Qualification advice

Hello, I'm looking for some qualification/career advice; and this seemed like a good forum.

I'm looking at doing a HNC in proffesional horticulture; I've noticed alot of job descriptions for head gardener and sole gardener positions; seem to want HNC's/HND's or degrees.

I've already completed a BTEC level 3 National certificate and have been working as a gardener at a hotel for a year.

I really just want too know if its worth doing the HNC, The syllabus seems near enough identical to the course I've already done, yet just because it has the title of "HNC" it appears too carry more weight on your CV.

Any input would be appreciated
Thank you
Scott

 

Not got any horticultural qualifications myself, but have a few in building and mainly joinery.

Seems to me the country has gone qualification mad, but at the same time lowering the skill or knowledge level.

I'm a bit of a dinosaur though.:D

 

Good evening Scott and welcome to the site. At 20, aren`t you setting your sites a bit on the high side for now? To save the expence of a degree, why not sort out your CV and send it off to people and places where you would like to work and see what their comments are?

 

Thank you both for the replies; At the moment i know that I don't have enough experience to be a head gardener; Im sure alot of national trusts and RHS volunteers could easily teach me a thing or two!

I was really just looking for what I can do in the future; and before I did my course, alot of places wanted a NVQ level 3 or equivelant; hence the reason I did the NC Level 3; and now, only 2 years later; they want a HNC/HND/BSc instead, making my qualification less valuable.

I recently saw a job; £16,000 a year and they wanted a degree; like pete said, It just seems madness; You can't warrant doing a degree for that much money.

Daitheplant - I'm going to take your advice and email the main places I want too work and just see what they come back with.

 

This is no accident. Employers don't build successful businesses by being generous or failing to exploit an opportunity.

The market is constantly flooded each year by a new batch of brand new graduates, all desperate to earn the millions that the universities (which themselves make huge profits) promised them they would.

Its all about supply and demand. There are more graduates than graduate posts, so employers set the price as low as they can get away with. They also know that the kind of person that applies is the kind of person that actually wants the job, because a significant proportion of graduates won't entertaining the idea of working for a pittance for the year or two it will take them to actually start to learn how to actually do the job.

A degree is a piece of paper. It proves that you can be tricked into getting into massive debt. It doesn't come anywhere near proving that you can do a particular job. Employers know this.

 

I applied for a gardening job today. Fat chance of getting it, as although I have a wealth of relevant experience & knowledge I don't have that magic piece of paper that says NVQ level2or somesuch. A friend of mine has and she cheerfully concedes that I know more about gardening than she does. Worth a shot, though.

She did her qualification by distance learning and in about a quarter of the recommended time.

 

However, my biology degree I'm doing does prove I have some decent skills. Like a decent mind for numbers and a good mind for systems.

Just to balance your statement a bit.

 

I suggest that when doing your CV, you consider using Spellcheck.
I had a CV sent to me for a computer teknishun, who had done a 6 month BTec at C,ollege and explained his several years experience of Bar work and Holiday camp experience was a demonstration of his work ethic.

He wasn't short-listed.

 

at C,ollege, eh? I suggest you use spell-check, too.

I've noticed a lot of older members on here trying to bring the younger members down, which I don't like, at all.

Scott, if you want to be a gardener, find a way to make it happen and come back to this thread when you are and rub it in

 

It was as subbmitted. That was the point!!

 

Scott

I think that like any job, you need to look at it from the employer's point of view as they will be the person that does or does not give you the job.

Most employers are not interested in making points or denigrating anyone, they are simply trying to keep their own job by making the right choices, or trying to run a business successfully or simply trying to make money. It doesn't really matter if they are right or wrong, they are calling the shots. The fact is, these days, that employers like qualifications (irrespective of whether the person is any better at doing the job). So I would suggest that you try and get the best possible qualifications that you can, but also taking into consideration the cost (and time). Unfortunately, these days, the cost of a degree is horrendous, and I doubt that all are really worth it.

As far as spelling, English and appearance are concerned, they are important if you want to make a good impression. If an employer has 50 applications for a job, he can't interview all of them. So he will look for any reason to whittle the numbers down. The first to go are likely to be the badly spelt, badly written applications. He may be rejecting a superb candidate - but how is he to know?

Incidentally, thanks for the debate on spelling. It has just prompted me to download the spell check that we can use for these threads. As my own spelling is attroshous - I hope it works. :D

 

For what it's worth, I'd suggest ....

Sending off a CV to places where you'd like to work or, perhaps more importantly, where you'd get good teaching and relevant experience.

If they say no - ask them why. It could be there are no vacancies, because you don't have the right qualifications, or your lack of experience. If the bias seems to be towards the latter two, then at least you can do something about that.

In the meantime, there's volunteering. Which is fine, if you don't mind working for nothing. Perhaps however, there is a nursery or garden centre, NT or English Heritage property within reasonable distance who might be willing to let you 'job shadow' or work at weekends?

I'm guessing the 'old fashioned' method of learning a trade properly, i.e. by getting an apprenticeship, is pretty unlikely, but you could look into it.

Perhaps you could also take a look at this site - might give you some ideas, perhaps for an additional part-time course:
BBC - Gardening - How to be a gardener - Go further

As for a degree. Well - yes, in one context, it is 'just a piece of paper'. It does however demonstrate that you have the ability to apply yourself to something for a sustained period and that you haven't just drifted out of school with a whole plethora of GCSE's which mean 'diddly-squat' and which fit you to do 'diddly-squat' with them.

That said, a degree is not (as some students and their parents believe - or as some schools will tell you), a 'licence to print money'. Even with a degree, jobs are hard to find and well paid jobs, even harder. My youngest daughter graduated in 2008 with a First Class BSc. It took her a year to find a job, she's been working in the Civil Service for 2 years and her salary has just reached ..... £18,000 in central London. Many of her Uni friends, all with very good, relevant degrees, are also working for similar salaries - in fact, none of them have yet broken the £20,000 barrier.

It's very easy to say '... you can't warrant doing a degree for that much money...' (in the example quoted - £16,000), but with or without a degree, a job at £16,000 is a damned sight better than no job at all.

As for an NVQ .... well, we all know what NVQ stands for!!!

 

No, I did not miss this. As I still believe the original poster didn't mean to write 'C,ollege'.