I've had a similar experience, though I'm still working on my masters degree, when searching for summer jobs. The private sector seems to have a smokescreen around it to keep from knowing what it's like until you can find someone with a foot already in the door.
Paul Backus On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Ryan Metz <[email protected]> wrote: > After graduating in 2009 I have bounced around a number of jobs, some of > which were in my career field (ecology), some were not. So I took the > advice of my former professors and volunteered. Since returning from > France this summer as a volunteer ecologist for A Rocha international (due > to intense competition and few opportunities) I have been largely unable to > find a suitable position as an ecologist in the NYC area. I have since > decided to broaden my search (nation wide), but have run into new > difficulties. > > The first problem is the wide distribution of information scattered about > the web. There seem to be any number of websites with ecological job > postings which makes it very difficult to search for openings. So many of > these sites are inadequate to say the least in terms of ease of use, search > options, job descriptions, contact information, salary, etc. Most of these > small sites are updated infrequently as well. The larger sites such as > Monster, are much easier to search and use, but do not list the same > positions as the smaller sites. > > The second problem is the apparent lack of information and direction > available concerning ecological work outside of academia. I am well aware > of the great number of private companies that hire scientists for any > variety of work in the private sector, yet there seems to be very little > anyone can tell me about these companies or the general kinds of work > available to an ecologist. I've been able to contact a few people through > linked in about the companies they work for, but outside of direct contact > with employees, there is little to be found out about the private sector. > > The third issue that comes to mind are the postings on this list-serve. > Most postings for job opportunities are for grad students, or research > assistants with advanced degrees. I have seen a few postings for work in > the public sector, but to my knowledge there has not been any mention of > opportunities within the private sector. The thought occurred to me that > there must be other list-serves geared towards job ops in general, yet I > haven't come across any. To clarify, the jobs that I have been looking for > are those that focus primarily on fieldwork and reporting such as baseline > ecological evaluations, species identification, etc, and less on permitting > and phase I and phase II assessments. > > I am hoping that some of you will be able to address these issues and/or > respond with some helpful information in regard to finding a job in the > private sector that will be worthwhile in terms of gaining knowledge and > experience in the practical application of ecological principles. > > Ryan Metz >
