How to Get a Job as a Landscaper & Groundskeeper
If you live in a locale that experiences four seasons, the worst time of year to look for a landscaping or groundskeeping job would be late fall to mid-winter. Companies, properties, and homeowners don’t require flowers planted, lawns mowed, leaves raked, or edges trimmed in colder weather. Job opportunities are available, however, for groundskeepers doing snow and debris removal.
If you receive the chance to interview, remember to dress like you would for any other job interview and not like you might on your first day of work. “My expectation is that [job candidates] will wear business-casual attire," Bottger says. "Because they're still going through a formal interview process. Interviewees need to understand that and pay appropriate attention to detail.”
What is the Job Like?
Landscapers and groundskeepers work in various weather conditions; raking leaves in fall, shovelling snow in winter, and spreading mulch in spring. And the job is usually physically demanding, given all the bending, squatting, and stretching involved. Stamina is imperative to keep up with the work’s most-physical tasks.
There’s safety to consider, too. Groundskeepers could work with pesticides and handle potentially dangerous equipment like snow blowers, tractors, lawn mowers, trowels, and chain saws. They must grapple frequently with biting bugs and rash-inducing plants. They could toil in unrelenting heat or bitter cold. While on the job, workers learn the best practices for handling such extremes, and they also wear protective gear, like gloves and headphones, to stave off injury.
The physical strain and sometimes hazardous working conditions don’t diminish the profession’s rewards. For example, grounds workers might work weekends, but they also normally work during daylight hours. And though mowing row after row of a football green might seem repetitive, there is often very little stress involved.
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