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About this blog

Matt Leverich (and guests) from Playbooks for Golf blogs on tips and techniques for using technology to advance your operation and career.

Entries in this blog

Finding Staff: H2B Visa Program (Part 1)

Guest Post by Frank Duda, Golf Course Superintendent at Miacomet Golf Club, Nantucket, MA While not perfectly related to career materials or technology, I thought it was interesting enough to include on this blog due to the potential importance of it in some of your operations, especially with it being in the news recently. The second post on how to streamline and manage the process will be coming in the next blog. I hope this offers insight to you and thanks to Frank Duda for writing this
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

7

Guest Post: The Assistant Superintendent Role Reconsidered

by Greg Wojick Looking through the assistant superintendent job listings on the TurfNet Job board the other day reinforced in my mind that the superintendent's approach to their assistants' positions may need some rethinking.  For years and decades, superintendents handled their assistants by hiring young, letting them learn by doing and observing, and then, after a year or two on the job, sending them on their way to their first superintendent's job. 'Two years and out' was the typica
Greg Wojick, CGCS

Greg Wojick, CGCS

3

Career Tip: It's Overrated — Obsessing on Lengthy Resume Content

Before we begin, a disclaimer on resume advice: Everyone has an opinion on what should be included on a resume, and there's not necessarily a right or wrong approach. If you give your resume to someone for review, they will always come back to you with their own take on what should be highlighted or changed. My recommendations are not the only way to go, they are merely observations and thoughts specific to our industry and how it relates to resume content. It is important is to study the differ
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

2

Top 8 Considerations for Your Resume

In addition to the normal questions I receive regarding resumes this time of year there has also been quite a bit of chatter about them in the TurfNet Forum, at GIS, and other industry channels. Last fall, I put together a very comprehensive article on resumes that covered many topics. It is quite lengthy, so I figured I would create a condensed Top 8 list for quick reference. Here is the original article if you want to get into the why on some of this stuff. A true resume is one page in
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

2

Good Reminder on Why to Dump Internet Explorer

From USA Today, 4/29/14: The U.S. Department of Homeland security is advising Americans not to use the Internet Explorer Web browser until a fix is found for a serious security flaw that came to light over the weekend. The bug was announced on Saturday by FireEye Research Labs, an Internet security software company based in Milpitas, Calif. It is recommended that users and administrators "consider employing an alternative Web browser until an official update is available." Th
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

2

The Confusing Use of Your Full Name

This is one of those posts that there's not a cut and dry solution for every situation, but rather recommendations based on feedback from hiring professionals and potential employees. It happens often enough that I thought it worthy of a post. It is commonplace in most professional industries to use your full first name on your resume, cover letter, website and other career materials. Some even use the middle name initial or "junior, III, IV," etc. The main idea is that people think it make
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

2

Rethinking the Superintendent Search

Guest post by Greg Wojick, Playbooks for Golf -- I recently visited the CMAA (Club Managers Association of America) website. One of the first things I noticed was that more than two dozen executive search firms were listed.   I looked further, scanning many of the search firm sites. I saw that there were numerous searches for general managers, most often referred to as COOs and occasionally CEOs. I also saw searches for assistant general managers, executive chefs, directors of
Greg Wojick, CGCS

Greg Wojick, CGCS

2

Adjusting Turf Resumes for the Mobile Age

I don’t have to tell any of you that smartphones have changed how we work each day, especially from out on the course. From chem/fert apps like Coverage, to Twitter and labor software, there have been vast improvements to the daily operation because of mobile devices. It doesn’t just stop with our side of the industry. Any hiring person at a club or firm is now extremely likely to view your resume the first time from their phone while on the move. What does that mean? You had better be sure
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

2

SET UP A CREW “SMART BOARD” WITH EASE

Many turf managers ask us for a suggested "smart board" setup for crew training, assignments and other uses at their facility. A smart board is a digital device used to display information to your crew. Essentially, you use your office computer or tablet tied to a projector or TV in the crew room area. There are many different ways to do this, but for the purpose of this post we are going to show you one of the easiest, cheapest, and most versatile setups. For around $500, you can get set up wit
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

1

Organize with technology...

A new year is upon us, and I thought it would be a good time to review some things in tech that we can start out fresh with at the beginning of this year. The key with using technology in your job is to not let it overtake you and keep you from managing the course properly. With a few of these suggestions you should be able to harness the power of tech without many of the side-effects. Wunderlist The first step for most people to get organized is to start making lists. This solution could
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

1

Keeping Pace With the Age of Technology - Guest post by Greg Wojick

Several weeks ago, I had lunch with the vice president of Arccos Golf, a startup company that has developed technology intended to help golfers improve their games. The system they came up with allows the golfer to use the data created by each swing of the golf club (sensors are attached to the club) to identify weaknesses and strengths -- among many other useful data points -- like quantifying the percentage of time that your approach shots miss the greens to the right or to the left of the fla
Greg Wojick, CGCS

Greg Wojick, CGCS

1

Tech tip: Image headers in Word for a professional look

I would estimate that close to 100% of superintendents have and use Microsoft Word for creating various documents for use around your clubs, and personally as well. While there are limitations to the software, one thing that works great is how it handles headers. There is a little bit of process to it, but in the end you can have a very nicely designed document that you can then edit on your own.    Let's say that you have had TurfNet design a header for your blog and you'd like to use i
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

