Guidance sought on possible career move

BEH2202

BEH2202

New member
Location
VA, USA
I am soliciting advise on a possible career move. I will give you some background on myself and my situation. If any of you have faced a similar situation your insights and thoughts on how to deal with it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Me: I am an ISA certified arborist, TCIA CTSP, and I have some other lesser certifications in horticulture and safety. I am currently employed as a crew foreman, and safety officer. I also am responsible for some new hire training, aerial rescue training for the company, and recently played a minor role in securing TCIA accreditation. I have competed in the past and hope to continue with that in the future. I would like to think of myself as competent, relevant, professionally trained, up to date, and professional.
My situation: I am faced with the possibility of having to leave the wonderful company that I work for to follow my wife's career. She earns more than double what I do currently, so I go where she goes. The proposed move would put me outside of commuting distance to my current employer and into a very different market. After doing some initial research and meeting with a few business owners I am dismayed at what I have discovered. One business owner used the phrase "I don't make my guys wear helmets or chaps" as a way to entice me to work for him. Another gentleman that I met with was regaling me with stories of less than competent persons that he has had working for him in the past and some that are still in place. To say the least I am a little disappointed with my options.
The question that I am putting to the group is what to do next. I have considered starting my own business, contract climbing, or hiring on with one of these outfits in the hope that I can help move them in a more positive direction, however unlikely that may be. If any of you have been down this particular road before I would really appreciate whatever advice you can lend. Thanks again.
 
You can pee on that rope in the frozen winter and push it all you like.!

I'd consider how much $ do you need to bring in? Why not set up your own part time gig, consult, prune, phc, and what ever else. Put your efforts into educating the public, tree health, safe work practices, ect... It's supply and demand, so if you create the demand, the local boys may need to adapt for the better. This would bring the industry up in that area..
 
You gotta be smarter than the rope.
(Retired Mississauga FD Chief Paul Hunter at Ontario Fire College used to say you gotta be smarter than the hose)
 
So are there other good paying jobs in the area that support good incomes and nice homes? If you can't seem to find a decent tree co to work for I bet those in the higher end neighborhoods can't find decent tree company's to perform work for them. A clean looking one ton and a nice looking little chipper and I bet you could start a nice little company that focuses on quality tree care and pruning and make some decent coin. Just as long as the right clientel is there. It may be slow to get off the ground but sounds like you may be in a position to lean on your wife's income for a while until you start flying. Maybe try to do some contract climbing but I'm betting most places wouldn't be willing to pay you what your worth if they are running their operation like that. With a little luck you might just pass up the wife's earnings.
With whatever direction this takes you good luck!
 
BEH2202 said:
Extreme eastern VA north of Virginia Beach

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So you're not far from Norfolk. Have you searched for arborists on the ISA website? How many companies did you identify? When I moved to NJ from Toronto, it was completely different. Safety was barely on the radar for many of the companies I met with. The economy had gone south (2008) so it was tough going. I made a list of all the companies within a reasonable commute. Called them and gave them a brief description of my experience, skills, qualifications. Asked to meet and then I qualified them as to their attitudes towards safety and professionalism. I did have to compromise initially in that I couldn't make them change but I still worked with all the proper PPE and work practices It took some time before I finally connected with the right people but it was possible.

I commute for about an hour each way but it's worth it.

Take the time to build a list, make the calls and meet with them. Some will put you to work for a day to assess you. That's your opportunity to do the same.
 
Keep looking man. Dont waste your time with wanted adds. Ive met more people (to include myself) that have found themselves at excellent companies because they emailed their resume/credentials to top companies. Some companies don't like posting help wanted adds cause you get the same old riff raff, the guys that have worked at every company in the local zip codes. They might not be looking for help, but quality, qualified, experienced, and certified help is few and far between, some places won't turn down an opportunity to take on a good guy.

Best of luck with your transition. Don't settle for an unsafe/unexceptible work place.
 
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To answer TimBr, where I may be moving is about two to three hours north of Virginia Beach on the Potomac; it is a little outside of my travel area. To address CutHighnLetFly's reply, I actually started out with the internet and phone book. There weren't a lot of help wanted adds out there. I was just calling all of the companies I could find and hoping that someone was looking for some help. I actually didn't get a lot of responses and the ones that I am getting are less than ideal. I have not however taken treehumper's advice yet and looked at the ISA rolls. I will go through those today and see what I can come up with. I want to thank all of you guys again for your advice.
 
BEH2202 said:
To answer TimBr, where I may be moving is about two to three hours north of Virginia Beach on the Potomac; it is a little outside of my travel area. To address CutHighnLetFly's reply, I actually started out with the internet and phone book. There weren't a lot of help wanted adds out there. I was just calling all of the companies I could find and hoping that someone was looking for some help. I actually didn't get a lot of responses and the ones that I am getting are less than ideal. I have not however taken treehumper's advice yet and looked at the ISA rolls. I will go through those today and see what I can come up with. I want to thank all of you guys again for your advice.
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Ask the company you work for if they know somebody for which they have some respect that is near the area where you're relocating. TCIA would also be a good place to check-call them. Perhaps you could contact the municipalities close to your potential location and find out who they refer to the community for tree work. The I.S.A. Certified Arborist Municipal Specialist should also be available to you. See if you can find someone with this designation near where you are going. You may have better luck finding a company more suited to sharing your values and training this way.

Joe
 
All I can say is if you're in my area you're overqualified for pretty much the entire industry in my neck of the woods. I believe there are some pretty good norther va companies and in lower Maryland. Check the Mac ISA website for job finders. If you do end up down here I'm happy to have you pic my brain on companies!!
 
CutHighnLetFly said:
Keep looking man. Dont waste your time with wanted adds. Ive met more people (to include myself) that have found themselves at excellent companies because they emailed their resume/credentials to top companies. Some companies don't like posting help wanted adds cause you get the same old riff raff, the guys that have worked at every company in the local zip codes. They might not be looking for help, but quality, qualified, experienced, and certified help is few and far between, some places won't turn down an opportunity to take on a good guy.

Best of luck with your transition. Don't settle for an unsafe/unexceptible work place.
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This is sound advice. I am a business owner and run a pretty sold company. I needed to replace a foreman and put an Ad out. The people that come out of the wood work was CRAZY. All claiming to be climbers with TONS of skills and the ability to climb and do whatever job you ask of them. Al these guys can do it talk. The reality is they don't have the skills. Some of these people have been working in the industry for 10 or more years and have not advanced at all.
I would do the search and contact all business owners that are running good, solid companies. If someone with a good set of skills showed up at my door, I would make a position for them. Because finding good workers, with education, certification, and the ability to actually do the job are hard to find. I am sure there are those business owners in your area that feel the same.
 
When I ran job search programs I had the trainees create a 30 sec pitch for themselves. A short paragraph that highlighted the top elements they offered to companies. Their experience, credentials, soft skills, technical skills, etc… Short and impactful. It needs to read like a good marketing piece. Enough to get them interested. The key was not to ask for a job but to first qualify that they value these attributes then, if they do, ask for a meeting to learn more about you and how you could benefit their business.

Know what the benefits of all your designations and certifications are for a company. That is, how does it improve their revenues, profits, operating costs and the like. Just don't ask for a job! As Royce discovered, there are plenty of people looking for a job aka a paycheck, but not many who can deliver results to a business.
 
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