Is arb the only industry that people work for free to try and get a job

[eggsarascal]

Would any one do the first couple of trees for a client for free in the hope they would get the job and then maybe discuss the price after wards. I mean that puts the boot on the other foot.

 

Tom your dead right, i dont think many of the arbs/tree surgeons on here would rush out on a Monday morning if those were the terms and conditions. Infact i might just ring my local tree company in the morning and suggest that they come and look at a tree in my back garden and tell them that i will pay what i think the job was worth at the end of the day. Not many will turn up to look at the job imo.

[Dave.G.]

The gardening industry is awfull for people wanting to work for free. At a garden i used to work at we had groups of volunteers (bored housewives, retired people who want to keep active, business types de-stressing, the whole 57 varieties). all of them helping and full of good intention. The down side is that for every 40 hours a week covered by volunteers the bean counters can save a qualified gardeners wage. In the end you have 1 or 2 gardeners where their used to be 11 or 12

[bumble B]

I posted on here the other day for a labourer offering £40-£60 a day and got told that I was tight or words to that effect, on the flip side I have offered to work for nothing on here to learn hedge laying and post and rail splitting and couldnt give my labour away, so you figure it out and let me know what Im doing wrong

 

 

I think that's a fair price for a labourer. I don't know many professional groundsmen with their own saw and cleaning up kit!

[adbat234]

Tom your dead right, i dont think many of the arbs/tree surgeons on here would rush out on a Monday morning if those were the terms and conditions. Infact i might just ring my local tree company in the morning and suggest that they come and look at a tree in my back garden and tell them that i will pay what i think the job was worth at the end of the day. Not many will turn up to look at the job imo.

 

I think what the thread starter was saying was to gain employment as a newbie in the sector would you work for free, Not would an established surgeon work for free:confused1:. Experience in the job is everything and why would any tree company take on a wet behind the ears newbie when there are many many clue'd up guys out there wanting work. Work for free and put your foot in the door. Work for free with 5 years under your belt and well............

[bumble B]

In these other industries you worked in, did they have a forum that you could view and here about little bits and pieces of over 10,000 members lives and experiences?

I read on here so how so many members are outraged at the thought of working for free. I have volunteered myself all my life, if someone needs a hand, you help them if you can, if there is an oppertunity to learn and be taught for free, I take it.

Steve offers this site free to members, I take it you send him money weekly so not to contradict your opinion on the subject.

 

Volunteering is all very well when it comes to charities, or helping a mate out when he's up against it.

When everyone wants to work for free it undervalues the position.

If you are earning someone money you should be paid.

I hope Honey Brothers and the like aren't advertising their sites for nowt? If they do then Steve is an exceptionaly Xlarge class A free range egg:thumbup1:

And good on you Steve for starting this site!

[tomtrees]

When I started I did work for a week free as a newbie. I know the boss charged the full rate for me and I gained nothing from it. I didn't expect a pay packet I knew I wasn't worth it but I knew I was worth more than nothing. Little things like that have a strange habit of giving of a nasty smell.

[MattyF]

I would work as a brickie or plaster labour worker for free if I wanted to learn those sort of trades and was in a position to do so...

[harvey b davison]

I give one day a month to help community projects, princes trust projects and 2 old people who can't afford to have hedges cut. I actually get a good feeling for doing it too, the time laspe video job was a free job for a rugby club. Plus once a year i go visit the 2 old people from the village grew up in and cut there hawthorn hedges back.

 

Nout wrong with giving up a few hours to help people out.

 

Same here, many moons ago when i was an apprentice with the council, whenever i was working on old peoples properties, i used to always chop any wood i had spare for sticks and give them to the people. I always remember one winter when i was doing a load of fencing, i always chopped sticks during my lunch break, then at the end of the day, distribute the around all the bungalows. The guys i worked with couldnt understand why i did it. Nowadays i tend to give food parcels away from my allotment.

[harvey b davison]

Later this year i hope to pass my class 1 (artic) test, Now i have plenty of experience at class 2, but if i get my class 1, i will fall into the no experience trap again. The only way to get experience is to 'volenteer' my services a few times to prove my worth. To me, if it gets me extra cash when times are hard then it will of been worth it.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I wouldnt hessitate to work for free with a consultant or bat ecologist, would and will in near future.