Finding a position in environmental consulting (i.e., "private sector") can be a challenging task, as can finding any gainful employment in today's economy. Finding an environmental consulting position in a niche as specific as previously described is limiting yourself to very few opportunities, in my humble opinion. If geography is limiting where one can work, then the scope of position may need to broaden. Vice versa may apply in some situations, but perhaps not all.
Employers in the private sector may use whatever means that they have found productive in the past or whatever means that may be developing as the market (the driving force in environmental consulting) develops to search for candidates for positions. Finding the "right fit" with qualified individuals in a timely manner is extremely difficult. Company websites, listservs, society websites/message boards/similar, contacts in the industry or field, professors, and...placement agencies are useful tools. Do NOT overlook that last avenue mentioned. I am not endorsing any one way of doing anything and having a diverse approach is important. Thank you. Bryan Gasper Senior Environmental Scientist/Wildlife Biologist Environmental Studies & Permitting Burns & McDonnell 9400 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 64114 [email protected] www.burnsmcd.com Proud to be one of FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Backus Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Best way to jump start a career in ecology 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 >
