First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Review work throughout the work process and at completion to ensure that it has been performed properly.
• Inform designated employees or departments of items loaded or problems encountered.
• Inspect equipment for wear and for conformance to specifications.
• Prepare and maintain work records and reports of information such as employee time and wages, daily receipts, or inspection results.
• Transmit and explain work orders to laborers.
• Inspect job sites to determine the extent of maintenance or repairs needed.
• Provide assistance in balancing books, tracking, monitoring, or projecting a unit's budget needs, and in developing unit policies and procedures.
• Conduct staff meetings to relay general information or to address specific topics, such as safety.
• Check specifications of materials loaded or unloaded against information contained in work orders.
• Inventory supplies and requisition or purchase additional items, as necessary.
• Estimate material, time, and staffing requirements for a given project, based on work orders, job specifications, and experience.
• Evaluate employee performance and prepare performance appraisals.
• Participate in the hiring process by reviewing credentials, conducting interviews, or making hiring decisions or recommendations.
• Counsel employees in work-related activities, personal growth, or career development.
• Transmit and explain work orders to laborers.
• Plan work schedules and assign duties to maintain adequate staff for effective performance of activities and response to fluctuating workloads.
• Resolve personnel problems, complaints, or formal grievances when possible, or refer them to higher-level supervisors for resolution.
• Assess training needs of staff and arrange for or provide appropriate instruction.
• Collaborate with workers and managers to solve work-related problems.
• Maintain a safe working environment by monitoring safety procedures and equipment.
• Perform the same work duties as those supervised, or perform more difficult or skilled tasks or assist in their performance.
• Plan work schedules and assign duties to maintain adequate staff for effective performance of activities and response to fluctuating workloads.
• Schedule times of shipment and modes of transportation for materials.
• Recommend or initiate personnel actions, such as promotions, transfers, or disciplinary measures.
• Examine freight to determine loading sequences.
• Quote prices to customers.

Skills

• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.

Abilities

• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

Knowledge

• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

70260/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

33.78/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

14,390

Yearly Projected Openings

1670

Personality

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

• Attention to Detail
• Integrity
• Dependability
• Leadership
• Cooperation
• Initiative

Tools

• Bar code reader equipment
• Box sealing tape dispensers
• Claw hammer
• Desktop computers
• Dollies
• Forklifts
• Glue guns
• Hand trucks or accessories
• Hoists
• Jacks
• Lifting hooks
• Pallet trucks
• Personal computers
• Planes
• Power saws
• Saws
• Scaffolding
• Slings
• Track cranes
• Utility knives
• Winches
• Wrapping machinery

Technology

• Calendar and scheduling software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Inventory management software
• Office suite software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Time accounting software
• Word processing software