If you're not already committed to college/conventional work, then this could be the post that changes your life. Bear with this wall of text.

Edit: To clarify, this post is about how to get qualified as a Rope Access Technician. That's a bit like being a driver. There are many jobs you can have behind the wheel, and in the same way, there are many jobs you can have up on a rope. I'll discuss exactly what things you can/should specialize in in part 2. Thanks to rpscrote for picking up on this point.

www.irata.org This acronym stands for "International Rope Access Trade Association". IRATA Qualifications come in three levels, and they're valid worldwide. I paid €960 to get my Level 1. Generally, the fee is the same no matter what level you go for, but varies according to the provider of the training. When you get assessed, which is a 1 day practical exam, for any IRATA Level, you can fail by dint of 'Discrepancies'. Minor discrepancies include tying your knots poorly, dropping something small from height, leaving a locking carabiner undone, etc. If you get 3 minors, you fail. Major discrepancies are real mistakes, such as going down to one single anchor point (if that anchor suddenly fails, you're falling) and just generally dangerous things. These are rare enough in assessments, which is good, because they are an instant fail. No second chances, go home.

Level 1: Grunt. No entry requirements, really. Be 18+, healthy, and not afraid of heights or hard work. This is what I recently qualified as. I spent four days in training (IRATA demand 4 days of training minimum, for any level, before they'll assess you) as someone completely new to it. Though I'm lean and have been working out since finding TRP, a common misconception is that you must be ultra-fit to be a climber/RAT. Really, if they have proper technique, anyone who isn't obese or disabled can learn the techniques I learned and pass assessment. In fact, there was a fat, chain-smoking, middle-aged slacker in my class, but he had to pass assessment or he'd get fired, and our trainers were pretty good. He passed.

Training You'll learn the basics of rope access, which is distinct from climbing. You'll learn to rig up your harness and check it all over, and to inspect it along with all your PPE. You must learn some knots in order to set up this harness. You'll learn how to ascend using a foot jammer and a 'crawl'. Then you'll descend using an 'ID'. You'll learn how to pass rope protection, rebelays, rope to rope transfers and a handful of other manouevres, as well as some theory (which is easy - and even if you do awfully, it only counts as a minor discrepancy). Finally, you learn how to do only one kind of rescue, the easiest; a casualty in their descending equipment. I was in bits by the end of the week. It was a real challenge, but that's partly why I think this is such a good RP career, if there can be such a thing. On the job, you'll handle the bulk of the work. Check out the link above to see the full curriculum.

Level 2: Advanced. In order to take assessment, you must have accrued 1000 hours on ropes as a Level 1, and 12 months experience. This is what my father recently qualified as. You'll learn more complex anchor systems and more theory, but mainly, the assessment revolves around several complicated and difficult rescues. On the job, you mainly set up ropes and act as an extra pair of eyes for the Level 3 (see below). Sometimes, you'll have to get back up on ropes yourself and sweat alongside the Level 1s.

Level 3: God level. You have 1000 hours and 12 months' experience as a Level 2. You're the shit. There is no Level 4, guys. As a level 3 you're expected to know in detail about all kinds of safety practices, lots of legislation, complex and esoteric climbing and rigging techniques, as well as where to select an anchor point for a set of ropes, where to rebelay around a hazard etc. You're responsible for everyone under you, on a job. Nobody can do anything without the Level 3 being present, and I'm not exaggerating. It's against the rules for a Level 1 or 2 to pick his nose without a Level 3 okaying it first. You run that show. There's a lot of theory in there, but mainly it's the rescues that are challenging, from what I gather. There was a Level 3 on my assessment (you get assessed as a group) and when all us Level 1s had finished our stuff he was told to do the mostly horrendously complicated rescue imaginable. He had the rest of us (did I mention you have to demonstrate good leadership skills, because you're the boss of every RAT on site?) helping him, and we cleaned out the whole training centre's gear to move one casualty up, over, over, across and down. It took an hour. It made my head spin. He passed.

The Good You'll be in shape, physically and mentally. You'll be very well paid. You'll get respect and admiration from everyone who knows what you do. You get to travel the world. Only 60,000 people are IRATA qualified, so it's a clique-y industry - make some friends and you'll always hear of work when it comes up. You work freelance, so you never have a permanent boss (permanent jobs can be had also). You'll be required to keep on top of your career - hunt for better contracts, specialist extra qualifications to earn more money, as well as where the next contract is coming from - so no more drone being shuttled into and out of a cubicle every day. And so on. If you're not sold by now, there's not much point going on.

The Bad It's hard, manual and dangerous. There's a huge focus on safety all the time, especially on offshore oil rigs (I'll get to that shortly) but people do get injured/killed. Choppers crash, edge protection slips, anchors age and somehow evade inspections, idiots drop heavy things from great heights, etc. The stats are readily available online. There's also something of an initial investment - you need a handful of certs in order to really be a juicy, desirable RAT who has plenty of options. These can add up, but having said that, you'll make your money back very quickly, because...

The Pay Man, you get danger pay. Ever had danger pay? This means that, with your Level 1 and perhaps a bullshit window-cleaning cert (1-2 day course), you can earn £100 - £140 per day for washing windows, right out of the gate, when you're still green as grass. Get more experience and a few connections, you'll earn closer to £200 a day. Offshore, with a trade, you'll earn £320 a day, green as grass. Expect more like £400 per frigging day when you've got more hours, a couple extra certs and a good connect. Level 3? Take my £500 per day absolute minimum, to spend most of your time drinking tea and watching people work. Or, you can train other people and thus work entirely for yourself.

The Plan Get yourself Level 1 qualified. Google your state/city and "irata training". It's about €1000, convert that to your own currency as appropriate. Then, either get hours in your logbook, washing windows etc and save up for more certs, or go right ahead and get some if you've already got the money to pay for it. Every extra qualification entitles you to more pay. Treat it like Pokemon - collect them all. To get work, you will need to hustle unless you have a connect in the industry already. You will need to fill up your LinkedIn with your qualifications and connections in the industry. You will need to call every Rope Access company in your area and sell yourself, make sure they get a call and not just an email. Give out CV's (resumes, to my American comrades) like they're making your hands itch. Network. Network. Train. Network. Then, once you start getting paid... It's all gravy. You'll make your training money back faster than you think. You get options. You can afford to get MIST and BOSIET to go to offshore rigs and turbines...

To be continued The offshore sector is really the endgame, but I'd like to see how this post is received before I get into that. It'll likely be as long as this one again. Let me know what the interest is. Sorry for the wall of text, it crept up on me.