Animal Biology and English Literature... it must be Amanda!
There is another FR member on here too, I have sent you a msg on facebook in regards to your post on FR.
Anyway, I wrote out a massive reply on here then firefox crashed! So im going to do a shorter version.
The best way to get a foothold is gaining experience and making new contacts.
I'd say that any volunteering is valuable... its difficult to say this would be more valuable than that because there is such a broad range and a lot of jobs are very specific and narrow with what they want.
Important skills depend on the type of job- some want chainsaw licenses, boat licenses, mammal husbandry, protected species licences, extensive Phase 1 habitat survey experience, extensive GIS software experience, database management, identification skills etc (just going off the types of jobs I have looked at)
Check out
environmentaljob.co.uk it has a wide range of jobs which will give you an idea of what is out there as well as voluntary jobs and internships.
This is what I have picked up/noticed whilst trying to find a job since graduating anyway!