Nowadays, almost nobody becomes a chimney sweep straight out of school or college.
Which means many current sweeps gain experience in other occupations before they ever even think about picking up a rod and brush.
Luckily, chimney sweeping is such a diverse job, that there are plenty of transferable skills which you can bring to the role.
Here’s just a few white collar occupations which will stand you in good stead…
#1 Physicist or Chemist
Not necessarily the type you find in your local high street, but any role involving chemistry or physics.
These strands of science plays a big part in chimney sweeping, as you need to understand topics such as dew point, corrosion, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, positive pressure, negative pressure and convection.
It surprises many customers to learn that there’s such a big scientific element to our work.
Of course, all this can be learnt on the job, but a scientific background will help all the theory slot into place that bit easier.
#2 Environmentalist
Believe it or not, chimney sweeps are at the forefront of helping to create cleaner air for all of us.
It was sweeps, led by Mr Soot owner David and Lawson Wight, from the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps, who founded Burnright.
This grassroots, national campaign aims to help stove and open fire users burn in as clean a way as possible.
With the message going into thousands of homes across the UK, sweeps are ideally placed to affect direct, positive change to local air quality.
#3 Customer Services/Shop Assistant
Chimney sweeping involves talking to multiple customers a day, every day.
As one sweep put it recently:
“We sweeps tell customers about problems they never knew, in places they’ve never seen, using phrases they’ve never heard of.”
As such, you need to be able to interpret the results of your findings, deliver them and answer any questions in a constructive, polite and professional way.
Dealing with the public can fast paced and at times challenging. Therefore some previous experience in customer service is helpful.
#4 Historian or Architect
Many chimneys in the UK were built a long time ago. In the areas we serve, there are many Victorian and Georgian flues, each with their own construction patterns and methods.
It’s truly fascinating to have a job where you’re dealing with something which was built long before you were born, and may give clues how it’s been used in the past.
There’s also, in some cases, the chance to turn detective – using your experience of history or architecture to overcome possible issues.
And of course, there’s always the chance of uncovering a piece of history buried among a load of soot!
#5 Journalist or Researcher
Chimney sweeps need to be able to ask pointed questions, get to the heart of an issue and then translate what may be complicated facts in a clear and concise way.
Sometimes these will involve written reports, so good standards of spelling, punctuation and grammar are vital.
So in many ways, a career in journalism or communications is ideal, as there are plenty of transferable skills.
And Finally…
There are many more jobs which can help you become a chimney sweep technician, and these are only a flavour of the types of roles with transferable skills.
Very many sweeps come into the profession having undertaken spells in the Armed Forces, emergency services or working in another type of manual profession.
So the good news is that, whatever your background, you’re more than likely to have some sort of transferable skill!
Chimmey Sweep Careers 