Plumpton College Intensive Course - good pathway in?

[SussexHarry]

Hi everyone,

 

A while ago I made a post enquiring about coming into this industry with no experience. Unfortunately I’ve not yet got anywhere, but I’m slowly putting things in motion regarding leaving current employment, and getting training, tickets, etc.

 

I’ve been researching courses near me and have found one at Plumpton College, just down the road from me. They offer an intensive 8-week full time course that includes:

 

Qualifications:

• NPTC Award in Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-cutting
• NPTC/City & Guilds Award in Felling and Processing Trees up to 380mm
• NPTC/City & Guilds Award in Tree Climbing and Rescue
• NPTC Level 2 Award in Safe Use of Manually Fed Wood-chipper
• NPTC/City & Guilds Award in Safe use of Mobile Elevated Work Platform
• NPTC Aerial cutting of trees using free fall techniques
• ROLO Health & Safety Course
   

 

This course is nearby, affordable, and I may even be able to get government funding to help me pay for it.

 

My questions is, how employable does this course make me? And what pay/work could I roughly expect off the back of this?

 

I’m not expecting to join a company as a team leader, but at the same time I’d like to get stuck in as a climber at some point and ideally not be seen as an apprentice if I’m going to fork out for all the courses beforehand. I’m also expecting to take a pay-cut leaving my current employment but I’d also like to minimise that as much as I can, hence why I want to get as many tickets under my belt as I can before finding new work.

 

I’d appreciate any advice on the matter, thank you!

 

Harry

[5thelement]

That is a pretty impressive list to complete in 8 weeks. It will give you a grounding into the very basics of the industry, and possibly a foot in the door.

Tickets are not the be all and end all for employers, I have met hundreds of ticket collectors over the years who are crap, experience, efficiency and reliability is what really counts, and ultimately this will dictate how much you will earn.

I won’t comment on the training that Plumpton College offer, but have you looked at Scott Fraser Training, based in Lamberhurst?

[SussexHarry]

3 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

That is a pretty impressive list to complete in 8 weeks. It will give you a grounding into the very basics of the industry, and possibly a foot in the door.

Tickets are not the be all and end all for employers, I have met hundreds of ticket collectors over the years who are crap, experience, efficiency and reliability is what really counts, and ultimately this will dictate how much you will earn.

I won’t comment on the training that Plumpton College offer, but have you looked at Scott Fraser Training, based in Lamberhurst?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I totally understand and I’m not expecting to be seen as some kind of seasoned expert after just getting a few tickets. That said I’m 26 and currently earning my age in thousands a year at my current employment, and I don’t want to leave my current job and fork out 3 grand for tickets only to be paid a few bob an hour to make cups of tea.

 

Just trying to get an idea of what that sort of job that training might get me - would I still need to go in as an apprentice for a year? Or would a company hire me as a climber on a lower “training” wage? I don’t really know what to expect once I leave the course with the tickets under my belt…

 

I’ll have a look into Scott Fraser but unfortunately it’s the wrong side of Plumpton to me and would be a hell of a commute…

[5thelement]

15 minutes ago, SussexHarry said:

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I totally understand and I’m not expecting to be seen as some kind of seasoned expert after just getting a few tickets. That said I’m 26 and currently earning my age in thousands a year at my current employment, and I don’t want to leave my current job and fork out 3 grand for tickets only to be paid a few bob an hour to make cups of tea.

 

Just trying to get an idea of what that sort of job that training might get me - would I still need to go in as an apprentice for a year? Or would a company hire me as a climber on a lower “training” wage? I don’t really know what to expect once I leave the course with the tickets under my belt…

 

I’ll have a look into Scott Fraser but unfortunately it’s the wrong side of Plumpton to me and would be a hell of a commute…

If you pass all those tickets you won’t be making tea, you will  be expected to hit the ground running and prove yourself.

Generally the wages in Arb, even more so  in Forestry, are crap.
The only contract climbers/groundies earning okay are shit hot with years of experience under their belts, not newbies.

The only way to make decent money in this game is with YOUR NAME on the side of the vans.

[SussexHarry]

5 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

If you pass all those tickets you won’t be making tea, you will  be expected to hit the ground running and prove yourself.

Generally the wages in Arb, even more so  in Forestry, are crap.
The only contract climbers/groundies earning okay are shit hot with years of experience under their belts, not newbies.

The only way to make decent money in this game is with YOUR NAME on the side of the vans.

When you say the wages are crap, how crap are we talking?

 

I’ve seen utility arborist jobs advertised around me starting at 28,000 a year which would be a pay rise for me 😂 obviously they ask for experience but I’d be okay with a little less than that. How much lower do the wages go?

[Mark J]

Those tickets will get you a foot in the door.

Minimum wage for a 40hr week is £21,673.60.

You need to decide how you want to go about it.

You could likely get in with one of the 'bigger' firms and work with them for a year or two, if it's a decent outfit they will have decent climbers/groundies that you will learn a lot from plus they will also likely have the resources to allow you to practise aerial stuff as part of your work, they will most likely want a 40hr week though and may not be attractive to the better climbers out there.

When I got into tree work I worked with a smaller outfits from the outset (I only went to a bigger firm for six months while a shoulder injury healed), the benefits of smaller outfits are that they usually have decent climbers/groundies, you can learn a great deal by carefully watching what they do, also many of them prefer to work 'job and knock' which suits arboriculture. A down side is that there might not be too much scope for practicing things due to time/money constraints.

Getting utility tickets is something to look into once you're happy up a tree and on the ground with a saw.

I think that contacting local firms and seeing if they need a groundie would be a good way to go about it in the first instance. Aboriculture is quite a small world, most people know someone who has worked with someone else, if you build up a good reputation you will be on your way to better money.

Best of luck!

Edited October 19, 2023 by Mark J

[tim361]

Just to throw my 2 pence worth in. Rather tan doing all the tickets in one go, get your maintenance, felling, and possibly your chipper ticket done. Should take you just over a week to do those bits maybe two. Find a good firm locally to you and either do some weekend work or take a day or two off a week and work for them then. You’ll soon decide if it’s a job you want to move forward with or not and providing the company is half decent you’ll learn a lot while you’re there.

I’m 10 minutes from plumpton, probably the other side to you. I did my climbing tickets with Scott frazer. Would highly recommend him. 

[benedmonds]

I did an intensive course at Plumpton over 20 years ago. Great way to get aload of tickets. You don't know what your doing at the end of it, but it makes you very employable. Any employer knows you are committed. They also only have to invest time in making you competent. 

[Whistling Kettle]

I've done my cross cutting and maintenance, and small tree felling tickets, half way through the week of training I met an employer and have got a job to go into next month, getting some tickets opens doors, and is a very good way to meet new contacts

[5thelement]

If a candidate with a good attitude shows up on a course, I quite often introduce them to decent operators I know and get them a start.