Full transcript
0:00hello everybody and welcome back to my
0:02channel my name is becky and in this
0:03video i want to talk about
0:05common misconceptions about working in
0:07parks and recreation
0:08so let's get started all right so
0:16first of all if you are new to my
0:18channel welcome i don't
0:19post here regularly i usually
0:23am on my podcast let's talk parks every
0:25thursday morning but occasionally i get
0:28inspired
0:29to come create a video and i was really
0:31inspired
0:33actually last week because i saw a video
0:36about a degree in recreation and leisure
0:40studies
0:40and what that career looks like and i
0:43realized that there
0:44is still a lot of information out there
0:46that hasn't been shared quite yet
0:48and i really wanted to bring some light
0:51to the situation
0:52in case you're wondering what a career
0:54in parks
0:55recreation leisure studies outdoor
0:57recreation looks like
0:59so let's get started with that
1:02so on that note i think it is really
1:04important
1:06to note that there is some terminology
1:08that gets a little bit confusing right
1:11especially when you talk about degrees
1:13in recreation
1:15um there's a lot of different terms
1:16floating around for instance i got my
1:18degree
1:19and natural resource recreation and
1:21tourism but
1:22a lot of people get their degrees in
1:25parks and recreation
1:26or leisure studies or leisure management
1:30or recreation management or sports
1:32management whatever it is if it has to
1:34do with recreation
1:35parks the outdoors
1:39then you can find a job and what we're
1:42going to call
1:42local parks and recreation and just to
1:45be even more
1:46specific in my world and in the world
1:50that i've been living in for the last 10
1:51years
1:52parks and recreation jobs are typically
1:55found in municipal government so
1:57your local cities and counties maybe you
2:00have a park district
2:01and those are typically government-run
2:04organizations
2:05that have recreation programs sports
2:08programs
2:09arts camps all that good stuff and they
2:12also maintain
2:13their parks recreation centers community
2:15centers and that kind of thing
2:17so that's probably the first
2:18misconception is that just like the
2:20overall wording
2:22and the language and identification of
2:23it so now that that's
2:25cleared up um let's go into number two
2:28which is talking about how everyone
2:31thinks
2:32that parks and recreation is just like
2:33the show
2:35all right so spoiler alert parks
2:37inauguration
2:38is not like the show there are bits and
2:41pieces of it
2:42um and if you ask professionals in the
2:44field they'll probably
2:45either laugh at you and say yes
2:48absolutely there's pieces of it that are
2:51like the local government piece
2:52sometimes it's hilarious
2:54how things take forever
2:57and you know people show up to public
2:59meetings and talk about
3:00the most random things ever when you're
3:03supposed to be talking about
3:04your local parks um but that just is
3:06what it is
3:07but um other than that unless you have
3:10characters similar to ron swanson
3:13or like some of the other ones like
3:15you're really
3:16not gonna have a lot of similarities to
3:18the show
3:19but the overall premise is the same and
3:22that
3:23you are talking and working with the
3:25public
3:26to improve their local parks and
3:30recreation
3:32all right number three so
3:35the third misconception is that parks
3:38and recreation
3:40just doesn't have a lot of demand um
3:43and that one i think is just
3:46totally it can be confusing i guess
3:50because
3:51on the one hand there is a ton of demand
3:54um if you are possibly
3:57entry level right so if you watch like
4:00my other video about
4:01what a degree or what a career in park
4:04star creation
4:05is really like you heard me talk about
4:08how there are lots of different levels
4:10within parks and rec you might you can
4:13start as a lifeguard for instance and
4:15work your way up to like a
4:17an assistant aquatics manager um
4:20or you can move laterally to be more
4:22like a recreation
4:23supervisor but whatever you decide to
4:27get into
4:28there's going to be different amounts of
4:30demand for those jobs
4:32so especially in the summer right if you
4:35are
4:35an entry-level employee or you're trying
4:37to just get your foot in the door
4:38there's a ton
4:39of demand for lifeguards there's a
4:42shortage
4:42of lifeguards um anybody will tell you
