General > RHS Question & Answer

How do I get into it?

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fluffygrue:

--- Quote from: wahaj on January 13, 2007, 18:09:57 ---oh yea definately...that's what i meant. i'm sure i know most of the stuff in the course.....but it's just what's on paper that counts sometimes.

--- End quote ---

*nodnod* It's quite frustrating. You could also give calling your local-ish colleges a go to see if they'd let you sit the exams as an external candidate. Only one near here would let me, and it would've still cost me £50 to sit the second exam, but you might find your nearby colleges are more helpful. Buy the big red book 'Handbook for Horticultural Students', sit the exams, and that'd be a pretty cheap way of doing things.. :)

Garden Manager:
This is the problem I think with horticulture as well as many other proffessions. Too much emphasis on having the right bits of paper (qualifications) and less on actual practical knowledge and the ability to do the job. Then employers STILL want proof of experience, which if you are fresh out of college you justdont have - because the college courses concentrate on the academic theory rather than the practical side.

With the gardening expereince i have i could probably be able to to the job of a senior gardener at some big estate garden, yet without proof that i could do the job, i wouldnt stand a chance if i applied for such a job,

What horticulture needs is a return to the apprenticeships of old, where you realy did earn as you learn, and gained the experience and qualifications you needed to pursue a career in the industry.

OK I'll get of the soapbox now dont worry! ;)

wahaj:
nah i agree with you cadet. i wish i had someone that i did gardening with every day and learnt about the job as i did it and got paid for it. but yea....loads of places require experience before you can get into it.

the best example is Human Resources in any company. Any time you see any HR position, regardless of what role in the department it is, you can't get the jobs without experience. Yet no one will give you the chance to gain that experience....and there's no qualification you can get to get the job either. it seems it's a very select group of people who get the job....and they probably have to be in the company before they get it.

and yea fluffygrue, i did look into local colleges....i haven't had any job as the nearest one that does a gardening course is out of my reach transportation wise.

SMP1704:
the best example is Human Resources in any company. Any time you see any HR position, regardless of what role in the department it is, you can't get the jobs without experience. Yet no one will give you the chance to gain that experience....and there's no qualification you can get to get the job either.

Can't comment on the horticultural quals but I can about HR (been there, done that)  Best way is to start off with the Certificate in Personnel Practice and then progress to graduate member status of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  Most people who work their way up start off in an admin role. Those with a degree and CPP as a min might start in an HR Officer/Advisor role, but depends on the organisation, alot want part CIPD as well.

Most HR departments are getting smaller, which is why there are so few vacancies and why employers can be very choosy....

Ceratonia:

--- Quote from: SMP1704 on January 15, 2007, 23:49:30 ---Most HR departments are getting smaller, which is why there are so few vacancies and why employers can be very choosy....

--- End quote ---

I had the opposite impression, which was that there are many more HR people required these days, to comply with the larger amount of regulation on employers.

Anyway. Few discussion points for Wahaj & Garden Cadet.

- The RHS General certificate (level 2).  I sometimes browse the jobs pages in the various nursery/horticulture/landscaping trade press. I hardly ever see RHS qualifications specified as a requirement. Agree with fluffygrue's comments that anyone reasonably intelligent with some gardening knowledge could pass it by buying a couple of books and applying themselves.

I've seen the RHS course material for HCC and frankly I'd be unhappy at having paid more than £20 for it, rather than the few hundred they charge. You can often pick up old versions on ebay for not much. I can't comment on the quality of their tutors, which I guess is what you're paying for.

I did the course at a local college evening class. One tutor was good, the other was hopeless, but what made the class good was the other people doing the course - a real mix of ages and reasons for doing it. I'm sure someone who'd been looking for a job out of it would have made a lot of useful contacts.

- In terms of working as a self-employed "jobbing gardener", I suggest a look at Paul Power's book "How to start your own gardening business" - it's a well written description of do's and don'ts.

- There are plenty of websites offering detailed advice about getting into the landscaping/horticulture industries. I'll post a few URLs later. The impression I get (certainly around Cambridge/London) is that the industry is desperately short-staffed and finding it very hard to recruit young people (due largely to low pay I suppose), other than from eastern europe.

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