"Working as a tree trimmer on municipal contracts in southern California, my employer kept ISA Certified Arborists onsite as required by many of the contracts. Since I was a CA already, they encouraged me to pursue the ISA Certified Tree Climber credential. The company helped its employees prepare and paid for the exams to ensure they were sending the most skilled arborists to fulfill these city contracts. Now that I work in Illonois and my CTC credential is not required for my present job, I continue to maintain my CEUs because I value what the credential represents. It reminds me that even though I mostly work from a desk now, I can still climb, and I belong to an elite group of skilled individuals."