If you want a fellow greenhorn's opinion...
90% of the trees I sink a saw in are notch and drop jobs. We do have sufficient equipment to rope and chunk down trees, and lately we've been doing a lot more of that. I was strictly a groundman until I learned the knots and had plenty of opportunity to watch an experienced climber. I then started hanging ropes in trees that merely needed a come-along to take them down.
Our experienced climber(16 years I think) has been working with me, teaching me and walking me through the more difficult trees we've been trimming. We're working around a power line with no power on it, and a belt structure for moving coal that's still under construction. Not a lot of risk to the climber, but lots of potential for structural damage. We came in and cleared it all before the structure/line went up, but the company didn't have the foresight to give us an adequate boundary for danger trees and leaners. They're now paying us again to do what we asked to do in the first place, for the first price.
My opinion is to find someone who really knows their stuff, and offer to help them for the experience. I'm lucky enough to be getting paid to learn($18 every day and extra if I have to climb), but in this economy that may be a real hard deal to find.
Right now, we're looking at a layoff if we finish this contract before something else pops up. I have a lead that has the potential to put me in a bucket truck (since I already have CDLs and 1.5 years exp cutting trees), but it wouldn't pay as well as this gig.