If the thought of coming of the tools and managing an arb team, an arb office, or your own arb business is of interest there are several ways in. Here are some practical tips which should help you:

You'll need a minimum of 5 years' experience in Arboriculture for most management roles; decent IT literacy and good communication skills.

As far as qualifications go you could already have a Level 2, 3 or 4 in arboriculture, which will get you in to any of the above positions, but if not consider achiving these qualifications part-time or look into the courses below. 

If you aren't keen on longer-term academic study all is not lost. There are lots of short courses which will help you, for example the one-day Tree Risk Management course (approx. £150+vat), and the one day seminar on BS3998 (approx. £120 +vat). Here's a leaflet from the well-known and respected Arb trainers Treelife: TreeLife short courses in Arb to give you an idea of the short courses on offer (they will be happy to help if you have any questions).

The QTRA is also training worth considering if you want to evidence your tree knowledge.

Other courses/skills to consider are:

Health and Safely training

IT literacy courses

PTI (read about this here)

Good knowledge of LOLER regulations 

Think about the skills needed for the role you're considering and evidence them briefly on your CV. Experience in the industry goes a long way but if you are ambitious to keep learning you can study most arb courses from Level 2 to degree online while you work.

The industry is crying our for every role in arb at the moment so if you can show skills and competency in the area you're keen to go in to you've a good chance of getting an interview. If you can't evidence what's needed yet start working towards it now, planning for success will lead you to a job you'll enjoy.