4:45that and so if you're trying to get your
4:46foot in the door
4:47um starting out kind of like an entry
4:50level
4:51recreation cashier or lifeguard is
4:53really a good place to start
4:56however if you are more experienced i
4:58get that
4:59the the job market might be saturated
5:01especially after
5:02cover 19. i mean a lot of things are
5:06still up in the air
5:07but i've also seen where people are
5:09finding more remote jobs
5:11or they are finding um you know
5:14better jobs cross-country jobs like
5:17where they do have to move
5:18right and so while there are i would say
5:21a lot of jobs
5:22available you may not find it directly
5:26in your city or your state and so if
5:29you're flexible and you're willing to
5:31move
5:32then you might find that you can find
5:35your dream career right now but i know
5:37for a lot of people that's just not a
5:39reality so
5:40if you can stay open you will find more
5:42jobs and i always suggest
5:44going on to something like
5:45governmentjobs.com if you're looking for
5:47kind of
5:48the nationwide search all right so that
5:51was number three
5:54all right the fourth misconception is
5:56that a degree in parks and recreation
5:58will lead you to a career
6:00where you get paid next to nothing all
6:03right so that
6:04is just not true there are lots of
6:06careers
6:07in this field where you can get paid
6:09well now
6:11if you do start out as a lifeguard
6:14or as a cashier yeah you are probably
6:18making minimum wage
6:20and i i hate that so much right
6:23and it might make more sense to work at
6:25like a restaurant
6:27or you know retail store but you are
6:29gaining good skills and i'll talk about
6:31that
6:31next however if you move up in the field
6:36and you're willing to take on management
6:38roles
6:39and you're able to get your foot in the
6:40door that way you'll probably find
6:43that you can find a job
6:46that is well paying i looked at a salary
6:50report from 2019
6:51that was done by nrpa which is the
6:54national recreation and parks
6:56association
6:57and what they found is that the median
7:00salary
7:01varies of course depending on the agency
7:04size
7:05and the population size that the
7:08that the department serves so obviously
7:12the bigger your community the more
7:14people you
7:15probably have on your team and the more
7:17specialized you might need to be
7:19and so your pay might be a little bit
7:21higher
7:22as like a recreation manager
7:25entry level i found that
7:29the median salary is around 48 000
7:32um as you work your way up and start
7:35supervising more people and kind of
7:38having
7:39more of like a generalized um
7:42management or supervisory role you
7:45actually might have
7:47um a higher pay pay grade that makes a
7:50lot of sense right
7:51um so director role has a median salary
7:54of about a hundred thousand dollars and
7:57so
7:58if that's where you have your sites set
8:00like your career goals
8:02then i think that's a pretty good career
8:04but i think anyone that
8:05goes into parks and recreation will tell
8:08you that they don't do it
8:10for the money they do it because they
8:11want to serve their community
8:13and so that's why they they always say
8:15you don't do it for the paycheck
8:17uh and i think especially for smaller
8:19agencies that may only have
8:21you know one two three four five people
8:24their their salaries maybe more or less
8:27just depending on the agency and the
8:30type of funding that they have
8:31um so it kind of just depends but i
8:34wouldn't count it out entirely
8:36so there are good jobs that you can have
8:39and i would encourage you that it's not
8:41a one size fits all right so i started
8:44my career
8:45in local parks and recreation and now
8:48i've moved into more of a consultant
8:50role
8:51working with local parks and rec and
8:54um i would say that my salary is
8:56probably a little bit more competitive
8:57and so just totally depends there's lots
9:00of different avenues and routes you can
9:01get into
9:02if you love this field all right
9:05the fourth oh it might be the fifth i'm
9:08losing count
9:09i'll say the fourth misconception is
9:11that
9:12um is that you the skills that you get
9:16are not transferable and that's so far
9:19from the truth
9:20and actually in parks and recreation you
9:23have to learn
9:24a lot of different skills that is the
9:26beauty of
9:27the work that we do it's it's varied
9:29day-to-day
9:30and it changes all of the time so
