some forestry interview questions

[aleidy777]

I had 10 forestry questions I was hoping could be answered:

1) Which part-time jobs would be helpful for someone trying to get into the field of forestry?

2) What perks are there in this job position? (heath care, phone plans etc.)

3) What do you do (is done) during a typical day?

4) What kind of salary would someone entering this job earn?

5) What is the best part about your job?

6) What kind of personality should someone entering this job have?

7) Would this be a job you would/could do for most of your life or would you retire early?

8. Where would someone establish a company for forestry?

9) If you could go back to highschool and/or college, what types of courses would you have taken?

10) How easy is it for someone to find a job in this field?

Thanks to all who respond... if you could please respond with your first and last name and hopefully a phone # I would be very grateful. (I need it for my essay assignment, so I can cite my resources). Thanks again. 8)

[beenthere]

Spelling is a plus.  ;D   no matter what field you might be interested in pursuing.

Forestry
1) outdoor work
2) depends on who you work for, but nothing fixed for perks
3) paperwork would be involved, working up plans from data collected in the forest, to present to your client or employer.
4) depends, but not high and not low
5) can see the forest and the trees
6) not unlike any job. Be able to get along with people and accept challenges gracefully
7) it's a lifetime if you enjoy it
8 ) where there are forests (avoid the desert)
9) science, english, grammar, spelling, math courses
10) Not easy, but graduating at the top of the class makes it easier

PS  I checked for spelling errors and didn't find any 
Found some incomplete sentences, however.

[Ron Wenrich]

Forestry encompasses a lot of different areas.  Back when I was in high school, most people thought of foresters as guys who sat in ranger stations, looking for forest fires.  That isn't what it is.

Foresters can work anywhere from the forest to coporate offices.  There are foresters that specialize in parks and recreation, timber procurement for sawmills, urban forestry, banking, and ecology; just to name a few.  Foresters work for government, non-profit associations, banks, industry, and universities.  

So, which way you want to go will help answer some of the questions.

1.  Part time work is hard to come by, since most of it involves working full time.  You may be able to get a part time job with a park and rec department at a local government.  There may be part time possibilities with tree trimmers and in a local sawmill.  You can learn a lot.

Most guys try to work their summers with some forestry work, doing it full time.  Usually that would be at a sawmill or with the state or federal government.  I spent one summer with the Bureau of Land Mgmt, one summer with a sawmill, and one summer in a chocolate factory.  

2.  Perks are dependent on who you work for.  Most offer health care and retirement.  Some may give you a vehicle.  Sometimes you end up working for yourself and you have to take care of all that stuff.

3.  There are no typical days for industrial foresters.  They may be talking to a landowner, out taking plots to develop a management plan, laying out a timber sale, marking timber for removal, inspecting logging jobs, or other duties.  Government foresters may do the same thing, or they may be involved in some research project.  

4.  I'm not sure of the entry salary.  When I started, it wasn't the best, but it paid the bills.  A lot depends on who you work for and where you work.  Quite often you will be in rural areas where the cost of living is quite a bit lower.  So, looking at salary might not be the best guage for this type of work.

5.  Seeing a newborn fawn, hearing the whistle of a hawk, the stillness of the forest in the winter.  You work independently.  There is usually no one to tell you how or when to do the work.  You have to meet deadlines, so you're responsible for your time.  

6.  You should be a people person.  After saying you work independently, you would think that a hermit would be the best candidate.  But, you will have to meet many different types of people through the course of the week, and you have to effectively give them input in various areas of the field.  You will be talking to landowners, loggers, timber buyers, and your boss.  You also may be asked to give presentations to various groups pertaining to trees.  Ages will vary from grade school to retired folks.

7.  Many guys work well past retirement because they enjoy it.  Others save up their money and retire, only to do something else related to the field.  They may buy a small mill, or do volunteer work to help bide their time.  

8.  Depends on what you want to do.  If you're doing urban forestry, you could go anywhere there are trees.  If you wanted to do consulting work, you would probably go to a more rural area.  There are foresters in nearly every state, in big cities and small towns.  It depends on your niche.

9.  In high school, you want to go with the academic course.  It prepares you for college.  In college, you want to major in forest science or technology, then go with a minor in something else.  That could be economics, journalism, wood science, wildlife, etc.  I didn't minor in anything, but had nearly enough economics credits to qualify.  

10. Its not easy to find a job anywhere in any field.  Easy means you go to a company or agency, give them your resume and they say "You're hired".  Life doesn't work like that.  You have to knock on a lot of doors before you find one that's open.  The best way to go is to start at a lower level job and work your way into a better one.  Inexperience will hold many folks back.  I know of one guy who started as a forest technician with the state and is now a district forester.  Perserverance pays off.


Ron Wenrich,
Consulting Forester and Sawmill Specialist
Jonestown, PA

[Cedarman]

Can't add much to the above.  Details are important in all jobs.  Homophones can be tough.  (Cite and site).  Since I couldn't add much, I thought I would be picky.