Do you want to become a certified arborist?
Here is the complete guide:
With the changing trend in jobs available worldwide, the profession of an arborist is taking a leap. Thus, this profession has a great scope in the upcoming decades. The job of an arborist shall not be taken only to follow the trend but if one has an inclination towards nature, exploring it and preserving it. This love for nature keeps the arborist motivated to pursue this challenging and demanding job. Here are the steps that a candidate must know if he wants to spend time amidst trees thereby materializing his dream of loving nature:
Arborist Training Courses: Attaining a degree of an arborist is the first step as seeking this basic arboriculture education prepares you well for the profession. There are numerous arboriculture courses in India. Some of them are for two years and some of them are for four years; the difference is because, in the latter type of arboriculture courses in India, arboriculture is a part of the main program of horticulture or forestry program. In place of these courses if one is getting a chance to do Environmental Science, or Botany or Biology then also he can go for them with special focus on Soil Science, Community Forestry, Plant Pathology, and Forest Ecology while doing either of courses as these subjects are very important components of arboriculture.
Field Training: Since arboriculture is a field job, field training of an aspiring arborist is a must. After completing the education of arborist, one can seek on-job arboriculture training from landscaping companies, nurseries, or tree care companies or he can even opt for arboriculture training courses in India as offered by other institutions. In either case, arboriculture training courses allow an individual to gain first-hand experience of identifying various plant and tree species and their requirements, pruning, risk assessment, prevention against possible threats, dealing with clients, and all the other necessities involved in the career thereby equipping him to grow his career successfully.
ISA Certification: After completing arboriculture training courses in India and gaining some experience in the field, a certification from ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) can accelerate the career of an arborist, unlike anything. This certification opens career avenues not only in India but also in other countries. Hence, this certification test must be taken seriously and shall be attempted after good preparation. The pre-requisite to take this test is 3-years of experience. 2 years of your degree course will be considered within this 3-year experience. Though a detailed guide on the ISA certification test will be available on the official website of the organization, another organization that is conducting arboriculture training can also guide every bit about it.
Here is a brief guide on ISA Certification:
- The test has 220 MCQ (Multiple choice questions).
- 5 hours is the duration of the test.
- Topics covered in the test are Soil Management, Tree Risk Assessment, Pruning, Tree Protection, Tree Biology, Urban Forestry, Identification and Selection of Species, Installation and Establishment, etc.
- The pass percentage for the test is 76%
- It can be taken several times if not cleared at once after paying a $100 administrative fee and some other fee as well.
- The certification, once received, will be valid for three years after which it shall be undertaken again.
Besides, doing the course, training and achieving the certification, an arborist must maintain good health as they are more prone to illness as per the statistics of BLS. Furthermore, arborists must be aware of safety measures and never miss to equip themselves with the same as they are prone to injuries as well while taking care of trees.
Once you are a fully trained, experienced, and certified arborist, you can join a tree care service or a landscaping company, or a nursery that is regularly employed for maintaining various public or private properties. With such an organization, you can even specialize in maintaining golf courses or parks or universities or residential complexes or farmhouses etc., and build up your contacts so that down the line you can become a freelancer.