After 500 hours of meticulous effort spent on cleaning, repairing, and avoiding citations from health inspectors, you would think you have it all figured out when it comes to taking care of a pool. Truth is, you do not. And you never will. My name is Sean Franck. I am currently a sophomore in Agricultural Business at the University of Maryland, where I interned this past summer at Pool Personnel, Inc. and worked as a pool operator.
Before the summer started, my manager and a team spent several weeks power washing every chair, bench, table, and inch of the property available to patrons. Despite all of our cleaning efforts, the bottom of the pool was covered with sand from the nearby volleyball area on the first day. Additionally, the vacuum wasn't functional, so I spent the first day learning to grow gills and collect the sand by hand with a bag and a net. The next few weeks, the pump systems up, but with a brand new staff (13 newcomers and only 5 returning guards), every day was tedious training, and every afternoon was packed with kids out from school and some beautiful early June weather.
Our first inspection came shortly after school was out, and we were working full days, which passed with flying colors. Not more than two hours after the county inspector drove off, our CAT system (automatic acid and chlorine system) shut off permanently. From that point on, every single day, we had to hand-dispense acid (how I burnt myself) and chlorine into the pool to ensure our books remained intact and the pool abided by county standards. By the middle of the summer, I would substitute at many different pools, learning new mechanics and operating systems. After having worked solely at one pool for the last four years, I never realized how unique and unstandardized pump systems are. However, through these various locations, I continued to learn, and my progress officially led me to a managerial position, which pays over double what I earned an hour just three years ago. Now having the door open to work on projects such as maintenance at privately owned commercial pools, and also backyard properties. Some of the pools at my company are undergoing reconstruction, which hopefully will allow me to partake in them as I aspire to design, build, and maintain backyard pools in the future.
What I thought was going to be an internship of mostly managing lifeguards and being one myself taught me so much more about operations, logistics, managing a business, and keeping proper order of multi-million dollar entities. I loved the internship, and I loved the progress I made to propel myself in the positions I aspire to fill in the future.
My hard work has led me to a full-time job offer to manage my own pool this upcoming summer. The internship served me with the experience and showcased my effort, allowing me to step up in corporate ranks and fulfill the second-highest profession the company has to offer.
