Informational Interview The career that I am looking at is an Ice Arena Manager, which is a very fun and exciting field to get into if you like hockey or some sort of ice sport. There are many things involved in being an Ice Arena Manager such as: Must have knowledge of and be able to operate Zamboni Must be able to manage staff Must have knowledge of compressors Must be able to put ice in and take it out Able to string hockey nets Able to work with all types of people Maintain ice quality Numerous other tasks I work at the only ice arena in Lincoln, The Ice Box. So I already have a vast knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes at an ice arena, but to get more information I interviewed my boss and the Rink Manager of the Ice Box, Bob Spence.
Bob broke into this career last year when our former Rink Manager left to go manage a rink in his home state of Minnesota.
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Burlington Northern #766 EMD F9The Lincoln Stars Vice-President, Jim don, asked Bob if he would be interested in the job. At the time Bob worked for Burlington Northern as a Mechanical Engineer. Bob chose to leave that job and take a pay cut to work for the Stars. The reason he did it was because he loves the Stars and hockey in general.
The thing that he finds most rewarding is when there is a Stars home game and you bust your butt all day or all week for that matter, getting the place looking nice and ready for the game and then you see all of the people there having a great time and enjoying the facility and it makes it all worth while.
There are no requirements for the job because you can pretty much learn everything if you work at a rink for a while. But it is helpful if you take a refrigeration class (for compressors) in college as well as an Arena management class, which is required up North. As far as promoting from within goes, you can do it at some rinks, if you work there long enough and gain an understanding of what goes on.
Being a Rink Manager does have it's down side though. As the workweek is very long and brutal with many odd hours and having to be able to be there right away if something goes wrong.
The ability to work with people is very, very valuable in this field. As you work with a wide variety of people who at times can be hostile. As far the salaries go, it really depends on the size of the rink and what goes on there. They generally start around 30k and there is no limit to as high as they can go.
When asked what advice he could give me, Bob said to be sure and get a college education and take the proper classes and to continue working at The Ice Box. Which there is no doubt that I will considering how much fun I have working there.
1. How did you get into this career? 2. Why did you choose it? 3. What do you find most rewarding about this career? 4. What is a typical career path? 5. Do companies promote from within? 6. What other jobs did you have before this one? 7. What are the hours like? 8. What is a valuable skill to have in this career? 9. What are the salaries like? 10. How much variety is involved in the job? 11. What is the financial potential? 12. What advice would you give me?
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bob dylan @ fresno