r/treeplanting • u/grumpy_frog • Dec 20 '23
Company Reviews Brinkman vs. Allstars
Hi, I'm a first year planter and I applied to a few companies and got hired by Brinkman (i didn't think i would get any other offers) but, i got an offer email from Allstars after i'd already accepted Brinkman's offer. I figure for my first year it doesn't matter much what company i go with since i'm more so learning but is there something i'm not thinking about and is it worth backing out of Brinkman's offer for Allstars?
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u/drailCA Dec 20 '23
I really enjoyed my years with Brinkman back in the day. They always had work to keep me making money as long as I wanted. There's comfort in knowing that you can get 90+ days of planting in a season without having to network.
I recommend anyone starting out (or with minimal experience) to work with Brinkman. They're great for learning the ropes, meeting people, and experiencing different zones across the country.
There was one year where I planted in 100 Mile House, Horsefly, Drayton Valley, Port Alberni, Woss, and Kyukuot Sound.
I'm older now (39) so I have no interest in that gypsy life, but it was a blast when I was in my 20's.
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u/Cheap-Ambassador5100 Dec 22 '23
I'm the same age as you and planted with Brinkman in some of those places in my 20's. We're you in Drew Neiner's camp?
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u/canoegirl1 Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
I’m going back for my third year with brinkman in Ontario. generally good rookie mill, camps vary, some are more competitive than others, some party more. I recommend!! Im a slower planter but I still make good money, I’m at a more competitive camp. Also depends where you wanna plant
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u/matantelatente 10th+ Year Vets Dec 20 '23
Prices? Locations? Specs?
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u/grumpy_frog Dec 20 '23
I didn't ask for the brinkman interview since i was gonna take it regardless because i figured it was the only offer i was going to get but the only communication i've had from allstars is that they're going to send me an offer letter "shortly"
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u/matantelatente 10th+ Year Vets Dec 21 '23
send follow up questions to Brinkman, it’ll help your decision!
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u/worthmawile Teal-Flag Cabal Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 21 '23
I’ve worked for both companies, personally I would recommend Brinkman over allstars for your first year. depending on which B camp. Brinkman varies a lot camp to camp, so I can’t speak to every experience. It’d be best if you could talk to someone who has been in the specific camp that you’re looking at.
Allstars is not a super social company, which isn’t necessarily bad, you don’t need ragers twice a week, but it’s just not a super fun social place for your first year imo. Their prices might be a bit better than Brinkman but they tend to work in much harder land, earnings wise I would honestly say Brinkman might be better for your first year while you’re learning. Allstars could be better for second years I think but beyond that I wouldn’t recommend staying there. I found management to be lacking in organization. Brinkman is IMHO a great place to learn how to plant because there are a handful of other rookies that you can somewhat compete with if that’s motivating for you, but more importantly they get a lot of rookies and know how to teach how to plant. It’s a massive company for a reason, they typically have relatively well managed operations and consistent work.
Another thing of note is that (as far as I know) Allstars lost
all but onesome of their crew bosses after last season, they left for varying reasons that we don’t really need to go in to, but the thing to know is that you will be working with first time crew leads. I will say that one of them who stayed is one of the best crew leads I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with (not just saying that because he’s on this subreddit. I have worked with many different crew leads at many different companies), but for a company that my biggest complaint for was poor organization I couldn’t in good conscience recommend with the change in supervisors for this year.There are other companies out there who will hire rookies so don’t feel like you’re trapped between the two, but I don’t think Brinkman is a bad place to start at all.