Bushcraft Instructor vacancy - Oxfordshire

[Shewie]

Saw this today and thought it might interest a few .....

http://www.bluedome.co.uk/jobs/jobs/job1941.html

I'm not familiar with the company but it looks like a good setup

http://www.thebushcraftcompany.com/


Apologies if you're one of us

 

[tobes01]

My lad spent 5 days with them this summer and had a fantastic time. The instructors are all in their early 20s, and seem to come from upmarket backgrounds (not a criticism!), working mainly with public schools (as they say in an interview, the state schools shy away claiming health & safety fears). The course seemed to be very well run, the kids loved it, and they were doing stuff I've yet to try (various traps, swimming in the lakes, catching/cooking crayfish etc)..

Tobes

 

[moved on agiles10]

I had an interview with Phia, in November and she came across up herself, They asked me some questions about what I did, experience, etc, and then ended the interview. Didn't give me a chance to ask any questions of my own. Then took ages to reply to my emails after the interview needless to say I didn't get through to the next stage.

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

I had an interview with Phia, in November and she came across up herself, They asked me some questions about what I did, experience, etc, and then ended the interview. Didn't give me a chance to ask any questions of my own. Then took ages to reply to my emails after the interview needless to say I didn't get through to the next stage.

I had similar experiences with communications although for a different matter.
In terms of assistant instrutor roles I think I got the standard response about the possibility of calling on me during the busier months. I think it was probably because I could only commit to part time work.

 

[Bushwhacker]

The instructors are all in their early 20s

That rings alarm bells.

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

Just because they are young doesn't mean they don't have experience.

I wonder how many people on here have actually got more than say 5 years of experience and that's probably as a hobby.
I would guess these guys have more than you think, after all it's more than a hobby to them. If you read the website Alex has studied under RM for a period of time and has been around quite a bit. Not sure about the others though.

Not having a go BW, it's just that experience has tought me not to judge before seeing for myself.

 

[Bushwhacker]

It just gives me the same sort of feeling when you get pulled over by the police and the officer that comes to your window looks about twelve.

 

[Dougster]

I was a climbing, gorgewalking and mountain bike leader when I was 20 - 21. I dangled many people off cliffs as a youngster. These chaps will have a little less reponsibility.....

 

[John Fenna]

I have been instructing in various "Outdoor Activities" from paddlesports to Survival Training since I was 18 - I knew more then than I do now!

 

[timboggle]

I read an interseting newspaper article about this course recently, that might give an insight into the kind of instructors they're looking for,

a qoute from it......"I knew from the start that employing gap-toothed paratroopers wasn't going to work," says the firm's 23-year-old founder Alex McBarnet, who, as a pupil at Cheltenham College, spent his holidays training with survival expert Ray Mears. "I wanted people who wouldn't scare the kids."

.......I don't think Alex will be getting a xmas card from the 'Airborne Brotherhood' this year

.....also a quote from their job vacancy advertisement.........."The Bushcraft Company is now looking for young (Age 20-30) highly motivated, intelligent and energetic individuals with quick learning abilities, who work well under pressure and are capable of interacting with people of all ages. from April to August"....

.....or a xmas card from 'Help the Aged' either...

I'm not knocking it, but I think it shows the gulf that I beleive now exists between the old Survival School days and the more touchy feely future of Bushcraft courses, I'm not saying that it's wrong and I know as well as anyone we all need to change with the times, but, I can't help but think the youngsters are all too quick to brush the experience of us old boys under the 'sleeping mat'

The thing is they're getting the kids outdoors and learning and at the end of the day thats what matters so good luck to them.

Here's the article.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/5933887/Bushcraft-skills-course-for-children.html

 

[tobes01]

Bearing in mind that all their courses are geared towards kids, the age thing seems reasonable. My lad keeps raving on about the instructors on his courses, he's at last met some real role models (other than myself, obviously but I'm an old git by their standards). That rapport comes much more easily when there's less of an age gap. Oh, and seeing as all the other staff are young, I suspect an oldster would find it harder to fit in.