9:34one day you might find yourself looking
9:36at
9:38trails right on your open space and you
9:41might be looking at
9:42you know how to prevent pollution or
9:44litter on those trails
9:46the next day you might be overseeing a
9:49summer camp
9:50stepping in or filling in for a camp
9:53counselor
9:54or you know a cashier at the
9:57at the community center and so it just
9:59totally depends
10:00and i would say the great thing is that
10:04you will learn
10:05lots of different skills and you will
10:07find yourself really expanding
10:10your perspective and what you thought
10:11you were getting into you'll probably
10:13find
10:14that you have a much bigger role than
10:17you ever anticipated
10:18which can be a good or a bad thing but
10:20the good news is you're going to pick up
10:21a lot of skills
10:22along the way like customer service um
10:26budgeting you know financial management
10:28you'll probably also dabble
10:30in supervising others maybe you will be
10:34in marketing or graphic design uh or
10:37facility management
10:39right or or developing programs and so
10:42whatever it is you should learn a lot of
10:44new skills that can help you in your
10:46future alrighty and to wrap this video
10:49up
10:50let's talk about the fifth misconception
10:53uh but let's talk about how people think
10:57that parks and recreation is just
10:58fun all of the time i think a lot of
11:02people who get into this field
11:03are fun loving they enjoy the outdoors
11:06and they maybe
11:07were a parks and recreation kid you
11:09might hear that term
11:11thrown out there and that really just
11:12means that
11:14they grew up playing sports or going to
11:18summer camps at their local parks and
11:20recreation department
11:21and they have a lot of pride in parks
11:23and recreation
11:24and um that's a beautiful thing or some
11:26people might have you know found it
11:28later
11:29in their career and switched but either
11:31way
11:32um a lot of people who get into this
11:35love playing they love helping their
11:37community
11:38they love everything that has to do
11:42with recreation in general
11:45but there's a lot of things that aren't
11:48fun
11:49let's be honest um a lot of the
11:52administrative side of things whether
11:53it's
11:54you know assisting with payroll or maybe
11:56it's um
11:58you know doing the budgeting side of
12:01things
12:01every year or trying to move an
12:04idea forward in your organization
12:08i mean those things can be really tough
12:10and i think
12:11one of the main reasons why a lot of
12:13people find that it's not a good fit for
12:15them
12:16is because they get frustrated with the
12:18way that local government
12:20operates and how we get things done and
12:23i totally understand that's one of the
12:24reasons why um i'm not working in local
12:27government
12:28anymore is because i really like to get
12:31things done
12:32i have a creative mindset and i just to
12:35be honest was not patient enough for
12:37that but now that i've kind of come out
12:39on the other side of it
12:40i realize that there are a lot of
12:43strengths
12:44to having a system like that to
12:46hopefully having
12:48the checks and balances of a government
12:51system
12:53so if you find the right organization
12:55for you
12:56it can be a really good fit um
12:59as long as you're patient and
13:03you're willing to see the bright side of
13:04things i will say that there's nothing
13:06worse than working with people who are
13:09total downers are not optimistic at all
13:12and just kind of
13:13complain about their day right like
13:16those are what make
13:17your job really difficult but if you can
13:20kind of see past that
13:21or find a good group of people who are
13:23willing to
13:25you know be positive and work together
13:26as a team you'll probably find
13:28that parks your job in parks and
13:30recreation will be much more rewarding
13:32and fun a lot of the time all right you
13:35guys
13:36that is it for today's video i hope that
13:38you enjoyed
13:39this if you would like to see more
13:41content um i'm always open to
13:43ideas and to expanding the podcast into
13:48youtube but it is a lot more work so if
13:50you're interested in that please
13:52let give this video a like and let me
13:54know in the comments below
13:55if that's something you're interested in
13:57thanks so much for tuning in
13:59and shameless plug for the podcast every
14:01thursday morning
14:02let's talk parks thanks so much you guys
14:04bye