Summer job!

Burt's Greenhouses (located in the Kingston-Belleville, Ontario area) offers seasonal employment opportunities with hiring done mostly between the new year and beginning of May, for the work season which runs from early May perhaps through to late July. The work might be of interest to students, retirees, or those seeking seasonal employment. Ideally you are looking for work experience in horticulture, but anyone with an interest in and respect for plants and the greenhouse is encouraged to apply.

Help! I just want to send you a note that I am interested! Jump here

Here is a brief listing of the types of positions that may be available:
• General help
• Aquarius - the water carrier
• Transplanters
• Retail sales supervisor
• Retail sales
• Shipping coordinator / order entry clerk
• Sign artist

When we talk about 'positions' please understand that at any time you may be asked to do things that do not fit the description of the 'position' that you imagine yourself to be in. Some examples:

• The office person should be able to haul loads, drive tractor, work on retail point of sale
• The wholesale load people may occasionally be asked to do the watering
• Waterer may be asked to drive tractor and haul loads
• All may be asked to help on the transplanting line

Nearly all positions require some basic computer skills.

Some positions may already be filled. However we are always happy to know of your interest.

Pay rates depend upon the degree of technical expertise required.

Apart from paying you in real money, we can offer some other benefits...

To get an idea of the kind of work environment, test yourself to see if you would fit...

General help

At a glance:
• Personal suitability: Physically fit
• Skills: capable of operating machinery safely
• Knowledge: general science or horticulture, and of plants

Overview: General workers may be asked to drive tractor, haul wholesale loads, water, prepare flats, transplant, use computer. Just as with many other occupations, there can be a lot of physical activity during the work day. Stooping, bending, stretching, walking, lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling are all part of a normal day. We drink lots of fluids during the day to maintain physical health. We work outside in rain and shine, under the rain hat we try to maintain a cheerful disposition. We operate machinery such as tractors, fork lifts, electric carts, manage racks and shelves, and seem to be constantly moving things from one place to another.

Transplanter

At a Glance
• Personal suitability: physically fit
• Skills: Good hand eye coordination
• Asset: A good knowledge of plants

Overview: Transplanters spend most, though not necessarily all of their day handling plants. They could work as part of a team of 6 on a conveyor line planting our small bedding plants or sometimes work by themselves planting hanging baskets and larger containers. This is a very physical job. We aim to hire personable people and as a result there is often a fun, work atmosphere. The interested person can learn lots about plants and their needs. Each season work is available January through June with our peak employment being in April and May.

Aquarius - the water carrier

At a glance:
• Personal suitability: Physically fit, observant, willing to learn, able to work alone for long periods
• Skills: excellent observation skills, judgement with respect to water requirements, mechanical reasoning skills
• Knowledge: basic knowledge of physics, biology or general science

This is one of the most important positions. The waterer works really hard in hot weather keeping the plants going. This position requires excellent observation skills, to be able to adjust watering according to the needs of the area, i.e. how dry it is and how much water will be needed. The waterer has an important role in the maintenance of healthy plant material. There are some mechanical and logical reasoning skills required to ensure that correct valves are turned on or off as needed. The waterer spends a lot of time moving and arranging water hoses to ensure that no product is damaged. This person spends a lot of the day working alone, needs to be able to see others working in groups and not feel left out!

Retail Sales Supervisor

At a glance:
• Personal suitability: Pleasant manner, patience, attention to detail, comfortable dealing with the public as they choose their plants and demonstrating by example these qualities to employees
• Skills: capable of using a computer to enter simple orders, able to organize a retail space for maximum effect
• Knowledge: excellent knowledge of plants and knowledge of plant culture

In this position you will be travelling to approximately 5 retail locations from Brockville to Belleville including Kingston. In each location there are two employees to supervise. Your responsibility will be to ensure that each location is properly stocked and able to provide the best service to the public. You will be entering simple orders into a database, and helping keep our customer database up to date. You will also be applying our return and warranty policies, referring to past computer records to keep customers informed.

Retail Sales

At a glance:
• Personal suitability: Pleasant manner, patience, attention to detail, comfortable dealing with the public as they choose their plants
• Skills: capable of using a computer to enter simple orders, able to carry and lift plants to customers' vehicles
• Knowledge: general knowledge of plants, knowledge of plant culture

In this position you will be attending to the display of merchandise in our retail area, being attentive to the needs of retail customers who need help in selecting and organizing their purchases, answering their concerns about aftercare of plants and conditions for growing, interpreting our return and discount policies. You will be entering simple orders into a database, and helping keep our customer database up to date. You will also be applying our return and warranty policies, referring to past computer records to keep customers informed.

One of our retail people is used as a floater, able to fill a position at any of our satellite greenhouses.

Office positions / Order entry clerk

At a glance:
• Personal suitability: Cool head, pleasant manner, patience, attention to detail, capable of taking responsibility for accuracy of orders shipped
• Skills: Capable of operating a computer, using MS office, able to use phone, fax machine, organize the day, and able to work with lists of plants, some supervisory ability, good level of fitness
• Knowledge: general knowledge of plants and the principles of databases, spreadsheets, word processors, Microsoft Office, Windows

While the office positions are less physically strenuous, skills required here are a cool head and pleasant manners in a frequently high-pressure environment. Duties involve answering the telephone and taking orders and entering them into a computer database, advising customers on status of orders and availability of product, operation of a computer, knowledge of MS Windows and MS Office. You will also be organizing the work of others who will do the bulk of fetching of plant materials for orders to be shipped, so some supervisory ability is needed. At the beginning and end of the season you will be expected to do duties as above in General Help, so some fitness is required. 'Grace under pressure.' If you think you might qualify for this kind of position, download this spreadsheet and see how you do on the questions attached!

Sign artist

At a glance:
• Personal suitability: Cool head, pleasant manner, patience, attention to detail, capable of taking responsibility for accuracy of signs and labels
• Skills: Capable of operating a computer, using MS office, able to use phone, fax machine, organize the day, and able to work with lists of plants, good level of fitness; operation of graphic design software, troubleshooting printer connections
• Knowledge: general knowledge of plants and the principles of databases, spreadsheets, word processors, Microsoft Office, Windows, graphic design principles.

This is a part-time position. You will be using a Microsoft Access database to build a collection of photos, keeping them organized, building into an informative sign for use in a retail environment, and printing copies of the signs for display in a humid and hot environment. The details on the sign have to be perfect, the design of the sign eye-catching and eye-pleasing. The time not spent on signs could be spent helping on any of the other positions listed here.

Other benefits of working for Burt's Greenhouses

• Staff discount on merchandise
• Exposure to the practice of integrated pest management (biological pest control) - we use very few pesticides
• Exposure to a wide variety of plant materials and their culture, including pH and EC management
• We can help if you need a work placement to fulfil a school course requirement
• Countryside fresh air
• Contact with the public, always a very good thing to have on a resume
• At the end of the season, a possibility of a good reference to add to your other job applications
• The timing of this job could fit well if you are planning on taking the end of the summer off to go to the cottage or other travelling before going back to school
• A suntan (if that is what you are looking for) is almost guaranteed...

How to contact us for information or to apply: