Thanks for the great post waross... very inspiring! Glad to hear you found a good niche for yourself, and that you pay your people well!
New2trees, I totally agree about the pay. I don't have any exact numbers for wages in my area (Seattle / central Puget Sound), but when I see groundsman jobs...
Hey Evo,
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, and thanks so much for the offer! I'm pretty sure the commute would be pretty brutal for me, but I do really like the idea of taking a "working vacation" and getting a taste for what the work would really be like.
Yes, I realized I should follow up on my original post.
I'm still really intersted in the idea of this career change, but to be honest, I think the reality of the decrease in pay is keeping me from following through. In my current role as a GIS analyst/programmer, I make decent money. I'm...
Thanks for the advice Frax. So far, my plan of action is:
1. Start attending horticulture classes at my local community college (EDCC)
2. Start networking (maybe at the upcoming PNW-ISA conference in Lynnwood), and hopefully identify some quality local arborists I could mentor with.
3. While...
Those are really great points, regarding "tree health" vs. "roof and gutter health". I've been assuming that working on heritage trees would be a "gee, that would be cool if I could get to do that, but it will probably be pretty rare" type of thing. NOT something I would do every day.
I really appreciate the responses everyone. You all are definitely motivating me to "get off the fence" about this! I am planning on attending the conference in Lynnwood (thanks again for that Evo!), and I'm signing up for hort classes at Edmonds Community College starting in fall. I'm...
Thank you all for the great feedback. I do definitely have the "career change jitters", and I appreciate your perspectives. I suspected that I was probably getting an unbalanced view of the profession through the internet.
Evo, I will PM you. Thanks!
Hello All,
Please excuse the long post... I am currently working as a programmer/data analyst in the natural resource management field, but I've been dreaming of making a career change and possible becoming an arborist. I'm sick of working in front of a computer, and I have always had a keen...