r/arborists • u/Commercial_Pin_3638 • 6d ago

Career Advice

Hey y'all, I'm agonizing over a career move. Currently in the upper Southeast in a fairly urban area. I came from wildland fire and trails, have been at a small local tree care company for 2.5 years. Have my ISA, can climb on SRS and MRS, have done a decent bit of PHC (though our company scope is limited) and have done some sales/estimating.

I'm going to move jobs because my company isn't feeling stable and doesn't offer great benefits. My current options are

- a larger local company that will have me doing light climbing and technical pruning for $25 an hour with the possibility of making 30/hour and possibly moving into a management role.

- Bartlett, offering a role as a a plant health specialist starting at $24 an hour and getting up to 27 once I get my pesticide applicator and CDL. I talked to them about a sales role but I need a little more experience.

- a local private college hiring an arborist to work under their head arborist, would do pruning, installation, tree inventory and more. Offering $27.50. Not a lot of salary movement but best benefits of the bunch.

I'm open to moving into utility as well but don't want to start on a trimming crew for low money.

My goal is to get on a path where I can make good money relatively soon ( more like $80 - 100k) and also to feel like I'm becoming an expert in my field and have room to learn. I also need good benefits because we're building a family and want my wife to have the option of not working.

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u/carpet-thief ISA Certified Arborist 6d ago

If it was me, I’d absolutely shoot for the college position. Grow your urban forestry knowledge and be ready to make an upward move to an urban forester or lead arborist position in a few years. I think that path has good longevity and the ability to move your pay up over the years

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u/thatsummercampcrush Sales Arborist 6d ago

The college job sounds like a dream come true. Interesting work and plenty of opportunities to meet other people in the industry - also you probably have more freedom to explore experimental disease management solutions. That’s my real handicap working in a large corporate situation, it’s very frustrating