I know a couple of the guys there have done service in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I don't think it's a prejudice against the forces, just a recognition that since most of the kids they take in have never been away from home before, let alone spent time in the woods, there's a need for a 'soft touch' in handling them.

 

[durulz]

Just because they are young doesn't mean they don't have experience.

True enough.
But the line 'experience not necessary' in the job advert doesn't bode well...

 

[timboggle]

Aye Tobes, I see where you coming from mate and if you read through my post again you'll see I never knocked it.

It's just as a 'gap toothed old paratrooper' myself in my mid forties who works with youngsters from 6 years upwards, I felt the comment was bit 'elitist' if not ill informed, I can genuinely say I've never scared the kids I work with...........but then again, the youngsters I work with would probably struggle to find any common ground or a rapport with public school boys and girls, so I suppose it may work both ways

cheers mate

take it easy

 

[tobes01]

Sorry, didn't mean to knock anyone else, that wasn't my intention [humble, apologies, grovel].

At the end of the day you've got a company whose target market is public schoolkids. Hence why they want young instructors who can relate to public schoolkids.

As for 'experience not necessary' - well, someone's got to wash the dishes, fill the jerry cans and dig the latrines - I reckon even I could do that

 

[johnboy]

I read an interseting newspaper article about this course recently, that might give an insight into the kind of instructors they're looking for,

a qoute from it......"I knew from the start that employing gap-toothed paratroopers wasn't going to work," says the firm's 23-year-old founder Alex McBarnet, who, as a pupil at Cheltenham College, spent his holidays training with survival expert Ray Mears. "I wanted people who wouldn't scare the kids."

.......I don't think Alex will be getting a xmas card from the 'Airborne Brotherhood' this year

.....also a quote from their job vacancy advertisement.........."The Bushcraft Company is now looking for young (Age 20-30) highly motivated, intelligent and energetic individuals with quick learning abilities, who work well under pressure and are capable of interacting with people of all ages. from April to August"....

.....or a xmas card from 'Help the Aged' either...

I'm not knocking it, but I think it shows the gulf that I beleive now exists between the old Survival School days and the more touchy feely future of Bushcraft courses, I'm not saying that it's wrong and I know as well as anyone we all need to change with the times, but, I can't help but think the youngsters are all too quick to brush the experience of us old boys under the 'sleeping mat'

The thing is they're getting the kids outdoors and learning and at the end of the day thats what matters so good luck to them.

Here's the article.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/5933887/Bushcraft-skills-course-for-children.html

Isn't activley recruiting based on age a convention of the employment laws?

I noticed the article also had a dig at those that wore a Green Beret...

Unlike similar firms, they are not middle-aged ex-Marines, but former public schoolboys and schoolgirls in their early twenties.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Isn't activley recruiting based on age a convention of the employment laws?

I reckon so, especially where age isn't a concern and is, in fact, an advantage in some cases.

 

[johnboy]

I reckon so, especially where age isn't a concern and is, in fact, an advantage in some cases.

Looks like in 2006 legislation was put into place to prevent discrimination based on age.

see below.

http://www.workingrights.co.uk/Agediscrimination.html

 

[BOD]

Well,

No experience to being an instructor after "in house training"? Hmm.

In my experience of top public school kids (not my words) from the UK they are often highly motivated and do well in the bush. They want a "gap toothed paratrooper" to instruct them.

I think it is the company's owners who do not want a person with experience as such a person may show them up.

But the true test is the blade they sell in their shop. Check it out. Just hope the kids close the blade before blowing the whistle

More Bear than Ray or Mors

 

[wanderingblade]

I wouldn't read too much into the 'no experience necessary' line.

This usually translates as 'we need someone to clean the bogs, wash the kit, get the crud off our boots and generally shovel carp for minimum wage - once in a while we might let you play with a firesteel'

'No experience necessary' should read 'apply with low expectations'

 

[Bushwhacker]

I think it is the company's owners who do not want a person with experience as such a person may show them up.

This is a very plausible reasoning BOD.