It might feel a bit pointless to plan your future. I mean, nobody knows what will happen for sure and we all change in unexpected ways. Some of those changes are good, some bad. And surely the careers plan for a Mountain Leader is just ‘go out and hike up mountains’, right?!

This is a long read, so maybe get yourself a cuppa and your favourite piece of cake first! Scroll down for the questions written in bold.

So why do careers advisers like making action plans with their clients?

Well, the simple answer is that a plan helps you to create evidence that you have understood the answer to key questions in career guidance. These questions are the ‘what, why, when, where, how’ and ‘with whom’ types that come from detailed and quality research. There are loads of combinations for these types of questions and the more you can answer clearly and confidently (evidence based) then the better your action plan will be. It really is that simple in theory. The answers you get will help you focus on what to do next for employment and a fulfilling career.

The plan will be a method of how you become as employable as possible for your chosen career path. The best quality plans are those made in conjunction with professional advisers as well. It is a mistaken belief that the adviser needs to be a person with experience in the sector you are focusing on – a professional adviser will be trained in career theory and be able to analyse your career focus and concerns in a way which you would not unless you had gone through similar training. This is often overlooked.

Understanding these types of questions can provide you with a route plan of where you’d like to go next, what to expect along the way, and how long it might take you to get there. It should also critically inform you of how much your next moves are going to cost.

Let’s take each question type in turn for a bit of fun, and apply it to the job of Mountain Leader. The answers might be surprising!

1. What does the job involve?

Leading people safely up and down mountains. The vast majority of leaders focus on specific types of mountain walks, such as the National Three Peaks Challenge, charity walks, teaching navigation and to a lesser extent private guiding for adults, families etc. In other words, the work is often repetitive, visiting the same paths time and time again. It’s not unusual for freelance mountain leaders to have summited Snowdon over 50 times for example. There’s loads more to the job, but you get the idea.

2. Why are Mountain Leaders needed?

The role exists to help groups/companies reduce risk to their clients. It is figured that if you hire someone who has proactively gone out and dedicated large portions of their time to going through the Mountain Leader scheme then they will not only be very competent in the hills but also able to make good decisions to reduce risk on journeys. They are also needed by some insurance companies for particular events, though there is no legal requirement in the UK to be a mountain leader to lead a group. That said, there is a strong support in the outdoor communities to employ qualified individuals. If you want to learn more about why qualifications became really critical, search for the Lyme Bay disaster on Google. Being qualified and tested so you have systems in place which reduce risk help to keep people alive and well.

3. When do they work?

Mountain leaders are divided into two categories. Those with the Summer award, and those with the Winter award. Oddly enough, there is no date cut off for one or the other, it is instead conditions dependent. So if you get a snow day in July, for example, you will need a Winter Mountain Leader to take your group. If you get a sunny dry day in December with no snow on the ground, then a Summer Mountain Leader is fine to work with the group. The tasks can take all day (over multiple days) if you’re guiding a challenge walk. Or they can be a quick up/down Scafell Pike which will only take a few hours. It really depends. The vast majority of work takes place between March and September/October for a summer Mountain Leader. This means that to work full time (as a freelancer) you would definitely need both qualifications.

4. Where do they work?

A Mountain Leader is qualified to lead not just in the mountains, but everywhere at all altitudes (except places like the Cuillin Ridge of Skye). However, most work takes places in a very limited number of areas, mostly due to client demand. This is both a blessing and a curse. For example, you could end up working an entire season on just Helvellyn and Scafell Pike in the Lake District, despite the fact that there are well over 200 summits. This is because those two are highly popular. Snowdon is by far the most popular summit in North Wales which means that most leaders will be spending time on that particular mountain. Getting to know these areas as well as you can in advance of taking on any work is therefore critical and will help you with rapid employment. That said, there is a growing number of providers who are moving away from the well known circuits and beginning to offer something a bit different. This is something to be encouraged!

5. How do they get the work?

There are two ways of getting employment as a mountain leader. The first is by being contracted to lead by another company for a day or more depending on how busy they are. The second is that clients come to you directly, and you become the business. It all depends on how big your network is, how well known you are within that network, what your specialist skills are and how much you support the industry. Someone who is a keen, supportive, proactive member of the outdoor community, willing to lend a hand at busy times but also a self motivated professional with expertise in niche areas will definitely be gaining employment. Quite often you will see someone post their available days on Facebook Groups and then in the comments section various people will vouch for their quality of leadership. This will really help gain attention and employment opportunities. It goes without saying that impressions count for everything and being professional is critically important.

The other ‘how’ question – ‘how much will it cost?’

Mountain Leadership qualifications are almost unique in that they are logged in days of progress, not months or terms or years. Some days will be more costly than others. I budget about £100 per day in my logbook. I increase this in winter to £200. This means that for 60 days in the mountains in summer conditions that’s about £6000. Training and assessment courses to qualify will add another thousand or so to that figure. It’s not too different from studying a masters degree. If you live in the mountains then you will have a slight advantage however you will still have to travel to new areas. Living in Scotland will massively help with the winter award. You might earn £150 per day minimum newly qualified, so you could earn your money back relatively quickly. This makes it a very cost effective career choice if you focus on becoming as employable as possible. These blogs intend to guide you towards that end point.

6 Who are you working with?

These individuals fall into three categories. First, you might be working alongside a company representative who is scoping you out as a potential future employee of their company. They might not be qualified to lead themselves however they might own an outdoor business. Second, you will very likely be leading clients with little or no experience. They might be outdoor on a mountain for the very first time. Lastly, you will be working alongside a large variety of other outdoor professionals, all going through qualification schemes. Regardless of who they are, all three types will be judging you, every minute of the journey, on your competence. You will either get a good reputation (turns up on time, looks professional, has good skill/knowledge base, knows area well, keeps group safe etc) or not. I have been astonished to see leaders turn up late, on their phones, coffees in hand, dismissive/ignorant of other leaders, bad with group management etc etc. You just don’t know who might one day want to reach out to you for help or employment, so take time to be as professional as possible, right from the start. You can mess as many of your personal days up as you like (bad navigation, late to start, wrong equipment etc) but don’t do it on your client days!

So how do these answers help with the action plan then?

When you have the specifics from these answers, you can begin to consider which of them you wish to focus on developing to the point of employment. For example, maybe you want to get some work in the Yorkshire Dales. You would have to research which companies were operating, what sort of activities they offered, what their needs might be, when they likely would want you to work, and know the area really well. The action plan helps you to decide exactly what you need to do next to close the gaps between the ‘requirements’ of the role that you don’t have yet, and schedule a time to take actions towards becoming a good match for their business.

Or if it is your own business, then you will have to be even more specific with your action plan. How are you going to attract the attention of clients? What will you offer that will be both different and appealing? What is your cut off point in terms of investment? At what point will you abandon your business idea if it is not generating interest and why? In many ways, starting your own offering requires a lot more creative thinking and willingness to fail than simply trying to make it on to the freelancers list of your nearest outdoor business.

A good action plan is able to tell you, at a glance, how much you have to do and when you have to do it. It should also be challenging enough to make you a bit anxious but not so much that it causes you mental health issues. It has to be a fine balance of engaging, worthwhile and cost-effective. It is kind of similar to preparing a route card on a map. Above all, it should be mostly enjoyable! Otherwise, why bother?!

Next week, I’ll share my own action plan with you and an example of how I am making progress towards my goals.