Amenity horticulturist : Employers and vacancy sources

Typical employers include:

• public bodies, such as local authorities and the national park authorities (National Parks );
• specialist botanic gardens, such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh , those of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)  and those connected to universities;
• the National Trust  and the National Trust for Scotland  
• Historic Scotland  
• English Heritage  and Scottish Natural Heritage  
• the Commonwealth War Graves Commission  
• commercial leisure enterprises, such as golf clubs, country clubs, safari and theme parks, and sports venues;
• commercial companies supplying products, equipment and services to the industry;
• agencies specialising in the recruitment of professional gardeners to private gardens and estates such as English Country Gardeners  
• an increasing number of environmental and conservation bodies, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)  and The Wildlife Trusts  

A number of horticulturists work as self-employed contractors.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• English Country Gardeners  
• Farmers Weekly  
• Horticulture Week   
• National Trust  
• New Scientist Jobs  - occasional research-based posts.
• Land-Force  
• Opportunities: The Public Sector Media   
• Guardian Jobs  
• Journals and local press.

Trainee manager posts are sometimes advertised, but many employers only have a small number of vacancies each year and do not recruit on a regular basis. Such posts are advertised as they arise. A network of personal contacts in the industry can be valuable, as many posts are filled by informal networking.

Colleges and university schools of agriculture and horticulture usually have established contacts within the industry.

Specialist research positions, often involving periods of work overseas, occur (infrequently) at the botanic gardens. Colleges and university schools of agriculture and horticulture that also offer advisory services sometimes use postgraduate students as assistants on client-based projects.

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