less than minimum wage and do a lot of irrigation repair, lawn mowing and trash cleanup. Working for a grounds maintenance company should give you better pay and benefits, but I enjoy the freedom owning a business has given me. Another side of landscaping can involve earthmoving equipment, laying sod, building lawns and planting shrubs and flowers. I've also built garden paths and installed edging and mulch. If you take pride in the finished product, the hard work is worthwhile, but it remains a very physically demanding job, especially in the summer.
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Cynthia’s Answer

You have some great advice and a very wonderful career path to explore. Websites like O*NET will let you review 'typical' job duties....but they will vary from employer to employer. THink about something like swim instructor or cashier. A cashier at a fancy hotel is different than a cashier at a grocery store. Some overlap, but not completely the same. Same with landscaping. Working for a big company is very different than being self employed.

Also this is a great starting point for lots of other related jobs...like landscape designer or city planning or environmental scientist or forest manager or farmer or horticultural therapist.....those are possible paths that you might explore after you have a few years of work experience and have discovered what parts of this work you like best or what interests you the most.

You might also see if ---once this pandemic is over---you can visit a landscaper while they are working and SEE what they do and ASK questions about the work. This is sometimes called 'job shadowing' where you are like a shadow while someone works...and you can watch what they are doing and see how it seems to you. Your school or job corps advisors can help you figure this out. For now you might see if someone you know does this work or knows someone who does. They might be willing to do a phone call or facetime/zoom with you to answer some of your questions. It's a bit intimidating, but asking a friend's neighbor to talk about their work turns out to be pretty fun. Everyone likes to talk about their work, whether they like it or hate it, it's a topic everyone has something to say!

Keep asking these questions. They are good ones.

Cynthia recommends the following next steps:

read about typical landscaping jobs at O*NET (a career exploration website)
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Monica’s Answer

Hi Zuriel,
Great question and congratulations on going to Job Corps in Nalo. I have 'ohana in both Nanakuli and Nalo but I live in the mainland now, it's nice to see your question.

First, I'm going to assume that you went to the Hawaii Job Corps Center website and looked at the various training programs? If not, I would suggest you hop over there to get a peek at some of your questions.

Next, I would suggest you google landscaping jobs on Oahu - like this one: http://bit.ly/2INH5W6

Looking at job posts now will help you see what type of jobs you could get when you finish Job Corps. The link to the landscaper job is with the Marriott (maybe Ko'olina has jobs?) The job listing shows the duties or activities you are expected to do for that type of job, the estimated salary, the lower starting pay is usually someone with little to no experience. Most job descriptions will tell you what type of experience they are looking for, this one doesn't so they may accept someone like yourself. What's great about Job Corps is that their program will give you the experience that you can put on your resume and job application.

Benefits usually come if you find full-time work, however, I believe under Hawaii's labor laws you should be eligible for health benefits if you work at least 20 hours a week - you would need to ask the hiring staff or human resource workers when you apply for jobs. Working for a large organization like Marriott will usually give you more opportunities for growth and benefits.

As far as "How often do employees get evaluated?" It depends on your immediate supervisor and the organization as a whole. Most organizations have a minimum of once a year evaluations to determine if you're eligible for a raise, however, depending again on your supervisor - you may have daily reviews of tasks you need to do, and feedback on a more regular basis as to how you're doing. That's a preference, but not all supervisors know how to give staff good feedback so that you know you're doing what they expect.

Hope that helps you!

Monica recommends the following next steps:

Go to Hawaii Job Corps Website: https://hawaii.jobcorps.gov/careers/196
Search for jobs online by typing in "landscaping jobs on Oahu"
Keep a list of jobs you like (in a word doc or excel spreadsheet) that you've found online - as a reference, you may want to contact them when you are about to finish Job Corps.
Connect with people who are already doing landscaping work - online, in your community, at church - and ask them about their work, what they do, how they like it. These connections could help you find your job when you finish school.
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Bronwyn’s Answer

I agree 100% with Monika. Landscaping is a good field to get into and if you are passionate about it you can make a very successful career of it and travel across the world. The Marriott group is a good example as they have hotel groups across the world. You can load your profile on their careers website and subscribe to their job alerts. I would also reccommend practicing what you learn at home. Experiement with growing your own plants. It is very rewarding. Practise makes perfect.

Bronwyn recommends the following next steps:

Subscribe to the marriott job alerts
Practice at home.
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