Kids & Careers!
Who would you like to meet? • James: a firefighter engineer • Ian: a provincial police officer • Scott: a county police officer • Sean: a city planner • Dave: a senior software engineer • Kathy: a customs manager • Rosie: an international sales manager • David: a process engineer • Drew: a school department head • John: a director of computer services • Steve: a paramedic • Amy: a physical therapist Kidsnewsroom would like you to meet Rosie! Below are the questions (Q.)we asked about her career and the answers (A.) she gave us! Q. How old are you? A. I'm 49. Q. In what city do you work? A. I work in Herndon, Virginia. Q. What type of company do you work for? A. I work for a telecommunications company that provides communications systems for people and businesses worldwide. Cell phones, pagers, internet connections: you name it, we do it! Q. What is your job title? A. I am the program manager for international sales. Q. At what times does your work day begin and end? A. I work from 7:00 am until 4:00 pm. Q. How many days per week do you work? A. I work five days per week, Monday through Friday. Q. What is your office like? A. I work in a cubicle. It's a large office area separated into smaller areas by short walls. Everyone has their own desk, phone, and computer, so it's like my own little office area. Q. What kind of clothes do you wear to work? A. I wear what is called "business casual" clothing. Basically, it's a little bit dressy, but we don't have to wear suits unless we have an important meeting scheduled. Q. Who do you work with? A. I usually work by myself. Q. Tell us about your education and how it has prepared you for this job. A. I have studied international cultural awareness and geography. My background in spanish really helps me with my job also. Q. What should a kid do NOW to prepare for your kind of job in the future? A. Learn foreign languages and develop negotiating skills. Q. Do you have any other advice for kids who are thinking about having your type of career? A. Spend time learning about other countries and their cultures. In international business, you deal with people from all over the world. It helps if you know about their customs and their ways of doing things. Q. What skills or subjects are important to your job? A. Strong interpersonal skills, fluency in spanish, computers, writing skills and presentation skills are the most important. Q. What are the top ten things that you normally do at work each day? A. 1. I translate business documents from english to spanish and vice versa. 2. I talk to business customers and answer questions about our company's products. 3. I write replies to questions about our products. 4. I examine international agreements to make sure they are correct. 5. I talk to representatives from other companies who want to buy or sell our products and teach them how it all works. 6. I keep a list of people that our company communicates with, so the list has to constantly be updated. 7. I work with our company's lawyers to develop and accept contracts. 8. I try to meet new companies and encourage them to use our products. 9. I help other companies resolve billing problems. 10. I help others with translations. Thanks, Rosie! It was nice getting to know you!