Open University

[NJ]

Hi there,

I could use a little help. Like many people on this forum I'd really like to work with wildlife but I've got a few problems and I was hoping that I may find some help here.

I'm looking at doing an Open University degree in Life Sciences (link to the page if it's any help: B28 - BSc (Honours) Life Sciences - Open University qualification ) but would this hold me back in getting a wildlife career? It's not viable for me to go to a traditional university or college at this point in my life for a variety of reasons so this is really my only option to get a degree but I'm rather concerned about it.

What jobs could this degree lead to and would it be a disadvantage?

Thank you very much for any replies.

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by NJ

Hi there,

I could use a little help. Like many people on this forum I'd really like to work with wildlife but I've got a few problems and I was hoping that I may find some help here.

I'm looking at doing an Open University degree in Life Sciences (link to the page if it's any help: B28 - BSc (Honours) Life Sciences - Open University qualification ) but would this hold me back in getting a wildlife career? It's not viable for me to go to a traditional university or college at this point in my life for a variety of reasons so this is really my only option to get a degree but I'm rather concerned about it.

What jobs could this degree lead to and would it be a disadvantage?

Thank you very much for any replies.

For the last twenty years I've helped run some of the OU residential schools and have always been impressed by the dedication needed to get a degree this way. I'm guessing it would take you up to six years to get the various points needed to get a degree and doing this whilst balancing jobs/life etc shows real determination and I think employers would recognise this.

Unfortunately a degree is only the starting point in getting a wildlife job these days. You would also need to get some real experience perhaps by volunteering with a local Wildlife Trust or Country Park or maybe doing some stuff with people like BTCV. If you could get a portfolio of other experience to go with the degree then that would be a real plus for you. The other thing that always concerns me a little is the lack of basic ID skills that a lot of environmental graduates from conventional universities seem to come out with. Maybe getting some specific ID qualifications might also be useful - a number of Universities run extra mural courses in Identification of various groups. The other qualifications that may help would be things like some of the statutory licences eg Bat Handling. A lot depends which type of wildlife work you want to go into.

Anyway good luck in whatever you choose to do.

[NJ]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

For the last twenty years I've helped run some of the OU residential schools and have always been impressed by the dedication needed to get a degree this way. I'm guessing it would take you up to six years to get the various points needed to get a degree and doing this whilst balancing jobs/life etc shows real determination and I think employers would recognise this.

Unfortunately a degree is only the starting point in getting a wildlife job these days. You would also need to get some real experience perhaps by volunteering with a local Wildlife Trust or Country Park or maybe doing some stuff with people like BTCV. If you could get a portfolio of other experience to go with the degree then that would be a real plus for you. The other thing that always concerns me a little is the lack of basic ID skills that a lot of environmental graduates from conventional universities seem to come out with. Maybe getting some specific ID qualifications might also be useful - a number of Universities run extra mural courses in Identification of various groups. The other qualifications that may help would be things like some of the statutory licences eg Bat Handling. A lot depends which type of wildlife work you want to go into.

Anyway good luck in whatever you choose to do.

Thank you very much for replying,
I'd hoped that the OU degree wouldn't be a problem, but I needed the reassurance that it wouldn't hinder me. Thanks.

My plan is to gain experience by volunteering while studying for my degree, as I know that environmental careers want practical experience, which is something I'd love to do anyway.

The area I live in has a lot of places I could volunteer with. We have the wildlife trusts, the national trust have a site close to where I live, we have an RSPB reserve, there's a few specialist places (bat hospital for instance) and there's a place I found that do practical wildlife habitat management once a week in different locations. So there are lots of places I could ask.

I also know how important it is to gain connections and I have a few wildlife connections where I am now so I have a useful starting point.

I will definitely look into the identification qualifications though and the licences. That could be very helpful.

Another point of confusion, is I don't really know what careers are available. I had a search but I still haven't found that much information. Any links or search terms would be a big help.

Once again, thank you for the reply.

[Cellarman]

If you Google "wildlife jobs", you will get a lot of links, such as this one: Environmental Jobs and Volunteering in the UK

You have one advantage over many of the graduates that one comes across these days - you can spell!!!!

[forestwildlife]

Im starting a OU degree - BA(hons) in Environmental studies - in October, I too am looking at working with wildlife/environment and hope that this will get me on the right track. Ive got a RSPB reserve about 2 miles away from me and they are currently looking for volunteers to meet and greet the public, id love to do this just not sure how confident I am in A. talking to people about the wildlife and B. knowing enough about the wildlife to talk to them.

