Arboriculturist to tree surgeon
An arboriculturist already meets 81% of what the tree surgeon role asks for. The move turns on 1 required skill not yet in the profile.
18.9/ 100
1 How much of what a tree surgeon is expected to do is already part of an arboriculturist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the tree surgeon role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A tree surgeon role treats 10 of its required skills as things an arboriculturist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise on tree issues
- carry out aerial tree rigging
- climb trees
- de-limb trees
- execute disease and pest control activities
- minimize risks in tree operations
What stands in the way is 1 required skill the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 19 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A tree surgeon role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an arboriculturist background worth leading with.
- already held protect trees assisting and caring
- already held monitor tree health handling and moving
- already held carry out aerial tree rigging constructing
- already held control tree diseases handling and moving
- already held minimize risks in tree operations information skills
- already held perform tree thinning handling and moving
All 19 carried skills, including the 10 the tree surgeon role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 7 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn follow safety procedures when working at heights required
- optional, not held fell trees optional
- optional, not held identify trees to fell optional
- optional, not held analyse tree population optional
- optional, not held measure trees optional
- optional, not held select tree felling methods optional
- optional, not held operate forestry equipment optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 1 entries a tree surgeon role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 19 skills that carry over
- already held advise on tree issues skill
- already held carry out aerial tree rigging skill
- already held climb trees skill
- already held de-limb trees skill
- already held execute disease and pest control activities skill
- already held minimize risks in tree operations skill
- already held operate chainsaw skill
- already held perform tree thinning skill
- already held protect trees skill
- already held tree preservation and conservation knowledge
- already held assist tree identification skill
- already held conserve forests skill
- already held control tree diseases skill
- already held estimate damage skill
- already held forest ecology knowledge
- already held inspect trees skill
- already held maintain forestry equipment skill
- already held monitor tree health skill
- already held nurse trees skill
6 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held analyse tree population optional
- optional, not held operate forestry equipment optional
- optional, not held select tree felling methods optional
- optional, not held fell trees optional
- optional, not held identify trees to fell optional
- optional, not held measure trees optional
15 held skills the tree surgeon role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role climate change impact knowledge
- not needed by the target role drive agricultural machines skill
- not needed by the target role execute fertilisation skill
- not needed by the target role forestry regulations knowledge
- not needed by the target role geographic information systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role handle geospatial technologies skill
- not needed by the target role health and safety regulations knowledge
- not needed by the target role make independent operating decisions skill
- not needed by the target role monitor grounds skill
- not needed by the target role operate hand pruning equipment skill
- not needed by the target role plant green plants skill
- not needed by the target role plant species knowledge
- not needed by the target role safeguard biodiversity skill
- not needed by the target role spray pesticides skill
- not needed by the target role write technical reports related to trees skill
Common questions about this move
Can an arboriculturist become a tree surgeon?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. An arboriculturist already covers 81% of what a tree surgeon is expected to do: 19 skills carry over, 10 of which the tree surgeon role treats as required.
What skills does an arboriculturist need to become a tree surgeon?
1 required skills are missing, plus 6 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is follow safety procedures when working at heights.
How hard is the move from arboriculturist to tree surgeon?
Its learning distance is 18.9 out of 100, which is the adjacent band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.