Disgusted!!!!!

[Andy Collins]

First off, I think that its admirable that a student comes out of college with high standards. Thats praiseworthy. The difficult part now is to find a job with a company that will meet his expectations and standards. And as said the clients who will listen and pay for those standards. I've seen several lads come from college with this idealogical mindset, only for them to become disillusioned with the "real world" and go off into some other trade.

The other alternative is to set yourself up in business and go for it, work to your own standards, and accept nothing less in others who work for you, and fingers crossed that it works out for you.

[PeteB]

As Andy says, I admire you for the standards to which you aspire too.

 

Now get out there and get a job.

 

I do think that you are being a trifle naive and you are in for a bit of a culture shock if you think that your aspirations are going to result in employment and if you go self employed - you might find that life is a tad different to that that college has told you to expect.

 

Good luck for the future.

[Mesterh]

I this job the Customer is almost always wrong.Most of us who are self employed realised early on that the only way to run a business is to accept certain realities.

 

1)If you don't do the job,someone else will

2)Happy Clients build a business,giving Clients what they want makes them happy

3)Qualifications don't impress Clients or Co workers,its how you do it and for how much

4)You are dealing with a Clients Property and they can do with it as they wish.

5)There is a place for Client Education,but about 10% will change their mind.

 

If you want to start your own Company and only do with others Trees as you would want done with yours,your Horizon is very limited.

 

 

Sums it up fairly well for me.

 

Even when you 'pollard'/'top'/'hack' a tree to within 1mm of its life you can still do a professional job.

 

If you just want to do and promote what you think is professional work then good on you and good luck.

 

As for H&S, I reckon most people involved in tree work do a fairly good job when you compare it to many other jobs involving plant/machinery/heights etc.

[josharb87]

(4) ring the company up and tell them that you ve just done a RFS course and your not yet employed, but you would like them to meet you on site as the tree in question does'nt meet your standards! and your sure that you could make a far better job as your a professional

 

:lol:

[Taupotreeman]

I tried and tried and tried to educate my customers (including Council) on what was good and bad pruning and why. I tried and tried and tried to trun down jobs that I thought would make me look bad but when work is short and the other outifts are cutting each others throats in a price war you do what the customer wants. If I don't do what the customer wnats that customer will use someone else. Eventually I go out of business and end up working for what was my competition and then trimming trees for people who I had turned down in the first place and doing the type of work I had refused to do. Either that or I change proffession. I wish it were different but when times are tough you have to do what you can to earn a buck. I applaud those that can refuse jobs on the basis that they have enough clients to turn down those 50% reductions etc but it's not like that everywhere and to me, keeping a roof above my head and feeding the family is more important than how a tree looks. Also, at least in this area, price rules. This means that Joe Blow who mows the lawns often gets asked to price the tree trimming (because they advertise as being able to do this) and, because of lower over heads, often get the job. So now I have not just the local arborists to worry about but the mowing contractors too. This makes getting the job tougher so unfortunatley I don't want to spend to long preaching to the customer about proper arb practice as they don't like being told what they should or shouldn't have done to their own trees. As I said, I tried that and people get sick of being told what is and isn't good for their tree. If they want it topped, stumped or whatever and if I want to stay in business I have to do it and hope when the tree dies or looks awful I get the chance to explain why they have trimmed it properly or removed it.

[Stephen Blair]

I used to take pride in my flush cuts until i saw Monkeyd's fracture pruning and thought, woop woop, pole pruner and a tirfor for me from now on in, happy days thanks to the borough of London:thumbup:

[David Humphries]

I used to take pride in my flush cuts until i saw Monkeyd's fracture pruning and thought, woop woop, pole pruner and a tirfor for me from now on in, happy days thanks to the borough of London:thumbup:

 

 

 

It's good to aspire to something in life Stevie

 

 

 

'Borough of London' indeed

 

 

 

.

[Mesterh]

I used to take pride in my flush cuts until i saw Monkeyd's fracture pruning and thought, woop woop, pole pruner and a tirfor for me from now on in, happy days thanks to the borough of London

 

Oh really:scared1:

 

 

Fracture pruning is the future:thumbup1:, or is it the past:001_unsure:

[Stephen Blair]

i forgot you southerners make up new terms for everything to suit yourselfs, to me a flush cut is 1 with no rips, to you its beyond the collar. But thats all irrelivant thanks to Monkeyp:thumbup:

[Tree Doctor]

Use others mistakes to your advantage by, firstly concentrating on your own standards and making sure you don't fall into the same chapter as those who are poor at the job.

 

Also be careful what you say, one day someone will if your good enough try to say your methods and work is rubbish. The you have the rest of your career trying to do it right even if your were in the first place.

 

Make a mental note of whom does what and don't fall into the trap of he said she said stuff.

 

And always even when there wrong, customer is KING!