Kidz Career Center would like you to meet James!

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 36.

Q. In what city do you work?
A. I work in Houston, TX

Q. What type of company do you work for?
A. It's not really a company. I work for the Fire Department.

Q. What is your job title?
A. I'm a firefighter engineer.

Q. At what times does your work day begin and end?
A. I start at exactly 8:00 in the morning and work for 24 hours until 8:00 the next morning. If we get a call early or late, then sometimes I work overtime.

Q. How many days per week do you work?
A. Usually 3. I'm on what is called a swing shift. I work one day, then I'm off for a day. Then I work, then I'm off. Again, I work a day, then I'm off a day. Then, I get a break where I'm off for four days in a row. Then it starts all over again!

Q. What is your office like?
A. It's not really an office. I work in a fire station, so it's a building that is shared between all of the firefighters.

Q. What kind of clothes do you wear to work?
A. We wear a blue work uniform. We also have a dress uniform that is worn for special occasions such as funerals, promotions, graduations, and things like that.

Q. Who do you work with?
A. I work with a team of other people, the other firefighters.

Q. Tell us about your education and how it has prepared you for this job.
A. I have a high school degree. Prior to working here, I did not attend college, but now I take classes within the fire department that give me college credits. We do a lot of training together.

Q. What should a kid do NOW to prepare for your kind of job in the future?
A. Learn as much as you can about everything, because in our line of work, we meet all types of people. You never know when you may need a special skill or knowledge that you have learned in school or in life.

Q. Do you have any other advice for kids who are thinking about having your type of career?
A. My job is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. It takes a special person to risk his or her own life for someone else. It's not the best paying job, but when you save someone's life and property with the help of God it's priceless. It's really not a job; it's a career.

Q. What skills or subjects are important to your job?
A. Just about everything, including chemistry, math, physical fitness, spelling, speech, communication, history, social skills, geography and computers.

Q. What are the top ten things that you normally do at work each day?
A.
1. Checking out the firefighting equipment to make sure everything works and is ready for use at an emergency.
2. Doing physical fitness training to stay strong and in shape.
3. Participating in classroom training to learn more about my job.
4. Washing the trucks.
5. Responding to emergency fire and medical calls.
6. Inspecting businesses in the area to find fire hazards and learn where hydrants are.
7. Giving station tours to kids.
8. Checking the community for fire line violations.
9. Doing yard maintenance around the fire station, like cutting the grass.
10. Educating the public about fire safety.


Thanks, James! It was nice getting to know you!

Kidz Career Center would like you to meet Amy!

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 32.

Q. In what city do you work?
A. I work in a variety of cities throughout Texas.

Q. What type of company do you work for?
A. I work for the public school system.

Q. What is your job title?
A. I'm a pediatric physical therapist.

Q. At what times does your work day begin and end?
A. When I work with high school and middle school students, my day starts at 7:15 am and ends at 2:45 pm. When I work with elementary school students, my day starts at 8:15 and ends at 3:45.

Q. How many days per week do you work?
A. I work 5 days per week, Monday through Friday.

Q. What is your office like?
A. I have an office with a desk, computer and phone, but I don't spend a lot of time there, because I'm out serving students at a variety of places throughout the county.

Q. What kind of clothes do you wear to work?
A. I wear comfortable, casual clothes that allow me to get on the floor and on mats and work with students doing exercise, helping them learn to walk and things like that.

Q. Who do you work with?
A. I travel around by myself but then work with teachers, teacher's assistants, the adminstration and students from a variety of schools.

Q. Tell us about your education and how it has prepared you for this job.
A. I have a master's degree in physical therapy which was a 3-year program after college. Once I became a physical therapist, I went through intensive on-the-job training with a mentor to learn more about pediatric physical therapy. I also do a lot of continual training at work.

Q. What should a kid do NOW to prepare for your kind of job in the future?
A. I would suggest volunteer work with a physical therapist in a variety of settings such as a hospital or an outpatient clinic to see if physical therapy is really something you're interested in.

Q. Do you have any other advice for kids who are thinking about having your type of career?
A. Practical experience is more worthwhile than a master's degree in this career. The fact that I have a master's degree really doesn't make me any better at the job than the other physical therapists who only have a 4-year college degree. The bottom line is, you need to do well in school, but, more importantly, you need to get experience.

Q. What skills or subjects are important to your job?
A. You have to love kids, for sure! In this career, you absolutely need to work well with people, to understand kids and how they develop and move. Anatomy and physiology are the most useful subjects to know; you will have to master all of the sciences to get through school. We write a lot of reports to doctors, parents and teachers, so good english skills are necessary, too.

Q. What are the top ten things that you normally do at work each day?
A.
1. Driving between schools to assist kids with physical challenges such as cerebral palsy or other birth defects.
2. Helping kids with special physical needs learn to sit and walk.
3. Teaching kids with special physical needs to learn new skills so that they can function better on their own.
4. Helping kids with special physical needs to access the bathroom and move from place to place.
5. Helping kids with special physical needs get their shoes, socks and braces on and off.
6. Helping kids with special physical needs get on and off the bus.
7. Helping kids with special physical needs to do modified physical fitness activities.
8. Teaching teachers, teachers' assistants and school administrators how to supervise and assist these children at school.
9. Writing quarterly reports for parents, teachers and doctors to keep them informed of the students' progress with mobility skills in the school environment.
10. Getting special equipment such as adaptive seats, leg braces, crutches, walkers and canes so that these kids can function at school.


Thanks, Amy! It was nice getting to know you!