William
If I could give you some advice based on my experience of having, for a while, followed the fairly typical path of school, degree, office job and later making a career change into working outdoors…
1/ Follow your passion. But don’t use your passion for the outdoors as an excuse not to do well at school. A good education and qualifications are never wasted. Also, these days, it’s much better not to be a one-trick pony. Look at this website for instance – bushcraft and IT combined.
2/ Write off to all the reputable bushcraft schools to find out what their recruitment policy is – When do they recruit? How do you apply? When should you apply? Is there a minimum age? Are there any pre-requisites? Are there any nice-to-haves (like a food hygiene certificate) that would make you stand out? Have someone proof-read your letter for spelling mistakes, etc. Even if you are too young to start work for a few years, there is still a lot you can do in the meantime:
3/ Get some work experience with a bushcraft school. Do this either through the official work experience channels at your school or by contacting bushcraft companies yourself. What better way to spend some of your summer holidays? Make sure they are CRB checked though.
4/ Get plenty of experience looking after yourself in the outdoors. Don’t force it though. Just enjoy being outdoors. Camping, hiking, climbing, paddling, it doesn’t matter. You’ll have challenging times as well as good times but you will gain knowledge and judgement in the process. The self-confidence that comes from this will show when you go to interview or recruitment. As has already been mentioned, clubs are a good way of getting out with like-minded people, particularly when you are young.
5/ Learn the basic skills of bushcraft. Integrate them as much as possible into what you do when you stay outdoors. Don’t treat these skills as something separate – they are part of your outdoor toolkit. Use them as part of your outdoor life. The more you use the skills, the more they will flow and the more relaxed you will feel outdoors generally.
6/ Get some first aid training. First aid skills are a must-have in outdoor education but they will be valuable straight away. First aid training is a life skill. You will be able to help family, friends, neighbours or even strangers on the street if anything happens. Make sure you refresh your skills regularly to keep them sharp.
7/ Get really good at navigation. If you want to go anywhere wild, then you need to be a confident and competent navigator. Learn to use a map and compass really well. Start off near to home and don’t try to learn everything at once. Build your confidence and your skill level progressively. If you can, try to get out with someone who has more experience and ask them to teach you the basics.
8/ Get your driving licence. This has already been mentioned. Get your licence as soon as you can. The insurance on business vehicles often has a minimum age. It also sometimes has a minimum number of years e.g. 3 years since you passed your test. So, the longer you’ve had your licence, the better. And keep your licence clean! Points generally don’t mean prizes in the jobs market.
9/ Don’t give up! Even if you get some rejections, even if people try to steer you towards a more ‘normal’ career path, stick at it. If it’s what you really want, be persistent.
Good luck!
Paul
and ill visit the links that you have posted they look good :d
