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 David! Below are the questions (Q.)we asked about his career and the answers (A.) he gave us! Q. How old are you? A. I'm 57. Q. In what city do you work? A. I work in Riverside, California. Q. What type of company do you work for? A. I work for an engineering construction company. Q. What is your job title? A. I am a process engineer. Q. At what times does your work day begin and end? A. I work from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Q. How many days per week do you work? A. I work five days per week, from Monday through Friday. Q. What is your office like? A. I work in a private office within a portable construction building beside a new factory that is under construction. Q. What kind of clothes do you wear to work? A. I wear good casual clothes...no ties. Q. Who do you work with? A. I work with a team of other people. Q. Tell us about your education and how it has prepared you for this job. A. I have a 4-year university degree in engineering. I also have 1 year of university business administration. Much of my education came from actual work experience; I have 10 years of industrial experience and 10 years of project engineering. Q. What should a kid do NOW to prepare for your kind of job in the future? A. Make sure you get a university degree, and then do the best that you can at whatever jobs you can find. If you can't do your best, find another job and move on. Q. Do you have any other advice for kids who are thinking about having your type of career? A. Don't expect to settle down in one city. Because construction happens in so many places, you have to be willing to move around and work where there is construction. Q. What skills or subjects are important to your job? A. Math, speech, communication, computers and social skills are the most important. Q. What are the top ten things that you normally do at work each day? A. 1. Listing my goals for the day. 2. Checking work that has been completed by others. 3. Checking that employees have the correct goals for the day. 4. Checking and replying to correspondence such as e-mails, phone calls, and letters. 5. Touring the construction facility and making sure that everything is working properly. 6. Reviewing process reports. 7. Meeting with others to review problems and find solutions. 8. Reviewing lab testing reports. 9. Writing reports on possible process improvements. 10. Assigning and scheduling work to other people. Thanks, David! It was nice getting to know you!