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Job Definition
Spray or release chemical solutions or toxic gases and set traps to kill pests and vermin, such as mice, termites, and roaches, that infest buildings and surrounding areas.
Job Zone

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.

Interests
Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Knowledge
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.
Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
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.
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.
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.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
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.
Skills
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Tasks
Post warning signs and lock building doors to secure area to be fumigated.
Cut or bore openings in building or surrounding concrete, access infested areas, insert nozzle, and inject pesticide to impregnate ground.
Study preliminary reports and diagrams of infested area and determine treatment type required to eliminate and prevent recurrence of infestation.
Dig up and burn, or spray weeds with herbicides.
Set mechanical traps and place poisonous paste or bait in sewers, burrows, and ditches.
Clean and remove blockages from infested areas to facilitate spraying procedure and provide drainage, using broom, mop, shovel, and rake.
Position and fasten edges of tarpaulins over building and tape vents to ensure air-tight environment and check for leaks.
Record work activities performed.
Inspect premises to identify infestation source and extent of damage to property, wall and roof porosity, and access to infested locations.
Spray or dust chemical solutions, powders, or gases into rooms, onto clothing, furnishings or wood, and over marshlands, ditches, and catch-basins.
Clean work site after completion of job.
Direct and/or assist other workers in treatment and extermination processes to eliminate and control rodents, insects, and weeds.
Drive truck equipped with power spraying equipment.
Measure area dimensions requiring treatment, using rule, calculate fumigant requirements, and estimate cost for service.
Wages

In 2008, the California average annual wage was $31,970.00.

Most people employed in this occupation were paid between $22,710.00 and $42,210.00.

Outlook

During 2006, there were approximately 10,700 people employed in this field in California. It is projected that there will be 12,200 employed in 2016. This occupation will have about 150 openings due to growth and about 260 replacement openings for approximately 410 total annual openings. This occupation .

Colleges and Training
There are currently no programs listed for this occupation.
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