For most of us, climbing trees is a phase we grow out of by the time we hit puberty and can appreciate the risks of a broken bone. But professional tree climbers never grow out of the urge to climb the nearest strong oak or elm. In fact, they get paid to do so.
Professional tree climbers often double as arborists, otherwise known as people who help keep trees healthy. They cut away dead branches and prune trees so that they look attractive and are safe to walk under. However, some tree climbers also work as guides in tourism or recreation as recreational tree climbing is becoming more and more popular among the young at heart.
As you can probably imagine, tree climbing isn't a skill that you can major in at most universities, which explains why few tree climbers have bachelor's degrees. Most learn the tools of the trade on the job, such as how to use climbing ropes and saddles to climb trees. Professional tree climbing is far more technical than the scramble to the nearest branch in childhood.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a tree climber. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.96 an hour? That's $37,351 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 115,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many tree climbers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed physical stamina, None and None.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a tree climber, we found that a lot of resumes listed 26.5% of tree climbers included cdl, while 14.4% of resumes included bucket truck, and 13.2% of resumes included hand tools. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the tree climber job title. But what industry to start with? Most tree climbers actually find jobs in the construction and retail industries.
If you're interested in becoming a tree climber, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 10.3% of tree climbers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.8% of tree climbers have master's degrees. Even though some tree climbers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a tree climber. When we researched the most common majors for a tree climber, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on tree climber resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a tree climber. In fact, many tree climber jobs require experience in a role such as tree trimmer. Meanwhile, many tree climbers also have previous career experience in roles such as foreman or groundsman.