Running head: Interview Analysis 1

Interview analysis of Senior Program Coordinator

at Bolsa Chica Conservancy

Jaden C. Wyszpolski

California State University, Long Beach

For this assignment, I conducted my interview on Eric Paquette. He is the Senior Program

Coordinator at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Conservancy. Mr. Paquette has been manager for a little over

four years and provided excellent insight on what it means to manage staff, interns, volunteers, and

resources, at an outdoor recreation facility.

Eric Paquette graduated Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology. As

a graduation requirement, he applied and was accepted for an internship with the Bolsa Chica

Conservancy. It was because of his experience he was eventually hired on. I was also hired on at

Eldorado Park because of a summer spent volunteering. This theme was brought back throughout the

interview as Mr. Paquette mentioned the fact that outdoor recreation agencies prefer to hire people

who are already experienced and familiar with the position’s responsibilities. As discussed in class, this

method of hiring internally can reduce recruitment costs, hours spent training, and risk of poor

employee performance.

Mr. Paquette typically manages between two and five staff members or interns at a time.

Currently, there are two interns and two staff members. The first thing Mr. Paquette does upon entering

his office, is answer all his emails. He feels it is very important that he responds to everybody and

doesn’t leave anyone awaiting an answer. I admire this trait because that to me, is a key aspect of being

organized. Even as Dr. Richmond mentioned in lecture, a smart professional only checks their email

twice a day. First thing in the morning, and again in the evening. When I am sitting down to start my

schoolwork, the first thing I do is check my email. Next, Mr. Paquette creates a task list for the day. He

then divides the work amongst his staff and himself. He makes sure that he does not leave himself
 Running head: Interview Analysis 2

without things to do. He believes that although he manages the workers, he himself is a part of that

team. Mr. Paquette believes there is a big difference between acting as a manager and a leader. The

staff performs tasks such as propagating plants, pulling weeds, and working with volunteers. Mr.

Paquette handles larger picture tasks like allocating funds through grant writing or fundraiser planning.

However, whenever he is able Mr. Paquette works alongside his staff and does field work as well. He

feels his staff appreciates it and it makes his day go by faster. One thing Mr. Paquette mentioned that I

appreciated, was that he never wants his employees to feel bored or underutilized. By broadly training

his staff and having ongoing task lists, his workers always have something else they can be doing

without having to wait for further instruction. I recognize this at my own facility, where all staff

members perform a multitude of tasks. Another way that Mr. Paquette demonstrates leadership over

management, is in his relationship with the public. During public service days, Mr. Paquette emphasizes

education over getting work done. Educating the public on native species, planting techniques, and the

ecology of a wetland, is more important to Mr. Paquette than actually completing the restoration

project. I am pleased to hear he believes this, it is a principle that I hope to adopt in my own pursuits.

While completing college, Mr. Paquette worked as a reservation supervisor at a small hotel.

Here, he managed a small staff in a very different environment. It was interesting to hear him discuss

the different management methods applied in the different settings. At the hotel, Mr. Paquette had to

practice more disciplinary action than he does now at the conservancy. He pointed out that the

conservancy is a small, non-profit organization that does not have a large hiring pool. The techniques

and responsibilities of staff positions require knowledge and experience. The conservancy is not able to

hire anyone off the street. And as a small non-profit with minimal income flow, they cannot afford to be

quickly turning over employees. Instead, Mr. Paquette now focuses on the development of his staff as a

worker and a person as a whole. Instead of verbal warnings, or written reports, Mr. Paquette takes the

opportunity to educate the staff and help them learn from their mistakes. The staff and volunteers that
 Running head: Interview Analysis 3

Mr. Paquette typically oversees come in with little experience. They are usually students with the

educational background, but little to no knowledge of how the conservancy works or the tasks that need

to be done.

Although Mr. Paquette does not practice a specific management approach, I placed him under

the behavioral approach. He believes the most effective way to properly educate and train his staff is

through demonstration and patience. He understands that there is a lot to remember when working

with different species of plants and proper maintenance techniques can be hard to master. The staff will

eventually become more successful after constant practice and getting more comfortable at the site.

Mr. Paquette told me that the biggest lesson he has learned so far as a manager, is how to

properly distribute the daily workload. He found that early on, he would overload his interns and staff

and have no tasks left for himself. He would also unevenly distribute tasks among his staff, leaving some

with nothing to do, and some with too much to do. Realizing he must recognize the strengths and

weakness of his staff, Mr. Paquette can now distribute tasks based on who is working, what needs to be

done, and what he himself can take care of. Being able to efficiently distribute a workload is crucial.

