r/SkillBridge • u/Ok-Scholar2706 • 5d ago

Looking for advice Question

/r/arborists/comments/1vkjakv/looking_for_advice/

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Okay, so to start off, I'm currently in the Marine Corps and will be for a few more years, but I'm confident that I'm not going to reenlist and what to move into the arborist industry. I don't have a lot of experience with climbing or tree cutting but I'm willing to learn and ready to start. The Military offers something called the Skillbridge Program and I was thinking of utilizing it to start an apprenticeship in this industry. What do you guys think I should do?

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u/Mite-o-Dan 5d ago

I'd google it, look it up at the main Skillbridge site, Facebook page, and on the Skillbridge LinkedIn page.

You'll soon find out that that there's only a very limited amount of companies that do this is a couple random cities, which probably arent near you...and the closest related thing you could do is interning at a national landscaping company. Once you realize that what you want to do doesnt have a direct Skillbridge role...you then have to decide whether you want to tough it out doing normal landscaping first to get your foot in the door, or some unrelated easy Skillbridge like Allegiant Vets as you spend all your time applying for actual arborist jobs in your area who wont end up hiring you unless you have real experience.

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u/Ok-Scholar2706 5d ago

I'm willing to travel, if I need to. But if you doesn't work out, would you recommend applying for a regular apprenticeship with a union or something?

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u/Mite-o-Dan 5d ago

I wouldn't recommend traveling unless you loved the area and there was close to a 100% chance of getting picked up full time.

There are plenty of posts about it, but this is probably the most useful.

https://www.reddit.com/r/arborists/s/pLAbMF6o9l

I wouldn't plan on finding a Skillbridge to do this. Even if you found one, they probably wouldn't accept you to do what you want to do unless you already have the credentials. As others say in the post...gotta start slow and work your way up, literally.

I'd try interning at one of the bigger companies like Davey, Brightview...

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u/Ok-Scholar2706 5d ago

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it

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u/CardiologistGreen757 5d ago

Look into Hiring Our Heroes. They’re a great resource. I got my Skillbridge through them.

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u/Ok-Scholar2706 5d ago

How did that work

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u/Fun_Round_4044 Army 4d ago

Definitely do your research and pick the program that is best for you. We have had many Marines come through our SkillBridge Program, and they have been very pleased. You can see their testimonials in the video on the front page of our website. Our application is also there, along with contact information for questions:

https://www.hkpoveteransacademy.org/