Example Career: First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers

Career Description

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, forestry, aquacultural, and related workers.

What Job Titles First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers Might Have

• Farm Manager
• Fish Hatchery Manager
• Fish Hatchery Specialist
• Hatchery Manager
• Wildlife Manager
• Pest Management Supervisor
• Logging Supervisor

What First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers Do

• Observe fish and beds or ponds to detect diseases, monitor fish growth, determine quality of fish, or determine completeness of harvesting.
• Record the numbers and types of fish or shellfish reared, harvested, released, sold, and shipped.
• Assign to workers duties such as fertilizing and incubating spawn, feeding and transferring fish, and planting, cultivating, and harvesting shellfish beds.
• Confer with managers to determine times and places of seed planting, and cultivating, feeding, or harvesting of fish or shellfish.
• Direct and monitor worker activities, such as treatment and rearing of fingerlings, maintenance of equipment, and harvesting of fish or shellfish.
• Prepare or direct the preparation of fish food, and specify medications to be added to food and water to treat fish for diseases.
• Engage in the same fishery work as workers supervised.
• Train workers in spawning, rearing, cultivating, and harvesting methods, and in the use of equipment.
• Direct workers to correct problems such as disease, quality of seed distribution, or adequacy of cultivation.
• Plan work schedules according to personnel and equipment availability, tidal levels, feeding schedules, or transfer and harvest needs.
• Interview and select new employees.
• Maintain workers' time records.
• Perform both supervisory and management functions, such as accounting, marketing, and personnel work.
• Requisition supplies.
• Supervise the artificial spawning of various salmon and trout species.
• Select and ship eggs to other hatcheries.

What First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers Should Be Interested In

• Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

What First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers Need to Learn

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.