How We Do It: July 2001, Employing Summer Interns at OneSource

To encourage students to send in their resumes, we provide program information to universities with strong horticultural curriculums. OneSource management looks for students with solid work ethics and positive, can-do attitudes. The internship often serves as a thorough screening process and audition for permanent employment. In the past, the program’s top performers have been offered full-time positions upon graduation.

Our internship program offers invaluable, practical education that applies to the career goals of highly motivated and willing employees who look upon the program not simply as a job, but as experience. Because the park gets exposure to the latest horticultural knowledge and information, the basics are continually reviewed and refreshed, offering students first-hand exposure to a variety of horticultural disciplines. Busch Gardens’ scope of work is fast paced and demanding, the detailing requirements are continuous and new projects are planned and scheduled in rapid-fire succession, so students know what horticulture career area they would like to pursue by summer’s end.

Interns normally arrive in May or June and stay until August, although we have had participants until October. The schedule is typically 10 weeks long, but it is flexible and can be lengthened to meet a student’s individual needs.

In pairs, the interns mingle with Busch Gardens’ permanent staff. Some start out on the irrigation crew by installing new systems, checking zones or making repairs. Others work with the annual color crew detailing color beds or containerized materials.

Interns also have the opportunity to test their creativity by combining plant material, colors and textures in hanging baskets, pots and planters. Then, the best creations are placed on display inside the park.

Other scheduled areas interns participate in include turf or pest management, arboriculture and general landscape maintenance. The turf quality segment covers turf scouting, pesticide safety and usage, and sod installation. Arboriculture covers safe chainsaw operation, proper pruning techniques and equipment maintenance. Volunteers also can buckle up in a safety harness and get a feel for climbing. General landscape maintenance covers the basics of hand pruning, weeding, watering, raking, mulching, fertilizing and grounds detailing.

Since the park is also a large, well-respected zoo, we stress animal safety in regard to plant foraging and pesticide use. The group gets to mount a zoo feed truck and head out onto the park’s 60-acre, African-themed veldt grassland for a close encounter with some of its largest animal inhabitants. To further diversify the program, students may chose to fulfill their internship requirements at the 30-acre Adventure Island water park adjacent to Busch Gardens, where OneSource also maintains landscapes.

The program costs mainly involve the managers’ time to coordinate it and make it successful. Student compensation is in the $8 to $9 an hour range, higher than typical labor, but well worth the investment.

Karen Odden, an alumnus of the internship program, ran it for the 2000-2001 season. She said the most challenging aspect of running the program was not breaking promises made to students regarding the internship. When the interns arrive we let them know exactly what to expect.

We also try to encourage the students to learn what is discussed during the internship and graduate with a good impression of OneSource and Busch Gardens. If we exceed their expectations, we will generate a positive review of the program.

Keeping up with students and getting honest feedback is important. We hold bi-weekly meetings with the students and they fill out short evaluation forms that are reviewed after each two-week rotation, so we can constantly learn how to improve the program and continue to draw in students.

We also remember to treat interns the same way a business expects its employees to treat their clients.