Ground rigger to high rigger
A ground rigger already meets 80% of what the high rigger role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.
25.7/ 100
1 How much of what a high rigger is expected to do is already part of a ground rigger’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 high rigger role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A high rigger role treats 17 of its required skills as things a ground rigger already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assemble performance equipment
- assemble truss constructions
- evacuate people from heights
- follow safety procedures when working at heights
- hang chain hoists
- maintain rigging equipment
What stands in the way is 4 required skills 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 29 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A high rigger role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a ground rigger background worth leading with.
- already held calculate rigging plots information skills
- already held design rigging plots communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held perform regular checks on rigging equipment constructing
- already held plot rigging movements constructing
- already held hang chain hoists constructing
- already held maintain chain hoists constructing
All 29 carried skills, including the 17 the high rigger role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 8 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 provide first aid required
- still to learn react to emergency situations in a live performance environment required
- still to learn write risk assessment on performing arts production required
- optional, not held document safety actions optional
- still to learn promote health and safety required
- optional, not held assemble circus rigging equipment optional
- optional, not held maintain circus rigging equipment optional
- optional, not held define rigging needs for circus acts optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a high rigger role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 promote health and safety practise this
- 02 write risk assessment on performing arts production practise this
- 03 provide first aid practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 29 skills that carry over
- already held assemble performance equipment skill
- already held assemble truss constructions skill
- already held evacuate people from heights skill
- already held follow safety procedures when working at heights skill
- already held hang chain hoists skill
- already held maintain rigging equipment skill
- already held organise resources for artistic production skill
- already held provide power distribution skill
- already held store performance equipment skill
- already held use communication equipment skill
- already held use personal protection equipment skill
- already held use rope access techniques skill
- already held use technical documentation skill
- already held work ergonomically skill
- already held work safely with machines skill
- already held work safely with mobile electrical systems under supervision skill
- already held work with respect for own safety skill
- already held calculate rigging plots skill
- already held design rigging plots skill
- already held develop professional network skill
- already held ensure safety of mobile electrical systems skill
- already held keep personal administration skill
- already held maintain chain hoists skill
- already held manage personal professional development skill
- already held manage technical resources stock skill
- already held operate forklift skill
- already held operate telehandler skill
- already held perform regular checks on rigging equipment skill
- already held plot rigging movements skill
4 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held assemble circus rigging equipment optional
- optional, not held define rigging needs for circus acts optional
- optional, not held document safety actions optional
- optional, not held maintain circus rigging equipment optional
1 held skills the high rigger role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role perform first fire intervention skill
Common questions about this move
Can a ground rigger become a high rigger?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A ground rigger already covers 80% of what a high rigger is expected to do: 29 skills carry over, 17 of which the high rigger role treats as required.
What skills does a ground rigger need to become a high rigger?
4 required skills are missing, plus 4 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is promote health and safety.
How hard is the move from ground rigger to high rigger?
Its learning distance is 25.7 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.