Especially for the conservancy which has so few employees.

Throughout the interview, Mr. Paquette provided me with excellent insight and advice. Seeing

how he still strives to better himself in the field goes to show that you can always improve yourself as a

professional. One thing Mr. Paquette does and encouraged me to do, is identify people who hold

positions similar to ones I would like to occupy, and see what certifications, education, and experience

they have. He is currently pursuing his Wilderness First Aid certification as well as becoming involved in

the California native plant society. He is already CPR and First Aid certified. Mr. Paquette also

recommended that I try to involve myself in as many extracurricular activities as possible. Volunteer,

join societies, and make connections in the field. Because Mr. Paquette was hired on after his first
 Running head: Interview Analysis 4

internship, he has no other experience in the field. I find myself in the same position as I was hired on

after my first volunteer experience in the field of outdoor recreation. I realize that I should be more

actively pursuing volunteer opportunities and become more involved in the field. I took this

recommendation to heart and putting theory into practice, I have joined Rec. Society here at CSULB and

began arrangements with Mr. Paquette for a possible interpretive education internship at the Bolsa

Chica Conservancy.

Mr. Paquette also mentioned the possible future trends of outdoor recreation and natural

spaces in Southern California. Because of the high-rate of development in Southern California, there is a

decreasing amount of natural spaces, parks, and funding for these types of facilities. This development is

making it harder to pursue a career in outdoor recreation. Mr. Paquette mentioned possibly moving in

the future to better accommodate his planned career pursuits. I also recognized this and plan on leaving

Southern California for an area with more parks and wide-open natural spaces.

I took a lot away from my interview with Mr. Paquette. I received excellent advice, saw my own

professional struggles and hopes reflected in Mr. Paquette’s experiences, and saw theories and

techniques discussed in class, applied in the field. A few things I wish I had asked Mr. Paquette: How do

you handle personal or behavioral issues amongst your staff? And how do you effectively moderate

between your own supervisors above you, and your staff below you? I am also glad I interviewed Mr.

Paquette for this assignment because I feel I made a good impression on him and hope to eventually

volunteer or work under him at the Bolsa Chica Wetland Conservancy.

 Running head: Interview Analysis 5

Your paper must include:

1. Name, Title, and Organization of the person you interviewed.
a. Eric Paquette
b. Senior Program Coordinator
c. Bolsa Chica Conservancy
d. July of 2014
e. Volunteered for 60 hrs before getting a job
2. General Job responsibilities
a. Day to day
i. Check emails first,
ii. responding to everybody, following up not leaving them
guessing.
iii. Come up with a day to day work plan, to do list, and split
tasks
iv. Grant writing, brings in revenue
3. Management practices they utilize
a. Worked as a reservation supervisor at a hotel and enforced
corrective action. Write ups, verbal warnings
b. Conservancy is a small non profit=needs their employees
c. Staff comes in with little to know knowledge. More into
developing employees
4. Who they Manage
a. 2 interns and 2 staff
i. Staff are year and year and a half old
ii. Summer interns; 1 and 4 interns every year
iii. Interns propagate plants, pull weeds, work with volunteers
b. Not very structured agency, non-hierarchal.
5. Educational Background
a. Started with community college
b. Cal Poly Pomona
c. Bachelors in Environmental Biology
d. Offered position after completing required internship. Thought he
was applying for Newport back bay
6. Leadership philosophy
a. Never wants staff members to be bored, keeping a day to day list
of tasks lets them continue work without needing further leading.
b. Definitely a leader not a manager
 Running head: Interview Analysis 6

c. Public service days, Primary=educate the public, secondary=get

work done. When volunteers are working, he is out taking pics,
supervising, and eventually working alongside volunteers or staff
vs just dictating and supervising.
d. Knows it is more appreciated by his staff as well as makes his
day go by faster
7. Their advice to you as you move into the field of recreation
a. Biggest lesson learned
i. When managing a larger work force, sometimes you unload
all the tasks to interns and are left with no tasks yourself.
b. Look into small conservancies and organizations
c. You’ll have to work your way up, these organizations hire from
the inside so get your foot in the door and make as many
connections as possible.
d. Do a lot more internships and volunteers. He took the first job
from his first internship.
e. Join societies and get certifications
i. Looks at certs and experience of professionals in positions
he wants
f. Extracurricular experience
8. Your comments and analysis of the conversation – how do their
thoughts fit into the material discussed in the text? What did you think
about what they said?