Consultancy Journey - Advice and Experience wanted

[rcbprk]

Over lockdown I completed a L4 Certificate in Arboriculture with Myerscough after deciding that I am about ready for a career change. After spending 15 odd years working in education I've seen many before me succeed in achieving a career change into something more closely aligned with their interests, however ambitious. My plan is to work towards becoming an independent arboricultural consultant in the North East. 

 

I've taken the step to drop to 4 days at work from the new year and plan to use the time to gain more experience, to practice my tree, fungi and pest/pathogen ID and get more training under my belt before diving in to this world from a more solid platform. I'm not looking to go on the tools, but I am looking to get up from behind a desk to get more hands-on experience of the non-academic side of this business. Over the next year or so I'd like to get out with as many teams in the region as possible, to see how the seasoned pros operate in carrying out surveys and inspections, and also when working on management of trees following them being looked at and plans put in place.

 

Down the line I'd like to get PTI under my belt, and potentially look at a Master's level qualification to boost my knowledge, particularly of pest and disease and management of the urban forest. For now I'm looking for two things; 1. Advice on where you think I should go next and 2. Anyone kind enough to give me the chance to come out for a few days with you or your teams in the North East (I'm based in Newcastle) to get a feel for how you operate (unpaid, of course!).

 

Any support you can offer would be great. Cheers.

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by rcbprk

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Many / most progress into consultancy from tree surveying / inspecting so I would focus on this in the near future and, ideally, get the PTI under your belt too. 

 

Masters is ambitious, but 'fair play', L6 would be achievable and a natural progression. Lots of opportunities to increase knowledge prior, including here, and many short courses / workshops etc. (have a look at our website along with FC / ICF etc.)

 

Good luck and, actually, some time "on the tools", selectively, i.e. where you can do, or observe, the 'autopsy' when diseased trees are felled, is really valuable IMHO.

 

Arboricultural Association - Training & Events

WWW.TREES.ORG.UK

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Professional training courses and workshops for Tree Surgeons, arborists and consultants. A wide range of Tree...

 

[rcbprk]

Cheers for the advice Paul.

 

I didn't want to ramble on too much in my first post, but my aim this year is to get into suveying and inspecting, likely starting with BS5837 work once I've sharpened up a bit. There are a couple of local consultants who have been quite generous with their time, letting me shadow them on management and BS5837 surveys this autumn. I also did the AA Basic Tree Inspection last year which was very helpful and I'll definitely move onto PTI when I feel I'm ready.

 

On the masters front; I'm already educated to postgraduate level albeit in a different field entirely so, aside from the time commitment, I'm quite confident with that level of work - probably moreso than I am with fungi ID!

[Andrew McEwan]

Ditto Paul's comment about time on the tools, (with the right crew) will help you and those using your reports a lot.

[rcbprk]

On 07/12/2021 at 09:30, Andrew McEwan said:

Ditto Paul's comment about time on the tools, (with the right crew) will help you and those using your reports a lot.

Cheers Andrew. I've been in touch with the local council tree guys but with the amount of storm damage they're on with clearing up at the moment I'm not holding my breath for a quick response. 

 

Any advice on approaching arb companies for a bit of shadowing?

[MattyF]

I'd try and get a job with them clearing trees even if it's all ground work would be a quick way in ... , they are going to be very busy for a while,will give you hands on experience on what trees fail , where and why they fail and how common it is within certain species .. would give you a good starting block for your career.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Have you got access to BS library?  
 

Sounds like you might have access to an academic library with a research subscription - if not, would be well worth buying (or acquiring) your own copies of 8545, 3998 & 5837.

 

Make yourself known to local planning agents / architects and see if you can pick up some leads from them for 5837 jobs. 
 

Post grad already (albeit in another field) with aspirations for Masters in Arb (but no practical experience) - sounds perfect for a local authority job role....

[Andrew McEwan]

9 hours ago, rcbprk said:

Cheers Andrew. I've been in touch with the local council tree guys but with the amount of storm damage they're on with clearing up at the moment I'm not holding my breath for a quick response. 

 

Any advice on approaching arb companies for a bit of shadowing?

Just grab some basic ppe if you don't have any already, boots, gloves, helmet and offer to help your local companies move brash etc, but keeping out of the way while you can pick up a bit on how a job goes, what was the spec, did it make sense to the team, was it even achievable within site constraints etc?

[daltontrees]

Yes get some experience of tree work. In my expereince the best consultants are the ones who understand tree form a practical perspective. This only really comes from looking properly at lots of them, and seeing them taken apart will give you great insight. even dragging branches to the chipper will add to that, and you will sleep better than you ever have in your life.

Some consultants specify tree work in the most unrealistic terms. You can almost tell which ones have learnt from books and which ones have learnt from trees.

[rcbprk]

5 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Have you got access to BS library?  
 

Sounds like you might have access to an academic library with a research subscription - if not, would be well worth buying (or acquiring) your own copies of 8545, 3998 & 5837.

 

Make yourself known to local planning agents / architects and see if you can pick up some leads from them for 5837 jobs. 
 

Post grad already (albeit in another field) with aspirations for Masters in Arb (but no practical experience) - sounds perfect for a local authority job role....

Thanks for the advice. I've got copies of all of the above as it happens and I'm very glad I didn't need to pay for them individually, although my time will come. I do have access to an academic library through my day job which does come in handy.

 

It is coming through loud and clear that some experience on the ground would be very useful, and I'm up for the graft. Looks like I'm getting PPE for Christmas...