Realistic chances of employment?

[Mike Hill]

2 hours ago, Bocca said:

I couldn’t agree more. If you want to pursue a new career mate don’t let some miserable old blokes on a forum tell you it’s not a good idea. Can you earn more money in a different trade? Sure, but comparing salaries with other trades is pointless. If he wanted to be a bricklayer he wouldn’t be on here. Comparison is the thief of joy. 

 

Plenty of people in this industry who are earning great money and they didn’t all start at 18 and work for 20 years before turning a profit. 

 

If you want to do it. Do it. 

I am not a miserable old bloke,but with nearly 30 years experience under my belt. I was giving a 33 year old farmer with no experience my advice.

 

It would be the same advice I would give anyone,at 33 working for about £10 and hour wouldn't be what I would call a clever career move.He was asking for advice,not whether he could actually do the job.

 

The man is looking for opinions on his options,arb being one of probably many jobs he could go for. Can you remember all those ex forces new grads that Kingswood produced? 

[Steven P]

Wages - as you put it in the first post, are only a small part, there is the work-life balance to consider too - an hour of free time to spend with the family is easily worth an hour on the pay check once all the bills are paid. We could all chase the ££, weekly commutes to job sites miles away - but that comes at a cost when you have family to consider. I've always reckoned that you can earn big ££ and have no life of your own, or earn nothing and have 24 hours a day to fill... and somewhere in the middle is where you want to be.

 

Might be you are happy spending all day with a chainsaw and taking a wage home at the end of the day, no pressure to run a business, no pressure to earn bigger money. Might be that you are happy to earn similar sitting at a till in Tesco (other supermarkets are available) (that would drive me mad).

 

At 33 you are not past it - working the last 10 years on a farm probably hasn't given you a beer gut and a sit on your backside attitude - plenty of life left and an attitude to graft if needed? Do you have (mentally at least) the time to work at getting tickets / other qualifications / build a second career alongside the farm work? (or do you need to get out now for your sanity?).

 

Looking at what you say, degree, worked in farming, a love for the land? then environmental stuff might be the thing, maybe not mega ££ but if it pays enough the mental side will more than make up for the rest.

 

Rather than asking for what tickets you need just now, maybe there are some guys down your way you could have a face to face chat with (like in real life, IRL!), maybe shout them a coffee - no strings attached - who know the local market, big firms and small outfits operating your way who might get you a start - and they can tell you what tickets they would be willing to fund and what they'd like to see (different areas, different employment pressures, firms are more or less likely to train up depends how many people are looking for work locally)

[Dan Maynard]

Little bit like hill farm of sheep is different to barley farm in East Anglia, there's arb from small garden work through to big tree management contracts in London streets. Some of it will suit you and some not, but there's definitely work out there if you're a reliable, conscientious type of bloke.

 

Any decent firm nowadays is using hydraulics to take out a lot of the manual handling, hopefully the next generation of guys will see the benefits of this in less back and knee injuries so career spans can be longer.

 

Also if I was advising myself of ten years ago I'd say embrace modern climbing equipment such as SRT and ascenders , doing that in the last few years has really helped my old shoulders and elbows.

[Stubby]

3 hours ago, Tree monkey 1682 said:

Oh no , railways did attract people from all walks of life , but the money has gone from when railtrack had the contract .... its not one of the best jobs ,bit like power line clearance .. then u have this irata wnk.

Always makes me smile about teachers that can't  cope with being a teacher...surely teachers know what there getting into before uni 😆.the weekend marking ,6 weeks off teachers training days etc.

All you have to follow is follow a syllabus and mark it ,then deal with ofstead .

He was a teacher for 2 years at Emsworth school . Good at it and they all liked him . However he wanted a job that you start and such and such a time and finish at so and so time Unlike teaching that was pretty much 24/7 . So much red tape . He was miserable all the time . Now he is happy for the same money . 

[Tree monkey 1682]

2 hours ago, Stubby said:

He was a teacher for 2 years at Emsworth school . Good at it and they all liked him . However he wanted a job that you start and such and such a time and finish at so and so time Unlike teaching that was pretty much 24/7 . So much red tape . He was miserable all the time . Now he is happy for the same money . 

Always had a bad experience with teachers ,they weren't the sharpest of tools in my experience and if u didnt learn a certain way you were thick,just because they struggled to teach in a different way ... nice to see a teacher doing a thicko's job ! He must get some 💩 working on the railways and most ex criminals .. lovely 

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Tree monkey 1682 said:

Always had a bad experience with teachers ,they weren't the sharpest of tools in my experience and if u didnt learn a certain way you were thick,just because they struggled to teach in a different way ... nice to see a teacher doing a thicko's job ! He must get some 💩 working on the railways and most ex criminals .. lovely 

Ok . 

[Tree monkey 1682]

6 hours ago, Steven P said:

Wages - as you put it in the first post, are only a small part, there is the work-life balance to consider too - an hour of free time to spend with the family is easily worth an hour on the pay check once all the bills are paid. We could all chase the ££, weekly commutes to job sites miles away - but that comes at a cost when you have family to consider. I've always reckoned that you can earn big ££ and have no life of your own, or earn nothing and have 24 hours a day to fill... and somewhere in the middle is where you want to be.

 

Might be you are happy spending all day with a chainsaw and taking a wage home at the end of the day, no pressure to run a business, no pressure to earn bigger money. Might be that you are happy to earn similar sitting at a till in Tesco (other supermarkets are available) (that would drive me mad).

 

At 33 you are not past it - working the last 10 years on a farm probably hasn't given you a beer gut and a sit on your backside attitude - plenty of life left and an attitude to graft if needed? Do you have (mentally at least) the time to work at getting tickets / other qualifications / build a second career alongside the farm work? (or do you need to get out now for your sanity?).

 

Looking at what you say, degree, worked in farming, a love for the land? then environmental stuff might be the thing, maybe not mega ££ but if it pays enough the mental side will more than make up for the rest.

 

Rather than asking for what tickets you need just now, maybe there are some guys down your way you could have a face to face chat with (like in real life, IRL!), maybe shout them a coffee - no strings attached - who know the local market, big firms and small outfits operating your way who might get you a start - and they can tell you what tickets they would be willing to fund and what they'd like to see (different areas, different employment pressures, firms are more or less likely to train up depends how many people are looking for work locally)

I was told by a very well known firm who do proper trees in london an the south east by the time your 30 in this game they'd put you onto the contracts management side of things ,by the time he's 40 he'd learn the trade but be knackered , how many 40/50 year old are still climbing ?

Just pointless his best years are gone 

[Mick Dempsey]

20 minutes ago, Tree monkey 1682 said:

I was told by a very well known firm who do proper trees in london an the south east by the time your 30 in this game they'd put you onto the contracts management side of things ,by the time he's 40 he'd learn the trade but be knackered , how many 40/50 year old are still climbing ?

Just pointless his best years are gone 

 

Bullshit
 

Loads of 40/50 year olds are climbing. 
 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Mick Dempsey
This guy thinks teachers aren’t the sharpest tools!

[AHPP]

Depends what sort of climbing. Despite my youth and conventional good looks, I climb like an old, fat drunk. I'd be no good scurrying round a whole street of plane repollards. But a removal where I rig the thing down without having to go very far, I'll beat a 20-year-old who can't see the ropework.

[Mick Dempsey]

25 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Depends what sort of climbing. Despite my youth and conventional good looks, I climb like an old, fat drunk. I'd be no good scurrying round a whole street of plane repollards. But a removal where I rig the thing down without having to go very far, I'll beat a 20-year-old who can't see the ropework.

Don’t think I don’t know who you’re referencing here!