Working with Wildlife ....

[rjmartinuk]

Hey Everyone

Apologies if this is a bit off topic (this forum seemed the most appropriate).

I am seriously looking to move into any type of wildlife work (preferably on a reserve), I recently turned 24 and I currently work in retail and have done so since I left college. I left school with good GCSE results before attending college but I was never interested in university and moved into work straight after .... at college I studied ICT so nothing wildlife related - to be honest I only became interested in the natural world in the last few years.

Since 18 I have worked in retail and been content bringing in money and looking for wildlife on a weekend but this last 6 months or so the interest in working in the great outdoors has become more prevalent.

I suppose what I'm asking is have I missed the boat?! I wish I knew at 16 what I know now (hindsight is a wonderful thing!) - but is there anything available to me? I would prefer to work on the job opposed to going back to studying - are there any type of apprenticeships? Can I get funding through say the Princes Trust (I was looking into this) ....

Basically any advice would be greatly appreciated

Many Thanks for your time,

Cheers, Rob

[eeyore]

Theres a range of volunteer work out there thats a good way of getting some experience and a foot in the door wildlife trusts, national trust, rspb etc - have a look at the volunteer vacancies on Countryside Jobs Service - home page

your degree doesnt have to be wildlife related - if you build up relevant experience that is, and with the increasing usage of twitter, facebook, smart apps, QR codes etc in interpretting the countriside an ICT qualification could actually be an advantage.

And 24 isnt too late - I volunteers from when i was 22 to when i was 24 , did a whole bunch of volunteer work, and got my first paid job in countryside work when i was 26 - i'm 39 now and currently a head ranger with the national trust

[APC]

Similar situation to me, although I did a degree vaguely related and "kind of" wanted the job I have no in my late teens/early 20's. Went into selling insurance, decided that enough was enough and moved back in with parents, went to college, did ND Countryside management, volunteered for approx 8 months over a few years (including volunteering while at uni), got the "foot in the door position" at 26yrs old. Now on a full time/permanent contract. Good luck with it.