I feel that current circumstances are so exceptional that I have begun a discussion here on LJN.
I am in my twenties (bad age?) and I am resident in the north of England (bad location?) - it has very recently dawned on me that a majority of vacancies in horticulture and landscaping are:
a) In southern England and the midlands
b) Demanding 'experience' or only offer a 'competitive salary'
Having applied for jobs closer to home - and sadly being turned down - I feel so exasperated that so few are willing to give youngsters a real chance, especially those who have excelled on a nationwide stage (see pictures):
Bearing all this in mind, I an now seriously considering two options:
a) Changing career
b) Relocating
Both of which are fraught with great anxiety.
All of this is baffling in an industry with a supposed 'skills crisis' - where is everything going wrong?
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Really sorry to hear about your predicament Richard.
I am sure there opportunities where you are, they just remain undiscovered as yet.
Don't give in and please don't consider that your age will be a barrier for everyone.
Why not upload your resume/CV to our www.landscapeengine.co.uk
I read this article in the Papers on Tuesday regarding Bovis H1FY2015 results and in particular the statement made by its CEO when commenting on the cause of the rise in cost of their new houses. In an industry parallel to ours (especially in the Hardscaping arena) - it struck home.
Is there a North/South divide?
In the South there is a lack of suitaible candidates and my local Horti college has experienced a downturn in U25's comming through its doors.
To show how bad it is, one company in my locale has errected a large scaffolding sign (20ft +) on a Farmer's land next to main A road advertising for Landscapers.
'Snobbery' led to skills shortage crisis, says Lord Baker (Telegraph).
The education system [sic] in this country is now a full-blown racket. Someone, somewhere is making big money from all of this.
I have just looked into this, there are far more BALI members than APL members within a fifty mile drive of my residence, it is something i haven't up to now looked into as extensively as I should!
Hi Richard,
where are you applying for jobs? Are they National trust/english heritage/RHS type places and large, prestigious estates? I think these guys are disgusting - the RHS, supposedly responsible for attracting new recruits to horticulture have pretty much given up on the young and are focusing on middle aged converts to horticulture, who can afford to work for the pittance they pay because they have already made their millions in banking (or whatever) and can cope with the lack of opportunity within these organisations because they've already burned out anyway!
Do you need to work for someone, can you not work for yourself? It can be a long hard slog, but I think in time it can take you places that you'd never reach if you were employed, especially with the talent and drive you clearly have.
good luck!
You sir, have hit the nail on the head.
A friend of mine who until recently worked for a city council in the parks department told me of the switch to volunteers - who may not necessarily have our level of horticultural knowledge and training. Whoever does will end up acting as a minder for nothing extra.
It is a very, very short-sighted move indeed.
These volunteers cannot get a job anywhere, so they hope by volunteering they can get the experience and then find a job that pays.
I would never volunteer (I think this is exploited by any type of employer), and rather go and work in a supermarket staking shelves.
Volunteering is a vicious cycle - work should always be a mutually beneficial contract:
- The employer pays for skillls and/or labour
- The employee earns their living
Any deviation from this is a symptom of an overheated sector, or a full-blown broken economy.
I might be beginning to sound like my father here but let’s be mindful that volunteering is more than just being used as free labour.
I know lots of people who give up their time to volunteer, most don’t use this as a means of gaining employment, but more for a sense of self worth and giving back to society etc. To be fair, most of my friends can afford to freely give their time but I would also wager that that for some of them it comes at a personal and financial cost yet they still do it.
My daughter is at university (final year) and threatening to carry on with a Masters. She volunteers two nights per week doing counselling – This has no bearing on her proposed career path. I have often told her that she should be out partying more!
However she has learn so much from doing this, communication skills, life awareness, and so much more that is invaluable and has certainly made her a better person and more prepared for when she finally joins the ranks of the workers. Not to mention the contacts she has made. One thing I am sure of, is that when potential employers review her CV she will shine out and it will open so many more doors for her.
Now if I was out of work and had a chosen career path and wanted to get my foot in the door, I wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer my time to gain some experience or even to show an employer that I was capable of doing.
As an employer, I know who I would employ given the choice, the chap sitting at home all day watching the Jeremy Kyle show or the chap who has got off his backside and given something back to the community (even better if the skills he / she picked up were gardening related)!
Yes I do agree however that the blanket use of forcing unemployed people to do volunteering where there isn’t any hope of gaining meaningful employment at the end of it is morally wrong but end of the day, you have one life, live it and forge out the path you want to take, even if it means working unpaid for a few months, you will more than be rewarded in the bigger scheme of things!
Too many people young and not so young expect things to be handed to them on a plate, wouldn’t get out of bed for less than £10 per hour and yet have nothing to give in return to justify earning that rate. I refuse to pay anywhere close to the minimum wage as this isn’t a fair rate of pay for a good days work but I do expect potential employees to have drive, determination, common sense and so much more with unfortunately isn’t taught in schools or colleges it in their DNA or have been acquired by life experience.
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