When former teacher Joy Venz was listening to an arborist talk to some of her students at a career expo, she realised it was the career change she’d been looking for.

“He got me instead!” she laughs.

Less than six months later, Venz began her new role as an apprentice arborist for Citywide in Melbourne.

“I’d been thinking about leaving teaching for a while. I knew I didn’t want to do another university degree and I knew I didn’t want an office job,” Venz says.

Despite needing to learn “literally everything”, Venz embraced the opportunity that came with her career change, enrolling in a Certificate III in Arboriculture at TAFE.

“When I first started, even getting the leaf blower going was a struggle for me. I had to get my truck licence, learn how to use and maintain a chainsaw, get a licence to operate an elevated work platform, and then I spent many days learning about powerlines and the relevant legislation around working in close proximity to them.

“I’m still learning what all the trees are called and how they react to being pruned, and how to make better cuts and to move through the tree faster,” Venz says.

While trees feature in every task, the role of an arborist is wide-ranging. They might select and plant appropriate trees, prune young trees to ensure they grow well, preserve trees during development, assess and manage tree risk and diagnose or treat pests and diseases.

James Maund is a board member at Arboriculture Australia, the peak national body for arborists and professional tree workers. He says arborists have been in high demand for more than a decade and there’s now a critical shortage.