1

Presentation Tips: How to Engage Your Audience

Guest Post by Greg Wojick   Our industry has always been about so much more than growing grass. Eventually everyone has an issue arise, either agronomic or elsewhere in the operation. My belief is that whenever you're in trouble -- and even before you are in trouble -- you better be able to communicate well.   I'm usually impressed with superintendents' technical competence and professional conduct. If only that were all you needed for success! The reality is that a m
Greg Wojick, CGCS

Greg Wojick, CGCS

1

The Interchange: an introduction

Welcome to The Interchange, a new resource to help you keep your fingers on the pulse of the latest trends in career development and industry technology as they affect the golf course industry.   Over the past several years, a growing number of people have contacted us at Playbooks for Golf for guidance on how to best utilize communication technology to advance their careers.  We thought about starting a blog on our own site but the opportunity to reach so many more on TurfNet was too good to
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

THE DANGERS OF AN ONLINE PRESENCE (though it’s still worth it)

If you're reading this, you know that online technology has allowed us in the turf industry to share good things like tips, tricks and maintenance practices.  But it can also impact your ability to retain your existing position or get that new job. How you craft and manage your online presence can be a boon or a bust to your operation and career.  FACEBOOK A hotly debated issue of late is companies asking prospective hires for access to social media such as Facebook, or to like the company or
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

The impact of a handwritten note...

Watching my wife designing holiday cards for clients and friends reminded me of an important topic related to todays modern world: the hand-written note. Yep, when it comes to our industry, it still works, and possibly now more than ever. It can be used in seeking another position or improving your standing with members at your current club. Before we get into it, I'd like to include a snippet of an article from the Harvard Business Review (full article) about the topic that sums it up quite wel
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

How To: Using TurfNet & Forum as Webapp from Devices

Recently a thread in the Forum was started relating to its use, and I offered some advice on mobile devices. I really enjoy viewing TurfNet from my iPhone due to the mobile version of TurfNet, which I had saved as a Webapp. In fact, it makes browsing the Forum just as easy as pulling up the Twitter app and viewing my feed from others in the industry. After thinking about this, I thought I would put together a tutorial in case very few out there knew about it. If you already use it, great... If n
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

On the Road: Regional conferences offer reminder for maintenance blogs

Over the past two weeks we have been on the road at trade shows throughout the country, last week supporting NYSTA in Rochester, and this week the Carolinas GCSA in Myrtle Beach. These events are great for superintendents to further their education and network, plus see the latest technology for the industry. As an example, last week in Rochester we ran into a couple of former superintendents, Greg Moore and Paul Boyd, that have partnered to offer the Air2G2 service to a 15-state territory. Th
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

End of Year Thanks, Handwritten to You

This past week I have been working on getting end of year notes to clients and friends in the industry ready to send out, and I wanted to do something similar for all of you Turfnetters reading this blog.   It has been great to write these past couple of months and I hope that it has assisted you in your career. I am really honored to be associated with TurfNet and special thanks to Peter for all his efforts in the industry.   It would be easy just to type out some thanks to you guys, but af
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

How to Secure That ‘Super’ Job: Guest post by Greg Wojick

This winter I will be diving into building great career materials, but before I do I wanted to include a nice summary of things you can do to improve your career opportunities. My business partner, Greg Wojick (former career superintendent and long-time TurfNet member), recently put together the following list, and I thought it would be a nice start to the new year for us. We will dig deep into some of these in later columns. For more on Greg and his background, click here.     Looking to
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

How to Use Cover Letters to Your Advantage

There are countless articles and tips out there about writing an effective cover letter across many industries. What works and what doesn't in our industry? It varies with every club but there are some basic guidelines to work from that give you the best chance for success. So, here's a list of things to consider when writing an effective cover letter in the golf maintenance world.   Write a cover letter! You might think this is par for the course, but many in our industry do not even include
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

Update: New TurfNet Look Is Even Better On Devices

Last fall I provided a tutorial on using TurfNet from devices like smartphones and tablets. It makes it very easy to view things like the Forum, Jobs Board, and more all from any device. This month, Peter and the team at TurfNet have launched a new version of the site which looks great, and it works even better on mobile devices. While the basics of my previous full tutorial (read here) are the same, there are a few changes to the navigation and getting to areas of the site. So, here's a few tip
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

Adjust Screen Size to Enhance Your Communications

After spending last week at GIS doing lots of software demos, I received many questions on how I was able to quickly manipulate the screen size of multiple devices in places where you usually can?t do it. While it varies with every operating system and program, it is very easy to do. For some, the font sizes on mobile devices and even laptops are too small. This is especially true if you are showing others software or text from the device.   Why am I telling you this? Because a great many of y
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

Resumes: Guidelines for Professional References

References are very important in the turf industry -- it's relatively small and there is a good chance someone from your work history is connected where you are applying. This is especially true for Assistant Superintendent positions. So why is there continued use of 'References Available Upon Request'? Misinformation, mostly. Here are some suggestions to make the most out of your references. 1. Always send references -- always. As mentioned, there is a good chance this can really help you
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

0

How To: Create a Link from Resume to Detailed Document

Awhile back I put together some suggestions on creating solid resumes (article here) and received quite a bit of feedback and questions regarding one of the points: A true resume is one page in length and is meant to summarize your career. Create a separate document that has all the extra bullet points, call this a portfolio, career anthology, etc. Create a large link icon or text link to the more lengthy document on the resume. Now you have both options for the hiring person available at t
Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

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