Tree officer

[OakStag]

Hi!

 

I am just inquiring as to how difficult it is to become a tree officer if you have no previous experience being a tree officer. At the moment im employed as a arborist however have been gaining qualifications to hopefully open the door to becoming a tree officer. by the time I start applying for tree officer jobs (preferably assistant tree officer at first).

I will have a level 4 diploma in Arb from Merrist wood or Treelife.

My Professional tree inspection.

And 3 years as an arborist along with Arboricultural tickets.

 

Would these qualifications allow with relative ease to find a job as a assistant tree officer or tree officer.

 

Another quick question is I've found a lot of tree officer jobs are only for a few years. Does this mean after a few years you have to find another job at a different county?

[Chris at eden]

They should get you an interview as a junior TO. Whether you get the job then would be down to how well you interview and the competition. You are on the right track though. Senior TO jobs often ask for L5 or L6 though.

 

If you go for an interview and don't get in ask for feedback on the interview and they will tell you where you were lacking. You can then fix this for next time.

 

Good luck

[OakStag]

Thank you very much Chris! That has helped alot

[Anno]

my name is Anthony and i am a tree officer - advice? dont do it!

 

As a Local Authority staff member we have taken cuts in 5 successive years, this year after loosing 17 frontline members of staff we have just recieved the news that we need to save another 34 Million.

 

We haven't got the resources to do anything already and the public hate us on Social Media because we changed the grass cutting regime recently.

 

If you like hard work and sleepless nights - crack on.

[Chris at eden]

Anno makes a good point. LAs are cutting budgets all over the place at the moment. I started Eden while working as a TO as a back up plan as I knew the cuts were coming. Its a thankless task also - whatever you do it annoys someone especially when it comes to TPOs.

 

Not sure about the hard work and sleepless nights though. Running your own business is worse for this. Yes TO can be hard work and stressful but at least you can switch off when you go on holiday. You have to look after your client base when working for yourself so if someone emails when you are away, you have to answer even if its just a holding email. Its also very rewarding so swings and roundabouts really.

[Anno]

some good points made Chris, I know how stressful working for yourself can be, I have had many situations where work has crossed over into home life - can I be the only one who carries a copy of BS5837 on his IPhone?!!

 

I wouldn't discourage anyone from doing the work - I came into it from the Ecology side and from Teaching ARB and I am very passionate about what I do.

 

But don't underestimate the pressures and frustrations - maybe I'm just a cynical old b%£~er!

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

At £12-15/hr (London) why would anyone want to?

 

Tree Officer (Planning) Job in London - CTC Recruitment

 

At those rates it's clearly not a "valued" profession in a LA organisation and I can't see that situation improving anytime soon....

 

I wouldn't want to cast a dark cloud on anyones aspiration, but is it any wonder the treescape is under such pressure when there's little to inspire energy and enthusiasm into the role?

[Anno]

Unfortunately it only becomes 'valued' when you mention the Duty of Care and the legislation regarding accidents and having a defend-able regime of inspection and setting a priority based programme of works.

 

Although I do feel that even this will become redundant, even though at the minute it is a statutory obligation...

[Kveldssanger]

I share Anno's stance, to be honest. Nonetheless, I do the best I can with what I have available at my disposal, as do we all (hopefully).