[Highlander71]

I graduated from the OU in 2004 with a BSc(open). It certainly does take commitment and it's not cheap but I can highly recommend it if learning and personal interest is your motivation. I think I shot myself in the foot a bit by not doing a "named" degree and did a mix and match of courses in science (with a bias on geology). Every course I did was excellent and I cannot fault the university for it's content or quality of teaching.
Having said that, the only thing I would say is don't believe all the bumf about life changing careers, new opportunities etc. etc. Didn't happen for me and I know of others that experienced the same.
The positive side is employers ARE impressed with OU students, both for their commitment and dedication. Doing a "named" degree will certainly give you a foot in the door in whatever field your degree is in, doing an "open" degree seems to leave you swinging in the wind I think.
Anyway, i'm waffling now, but I can't rate the OU and it's tutors highly enough but DO check out the career prospects for your degree carefully!
..........and good luck in your studies!

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by forestwildlife

Im starting a OU degree - BA(hons) in Environmental studies - in October, I too am looking at working with wildlife/environment and hope that this will get me on the right track. Ive got a RSPB reserve about 2 miles away from me and they are currently looking for volunteers to meet and greet the public, id love to do this just not sure how confident I am in A. talking to people about the wildlife and B. knowing enough about the wildlife to talk to them.

I'm not familiar with current O.U. degree things but is a BA rather than BSc the sort of thing that you need? Is this degree to do with the physical/built environment rather than the biological/living one? Just worth checking out, perhaps?

[forestwildlife]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

I'm not familiar with current O.U. degree things but is a BA rather than BSc the sort of thing that you need? Is this degree to do with the physical/built environment rather than the biological/living one? Just worth checking out, perhaps?

You can tailor the degree towards either spectrum and im going to do mine towards the living one. I would of done environmental science but you have to do a compulsory course which requires you to go away for a week. Which unfortunately as I cant drive and working for a rubbish company I would not have been able to do. You can either get a BA hons or a BSc in environmental studies but not sure how it is decided which award you will get.

[ring ouzel]

Conservation tends to be very conservative (with a small 'c') and it would be better to go for the BSc if you can. You mention you cant drive. If its because you dont have a driving license then I strongly suggest you get one pronto. Every job has a DL as an essential component. Voluntary experience is good but it depends on what that experience is. If you can get practical experience it helps in 2 ways. First of all it looks better on your CV (even though all the better paid jobs are very office based) and it may cause you to revaluate wanting to work outside. For example reedbeds in Summer can be lovely to work in but are Hell in Winter! Most people go for the usual Wildlife Trusts/RSPB/BTCV route to volunteer and thats OK but shows no imagination. How about WeBS counts for BTO (or any other BTO survey)? or voling for Bat Conservation Trust, Buglife, Butterfly Conservation etc? It will help your id skills too. And join the conservation NGO's, it may seem like just more money to spend but when you are sitting there in an interview and you can say you have been a member of xxxx NGO for several years then it will be gold dust! It has swung job interviews for me in the past.

Finally network, network, network! Conservation is a very small world - we all know each other. This is good as you'll quickly get known if you are good but it also means that you should never, ever burn your bridges!!

Good luck!

[Jenny W]

Originally Posted by ring ouzel

Most people go for the usual Wildlife Trusts/RSPB/BTCV route to volunteer and thats OK but shows no imagination. How about WeBS counts for BTO (or any other BTO survey)? or voling for Bat Conservation Trust, Buglife, Butterfly Conservation etc?

Not saying your wrong....but it never did me (and thousands of others) any harm!

Please no-one discount the RSPB/county WT's/BTCV. The fact is, if you want to go into conservation, two of the biggest employers are the RSPB and the county WT's, so getting in with them is a good idea. If you go for reserve volunteering, you will be able to do things like WeBS counts/BBS/butterfly transects etc. as part of the general reserve volunteering, along with the practical work.

If you want to go into reserve wardening specifically, it's worth noting that the biggest nature reserve owners and managers are the RSPB and county WT's (and to a lesser extent the National Trust). So volunteering with them will give the experience of reserve management that you will need. Organisations like to BTO don't actually employ wardens because they don't have any reserves of their own.

To go down the research or consultancy route however, then volunteering for the BTO/Bat Conservation will benefit.