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Adventure Across The Country

Started by thinkingoak, April 19, 2015, 09:37:58 PM

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thinkingoak

Hello All,

First post here. I will begin by telling a bit about myself. I am a graduate of Penn State University with an associate's degree in forest technology. I have been working in the field of arboriculture for the past 5 years, first as a climber for a residential tree service and, currently working as a contractor for an electrical utility company as a work planner. I am an ISA certified arborist (PD-2150A) and have been since 2012. I have been happy in the field of forestry but, haven't found my true love in the industry. I have decided to plan a trip across the county this June for a few months to try and meet with various professionals in the forestry and arboriculture industry in hopes of finding a career I want to pursue. I plan to try and job shadow as many people as I can in hopes of learning about different forestry jobs. My goal at the end of the trip is to have a clear idea of what I want to do and where I would like to live. My question to everyone on the site is would anyone be willing to host me to job shadow them for a day or a few days. I would also be willing to just meet and talk about forestry. Currently I am in the planning stages of the trip so I don't have concrete plans just yet. I am open to suggestions. If anyone would be interested in this or if anyone would have any suggestions please let me know.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
thinkingoak

Magicman

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, thinkingoak. 

I'm thinking that you might get a better response in the "Business and Management" board or the "Ask The Forester" board.  Your thread title here makes me think about vacation.
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thinkingoak

Thanks for the replies. Is there anyway to move this post there? Should I just recreate a new thread?

Jeff

Nope, you can't start a new topic there because you were guided to a topic area that you have to have a certain level of Forestry Forum participation to even see. I can however move this to the general board where it might be a better fit for now.
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CJennings

It sounds like there are two problems you're facing thinkingoak. One is what you want to do for a career, the other is where you want to live. I think you need to separate the two and ask yourself some questions. Are you happy with where you live, and if not, why? What do you want to find elsewhere? Try to come up with a list of what you don't have that you want where you live, then come up with a list of where you could find those things. No place is perfect. Several years ago I had the same sort of feeling that I should move, but once I really visited other areas and looked at what it is I want, I realized home in northern New England is actually pretty good. Not that I wouldn't go elsewhere if there was a valid reason but everyplace that has positives has negatives too.

As for careers, try to look at different career areas locally if possible, to separate the issue from where you want to live. what are you interested in? Since you've done private sector work, have you thought of public or non-profit positions? Or is there something else you'd be more interested in as far as private industry goes, like timber cruising, procurement for a mill, GIS work, etc.?

thinkingoak

cjennings,

I agree with you that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I am happy where I currently live (Pittsburgh) but, I have never lived anywhere else. I feel that if I don't try out a new place I will always be left to wonder what could have been if I had moved. My ideal place to live would have many outdoor activities close by but, would also have access to a city for nightlife and such. I don't know if such a place exists. Pittsburgh does fit this description in a way.

In regards to the career, I think I want to be involved in a job that is more conservation oriented. I am not an all out tree hugger by any means but at the end of the day I would like to say I did something to improve or preserve our land and resources.

Another factor to take into consideration is that I would like to be able to be involved in field work. I understand that office work is part of every job however, I would not be happy behind a desk all day every day.

The reason i have decided to travel the country and job shadow is because it would give me the opportunity to try out various areas of forestry to see what i am interested in. I appreciate very much the suggestions and help. Thanks.

thinkingoak

I am currently interested in things such as: municipal arboriculture, forest and park recreation, forestry consulting, and consulting arboriculture.

This is not to say that there aren't other things out there for me. I do not have a strong background in traditional forestry. There could very well be specialties within that, that I would want to pursue.

Ron Wenrich

I'm a Penn State grad with a BS in forest science, but spent 2 years at Mont Alto.  I graduated in 1970.  I used my summers and term breaks to get jobs in the field.  One year was with BLM in Oregon, another was with a local sawmill.  I got exposed to the west coast.  I never had the desire to work in the south.

After school, jobs were hard to find.  Getting a government job was next to impossible unless you had a master's and military time.  I ended up working with engineering companies for a couple of years before I could break into the field.  I eventually got a job as a chokersetter in Oregon.  That was great work experience and I didn't find the west coast to be my cup of tea.  I then went to work for Osmose, inspecting telephone poles.  I worked in Iowa, then NY.  I liked the Midwest people, not so much the flat land. 

I eventually went back home, and got a job with a sawmill.  I worked my way up to mill foreman and log grader.  But, I always wanted to go out and be a forester.  The mill eventually let me go out and do procurement work.  I worked with another forester, and started to apply all that knowledge I was supposed to have.  That eventually led the two of us into our own consulting company.  We were very much into sustainable forestry long before it was the keyword.  But, it was hard to bring landowners into the fold.  They didn't want to pay for management work, just cut and run like most of the mills offered.  When the recession hit and put a choke hold on the lumber industry, I had to part ways.  I started cutting timber to make ends meet.  A few months of that, and I was back at a mill working with a logger.  I worked as an independent contractor doing the sawing and mill management work.  I stayed with that line of work doing consulting for mills and the occasional landowner.

It seems that you have an avenue you want to explore.  It doesn't mean that's where you'll end up.  Office work always seems to be the bane of young people.  As you get older, it becomes more attractive.  I don't see you doing much consulting work in PA as an independent.  Competition is keen, and you make your money selling timber.  All the big tracts of wood have been tied up by other consultants or mills.  When I started out consulting, I spent most of my time looking for work.  Not so much doing work.  As any type of a consultant, you'll need an edge.  Yours could be urban forestry.  You also need experience.

Shadowing doesn't give much experience, in my opinion.  Since arboriculture is a goal, maybe hooking up with a national firm like Davey or Asplund would give you the opportunity to gain experience, and float around the country.  I also worked with an outfit in Philly that did line work consulting to electric companies.  They floated around quite a bit. 

After you find an area you like, then maybe get into the consulting end.  I found urban utilization to be an area that shows promise.  But, it takes knowledge of the processing end.  I got that from working mills.  There is high interest, especially from a political angle.  There may also be some business in the urban management area, as well.  These could go hand-in-hand.  Not traditional forestry, but a nice niche.

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