Qualifications.Important or not?

[csservices]

Actually something just occurred to me, I got told a few years back that to do cs30/31 was 3 days if you had experience and 5 days if you didnt plus 1 day assesment for NPTC, now apparently its 5 days compulsory plus 1 day asessment for NPTC, so does that mean experience no longer counts in respect to the course or is it that as you don't have your ticket you shouldnt have any experience because you should'nt be using a saw

[jed001]

Qualifications is perhaps the best formal method of measuring and assessing competence. Yes peeps might think they are experienced...that does not necessary mean that they are competent. Yes many peeps can pick up a chainsaw and use it. However...most of us are only too aware of situations that go wrong.... strangely enough mostly down to human error and incompetence.

I always make known my quals to the customer and that wins respect and shows professionalism. Because i have invested in having the training it helps making me a competent operator which both safeguards public safety but also my company's integrity in the industry.

[skyhuck]

Yes peeps might think they are experienced...that does not necessary mean that they are competent.

 

"think":confused1: Surely you will know if you have been doing something for a period of time!!

 

If you have been doing tree work for years without incident, I would say that shows competence.

 

If I was engaging the services of a trades man, I would be much more interested in his experience than any bits of paper he may have.

 

Qualifications without experience is of very little use, IMO.

 

Experience without qualifications is often very difficult to spot.

[urbanmonkey997]

Compared to many,I have not been in the industry that long.

However during that time I have come to base very little value on industry related Qualifications.

 

The fact that these Certificates do not require the applicatant to perform said tasks in a production situation or at a pace attractive to an employer further the devaluation of these Quals.

 

I my opinion there is to little emphasis on time served in the industry.Personally I would hire a person with say five years experiance over a highly qualified person with just two.

 

The time when applying for a advertised job and arriving for your Trail day,hopfully obtaining employment based upon your abilities seem to have sadly passed.

you may be macho but in this day and age of a sue culture, if you are not qualified then you leave yourself open to be cut down in your prime if something happens to go wrong!

 

un-qualified personnel give the rest of us a bad name who have worked hard and spent money on becoming industry recognised!

 

sorry for being harsh but i think it is fair!!

[skyhuck]

you may be macho but in this day and age of a sue culture, if you are not qualified then you leave yourself open to be cut down in your prime if something happens to go wrong!

 

un-qualified personnel give the rest of us a bad name who have worked hard and spent money on becoming industry recognised!

 

sorry for being harsh but i think it is fair!!

 

Please give me just one example of some one being "cut down in there prime" (what ever that means??)

 

I get tied of the threats of doom and gloom from the paper waving brigade:001_rolleyes:

 

And before you ask, yes I have my NPCT units, but I don't hold thin in much esteem.

[treequip]

"think":confused1: Surely you will know if you have been doing something for a period of time!!

 

If you have been doing tree work for years without incident, I would say that shows competence.

 

If I was engaging the services of a trades man, I would be much more interested in his experience than any bits of paper he may have.

 

Qualifications without experience is of very little use, IMO.

 

Experience without qualifications is often very difficult to spot.

 

I think a better word would be “consider” rather than “think”

 

I have met many who consider themselves experienced, and to a degree they were all experienced. The question is how do you quantify experienced?

 

A worker who has worked with the same people, effectively in isolation probably extracted all the useable experience pretty early on.

 

A worker that has spent a few years moving around or freelancing ought to have seen a lot more.

 

Andy

[Mike Hill]

you may be macho but in this day and age of a sue culture, if you are not qualified then you leave yourself open to be cut down in your prime if something happens to go wrong!

 

un-qualified personnel give the rest of us a bad name who have worked hard and spent money on becoming industry recognised!

 

sorry for being harsh but i think it is fair!!

 

I have failed to understand your post.

 

Being Qualified dosn't not reduce the risk inherrent in this industry.Sadly it is possible in this day and age to be both Qualified and Incompetent.

[skyhuck]

 

Sadly it is possible in this day and age to be both Qualified and Incompetent.

 

:congrats::congrats:

 

Nail on the head!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paul Barton]

Sad but true.

 

I am not sure this is particularly new or unique to arb tho. You can meet incompetent people wherever you go.

 

Experience plus the reward of an academic qualification is the ideal in my opinion. Even if the qualification does not carry much kudos, it still reflects on a persons effort and drive to have taken the time to gain it.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Paul Barton
Typo

[Stephen Blair]

i see your point paul but what about the guys who make it to work on time, never pull a sicky or come to work with out a hangover, have never had an accident in 15 years and still manage to raise a family and put food on the table. That is far harder than turning up at a class and doing a bit of studying imo. I can tell the minute someone pics up a saw if they know what they are doing or not.

 

Treequip i have worked in isolation for years but i havent come across a tree i couldnt do yet, i am more than willing to take onboard new techniques and i have done since finding arbtalk and meeting some of the members but it all comes down to the individual, i have had the international been around the world and tie a hundred diferent knots climbers before and they never started anything that i didnt have to finish for them. once again, its the individual.