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Hello, has anyone on here gone through the HCC level 2 online course? Im two years into my Arb journey and I’ve been interested in getting quals and eventually becoming ISA certified. I would like to know what are the most valuable qualifications to get ahead, as well as being as good an arborist I can be? Is this a good course to go through to further my arb career? Are there any other qualifications I should get instead? cheers

Hi Guys, Just wondered if anyone could help me. I am thinking of going for the ISA arborist qualification, I was just wondering if anyone has done this and what the workload and exam are like? I can't afford to go back to college to get my arb qualification so I thought this would be just as good. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Jamie

Hi all, I am due to leave the forces in a year and intend to qualify as a tree surgeon. I was a landscaper before I joined (15 long years ago), always keep myself in good shape, enjoy the outdoors, honking weather and all that guff... Basically, I intend to take my newly learned trade abroad, possibly France or Canada and have a few questions before I take the leap: Can you earn the money abroad? With the French and Canadians alike using wood as fuel more than here, surely everyone has a chainsaw in their shed? Qualifications wise, before I commit all my resettlement grant to say kingswood for example, are the courses here recognised abroad? While I'm looking at courses, can anyone reccomend the basics I need to be legally employable to gain experience, including climbing. I am after being a monkey with a saw to begin with, earning some money whist looking at education in conservation, forestry in the long run. Any help would be greatly appreciated or advice from anyone who has gone down the same route as I intend to do, thanks! Dan.

Hi, I am looking for a skilled groundsman, who gets on well with customers and takes good care of tools. I am hoping to find someone who is interested in the long term. The work is an interesting mixture of domestic and commercial work. We rely on providing a good quality service and advertise only minimally, so it is important to be the kind of people who get asked back and recommended to others. Please reply explaining relevant experience and qualifications to [email protected]. Being interested in moving into climbing would be a bonus but is not essential. Look forward to hearing from you. Paul

Hi I'm a New Zealand arborist moving to the UK very shortly and am looking for some insight into the crossover of qualifications. Are there any Kiwis on here that have worked in the UK , or any Brits that have worked in NZ? I currently have the Otago Polytech Level 4 Arboriculture Certificate. Many of the jobs I have looked at in England say you need the NPTC Units CS30, 31, 38 and 39. Does anyone know what these are and if my qualifications are equivalent? Any piece of info would be helpful

Hi all, my first post here! I recently decided to explore the world of Arboriculture and after doing a large amount of research and spending a day with a local Arborist, I quickly realised that this is an avenue I want to follow. I'm 23, and at present I have a good understanding of the job, but little experience, no equipment and no qualifications. I am eager to change this as quickly as possible. I work an unrelated retail job, 3 days a week. I'm in a fairly fortunate position, in that I am able to reasonably support myself on this (Although I don't have a disposable income), leaving myself time to work any opportune groundwork/labour jobs that may come my way. Should Arboriculture become a solid job for me, I'd happily leave my current job to make it a living. I'm fairly well read on what qualifications and skills are required to make myself attractive to a prospective employer, but my question is primarily pertinent to the progression one should follow in order to achieve this as quickly and cost effectively as possible. I understand that there are employers who will take on trainees/apprentices and partially/entirely fund their tickets, but they still seem to expect candidates to be qualified in CS30/31 and Climbing/Aerial Rescue. This immediately requires me to drop something in the area of £1500-2500 on PPE, climbing gear and training before I'm at a stage where I am even a viable candidate. That's a lot of hours to make up! Don't get me wrong - I'm not opposed to an initial outlay if it is a sensible and worthwhile one. My question is whether I'd be throwing money up the wall, and if you would do things differently. I'm also aware that I can work as a cheap labourer while I build up my funds and equipment, which I fully intend to do. However I want to make myself as employable as possible, because I know that a brash dragger is only worth so much when there are more qualified groundworkers available. I apologise for rambling, and I'll attempt to summarise. How would you spend your early time and money, in order to make yourself an attractive candidate to a prospective employer? Cheers guys! Lewis.