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i wouldnt employ any one perm in my shop who had been to collage, i have bench trained all my staff, then they do the job as i would do it and expect it to be done, so its always done as if id done it myself

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gerbera daisy

gerb i know what you mean and that is great from an employers point of view but from a students point of view its good to get a wide range of teaching. I personally do take on people who have been to college as i want them to bring something to me as well, their creativity and possible different ways- dont get me wrong it doesnt always work but sometimes it does, i suppose it depends on the person.

point taken tulip

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gerbera daisy

Thanks God for people like Tulip, or I'd never get a job!

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think the commute might be a bit long ah jake

i did level two then went on to do a contemporary course which was very interesting it was acity and guilds and enviroment based so you had to consider enviromental issues but i believe most bosses do there own bit of bench training any way and will show you how they expect thier designs to look

having looked into the collage courses and what they entail, they seem to include a hell of a lot of theory, and not hands on, even when you have been in the job years you are still learning all the time, but once you have the basic knowledge you can create anything if you have the flair to do it, most employers would be wary of a collage only trained florist ....they would prefere them to have had shop experience also....and to add there are very few florist shop jobs available so youd be very lucky to land a full time job that pays a wage enough to live on....but eh, good luck jake i wish you well

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gerbera daisy

Thank you for your good luck message

Landing a well-paid florist's job is difiicult, and true of college and non-college applicants. While I feel experience counts for a great deal, I personally think qualifications are important for ensuring a level of competence exists in potential applicants. I have seen some florists who have been bench-trained and would employ a graduate any day of the week over them!

That's not to say bench-training isn't very good and acceptable, but if two people applied for a job; one college-trained for two/three years, the other bench-trained by another florist who's ability and level of work you are unsure of, which would you consider for the post?

I will be employed once I have completed the ANCF, then spend a year gaining my ICSF whilst in industry. I personally feel this is a good route and provides a sound basis to build on artisticly and commercially.

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when i advertised a few years back now for a part time florist position in one of my first shops, i must say i got a mixed bag.....one lady was a lot older than me and had done floristry for about 20 odd years, and her portfollio didnt contain anything contempory, it was really all traditional floristry....then another applicant had just compleated level 3, and her portfollio was very impressive but a few of the picutures of assignments shed compleated really did put me off straight away, one was she had labled it modern floristry and it was a set of alloy wheels dressed in flowers....... whats that all about then i thought and that alone completely put me off, if that is what a collage is training there student to do fine, but there really is no place for that type of work in my shop and the applicant i did employ had just started level two, so she knew the basics and i thought this was somthing we could work on together, and on the design side it worked a treat, she was really keen, and did some loverly test pieces for me, but when it came down to the running of the shop, she didnt have a clue....her customer service skills were non existant, cash handle ect, and all the other skills you need on that side of floristry.....this put me off compleatly.

so i think the bad experience has put me off, in answer to your question, i think you have opened my eyes a little to the bigger picture and maybe i would give a student a trial to like you siad see what they could bring to the shop design wise as long as it didnt involve any alloy wheels

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gerbera daisy

Alloy wheels?! How weird!

Everyone knows tyres look much better with flowers!

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Tina
Torturing tutors since Sept 07

Plastic fantastic - not suitable for upgrade.