Career & application guide

First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers

Get to know the work, the skills that matter, and how to prepare your next application.

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What do first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers do?

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities. Work may involve reviewing contracts to ascertain service, machine, and workforce requirements; answering inquiries from potential customers regarding methods, material, and price ranges; and preparing estimates according to labor, material, and machine costs.

This describes a U.S. occupation, not a live vacancy. Individual employers may use different titles and requirements.

Job titles to recognize in your search

O*NET reports these titles for this occupation. Compare the responsibilities in each posting before treating titles as equivalent.

  • Field Manager
  • Golf Course Superintendent
  • Grounds Crew Supervisor
  • Grounds Foreman
  • Grounds Maintenance Supervisor
  • Grounds Manager
  • Grounds Supervisor
  • Groundskeeper Supervisor

Core tasks to compare with a job posting

  • Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
  • Schedule work for crews, depending on work priorities, crew or equipment availability, or weather conditions.
  • Tour grounds, such as parks, botanical gardens, cemeteries, or golf courses, to inspect conditions of plants and soil.
  • Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
  • Direct activities of workers who perform duties, such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
  • Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.
  • Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
  • Direct or perform mixing or application of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides.
  • Train workers in tasks such as transplanting or pruning trees or shrubs, finishing cement, using equipment, or caring for turf.
  • Prepare service estimates based on labor, material, and machine costs and maintain budgets for individual projects.

Prepare an application for this occupation

  1. Check the employer’s requirements, location, schedule and any licenses against your situation.
  2. Choose two or three tasks above that match the posting and your actual experience.
  3. Build a resume evidence worksheet using the skills and software relevant to that employer.
  4. Practice explaining your contribution, decisions and results before an interview.

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