bit of advice for an ex climber

[samwise25]

morning lads its my first post so thought id say hi.

 

im looking for some advice i was in treework for 5years climbed for 3 and on the ground for 2, but been out of the game for nearly 3years. at the minute im a dog handler serving in the army but looking to get back into treework when i come out in about a year. iv only got CS 30 31 38 39 plus tractor stump grinder chipper MEWP and first aid.

im looking to do another qualification poss academic while iv got a bit of down time what would be worth doing? it would have to be something i can do in my spare time like open university and anything that would help me and the wife emigrate to NZ or canada would be awesome. im thinking something along the lines of tree surveyor but have no idea if i can do this as part time learning?

 

any advice would be great cheers

[Stephen Blair]

I think in NZ the climbers are the ones finding all the work, I'd be practising that in my spare time.

Unless you are wanting to do something non physical.

[Bewarethemoon]

morning lads its my first post so thought id say hi.

 

im looking for some advice i was in treework for 5years climbed for 3 and on the ground for 2, but been out of the game for nearly 3years. at the minute im a dog handler serving in the army but looking to get back into treework when i come out in about a year. iv only got CS 30 31 38 39 plus tractor stump grinder chipper MEWP and first aid.

im looking to do another qualification poss academic while iv got a bit of down time what would be worth doing? it would have to be something i can do in my spare time like open university and anything that would help me and the wife emigrate to NZ or canada would be awesome. im thinking something along the lines of tree surveyor but have no idea if i can do this as part time learning?

 

any advice would be great cheers

 

Hi Sam,

 

I've been looking into academic training myself lately so I think I can offer a bit of advice.

 

I'm starting the ABC Level 2 Award in Arboriculture online through Mysercough College in July. It's worth noting though that this is really a basic qualification and won't allow you to do much in the way of surveying/consultancy. To be able to do that you'll be wanting to do the ABC Level 4 Award but the cost is much greater as is the time required.

 

As for qualifications that are recognised abroad I've seen job vacancies advertised overseas that ask for ISA Certified Arborist's so that might be something worth looking into? I think that's an exam you sit?

 

Don't take my word for gospel though as I've found it a bit of a minefield in regards to seeking out further education via distance learning. Hope this is of some help.

 

Daniel.

[samwise25]

cheers for the advice daniel im looking into both the level 2 and level 4 and level 4 looks to be more suitable but how much are they if you dont mind me asking? dont think the prices are on there. your right about it being a minefield its hard to get any info on which courses are worth doing. do you know if mysercough is the only one that does distance learning, havnt found any other that do.

Edited January 19, 2014 by samwise25

[samwise25]

I think in NZ the climbers are the ones finding all the work, I'd be practising that in my spare time.

Unless you are wanting to do something non physical.

 

yea im not looking to get out of climbing i miss it now im not doing it regularly, but iv got alot of old injuries and im nearly 30 so probably only got 10years left at most. so seemed worth getting something else and hopefully my resettlement from the army will pay for some of it

[Mr_D]

Hi Sam, I served In the Coldstream guards for 5 years, was in the arb game straight from school, climbing for 3 years and grounding for 1...iv now been back at it 12months and love it even more, iv found a lot of friends leaving the forces have struggled to get work but we are lucky having qualifications to fall back on...anyways, my advise would be look at going back to work for a arb team maybe on the ground and get back to climbing for 12 months, you will be so surprised at how much has changed, I was...but you will pick it up really quick, I'm now looking at a more formal qual just to bulk my cv up with but would Deffo advise getting back with a team first just to find out what's new ect...hope this helps

[Bewarethemoon]

cheers for the advice daniel im looking into both the level 2 and level 4 and level 4 looks to be more suitable but how much are they if you dont mind me asking? dont think the prices are on there. your right about it being a minefield its hard to get any info on which courses are worth doing. do you know if mysercough is the only one that does distance learning, havnt found any other that do.

 

I think the Level 4 would be more suitable/useful but I didn't want to dive in at the deep end so to speak.

 

The Level 2 Award was around £500 but the Level 4 was closer to. £4000! A huge jump which made me cautious about the amount of time required which is why I decided to test the waters with a Level 2 Award first.

 

I think Myerscough only offer the Level 2 Award. Try Tree Life for Levels 4 & 6. I think they require the odd classroom day here and there, but again I'm not confident on this because as you said it's difficult trying to find clear information.

 

Daniel.