Re: How does certification affect you?
treesrus@pdt.net
Tue, 6 Jan 1998 21:44:26 -0600
In my neck of the woods being certified and being incompetent sort of run together. Some guys are certified and are certainly good at what they do but there are a lot of them that have done nothing but go to school all their life and never learned the hands on "school of hard knocks" stuff. They have a phd in horticulture,naa certified,isa certified,consulting arborists,etc,etc. But they don't know a footlock from a headlock and any jobs they get they have to farm out to someone that can be about it instead of talk about it. When I hire someone I'm not wowed by their certificates because while it might mean they are really eager to learn their trade, it might mean they just came from one of the bigger tree companies where certification was an overnight cram session, a written test,the foreman signs you off and you get another buck an hour. Climbing certificates keep people a little more honest, they tend to be more hands on. I just joined the naa, they got their money and
I got my endorsement. Am
I more competent? No. I think the only certification that would mean anything is one where you got certified by your peers. If someone came to me with a climbing cert. issued by Gerold Beranek or a consulting arborist endorsement by Dr. Shigo I would be impressed.