Many tales of woe that I think many of us share in some form or another. A little while back, when I was in the position of having finished grad school, finishing the job I had for a year out of it and not knowing what was coming next I asked the Ecolog community for some assistance in finding where to look. The support from the community was overwhelming and I complied the advice I received into a posting of places to look for work (job boards and such) that will, hopefully be of use to some people.
The link is below: http://writingfornature.wordpress.com/links-to-interesting-blogs/finding-work/ Best of luck to everyone searching for work. It is a satisfying but unforgiving and harsh field we have chosen. Neahga On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > Yes, yes, YES! > > I literally worked my way up from cotton-picker, through shoveling shit, > slaughter house, nursery, landscaping--which I decided was bs and started > trying to work out how to restore damaged ecosystems and integrate local > flora into landscaping, making lots of money but finding it unsatisfying. I > sat down and filled out, with an old Remington typewriter and carbon paper, > forty applications to forty forests all over the US. I got one response and > one job--tree surveying and type mapping at GS-4 pay, ($4,440 per year) > less than half of what I was making in landscraping, but much, much more > satisfying--best job I ever had, taking walks in the woods, coring trees, > mapping, photo interpretation, etc. The second year I got promoted to GS-5. > After three years, with the draft on my heels, I joined the Air Force, > worked in electronic interception, then routing atomic bomb strikes, got > out and went back to school, taking 18 units again, and worked more than 40 > hours per week for a couple of years until "graduation," which I did not > attend. Then went to the mountains for a year, studying on my own and doing > odd jobs. The into the park business for 11 years, continuing to develop > and test ways of accelerating the development of ecosystems (aka > "restoration") on disturbed sites (road rights-of-way, landfills, and other > large-scale stuff. Tired of the bureaucracy, I quit and opened my own > consulting business, which I did for 21 years. I never had a project > failure in all that time, and I got to learn more and more with each > project. > > Was this the "hard" way? I suppose so. But satisfying, and even the > literal shit work taught me something. Academia gave me wonderful things > (thanks to a handful of GREAT professors), and it gave me fits. > > As Malcolm says, just DO it! Work your way around the world. Take any job > you can get. Make a lot of mistakes, but don't kid yourself that you are > God's gift to the world because you've suffered the slings and arrows of > outrageous academia. To thine own self be true. Read "Valuing the Self," by > Dorothy Lee. Follow your passion, and scrub the egocentrism out of your > heart and mind. Don't hold back; don't fear. Most of all, don't whine. > > "'Tis friction's brisk, rough rub that provides the vital spark!" --A. R. > Martin > > WT > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "malcolm McCallum" < > malcolm.mccallum@HERPCONBIO.**ORG <[email protected]>> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 10:48 AM > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Careers in Conservation: Crossing the Barren Waste > > > > I am posting this response to the entire list in case it helps out others. > > After I completed my MS in environmental biology in 1994, I came home. > I had the opportunity to enter a PHD right away, but opted to go home > and look for work to help out with a family health issue. When I > returned home I applied for positions with the Illinois Department of > Conservation and the Illinois Natural History Survey repeatedly with > no real luck. I also applied reaptedly to the federal government, but > the job prospects there were largely nil. I spent about 4 years > looking for positions and got two federal offers with the then Soil > Water Conservation Districts as a technician, one landscaping offer, > and a research post at the INHS. I managed to wreck my car > immediately after acquiring the INHS post and had no money to buy a > new one or travel to do that temporary job. I also worked as an urban > wildlife biologist (pest catcher) with critter control for about 6 > weeks and left. During this time, I got by teaching as a substitute > teacher in three different school districts, and teaching as an > adjunct at over a dozen colleges and universities. None of this paid > all that much. During this time I was trying to study leopard frogs at > a small pond and stumbled on to a lot with abnormalities. This made > the St. Louis TV and newspapers at the same time that I was applying > for a education position at an aquarium I never heard of. In 1997 I > was hired as an educational specialist at that aquarium for $20K. > After 6 weeks, they moved me to proposal writing and ultimately within > a year was director of research and grants. During that job, I was > trying to write a research proposal to the USEPA to work on amphibians > up and down the Mississippi R basin. I networked a series of > universities that were located near the MS R and learned of the new > PHD program at Arkansas State. I met Stan Trauth and ended up leaving > my job at the aquarium to do my doctorate. I stepped into it knowing > the market stunk, that I had tons of deficiencies for the job market, > and what it took to get a phd. My eyes were wide open. I entered and > took the exact courses I had missed in most federal jobs and state > jobs to date. In my case it was Immunology, animal ecology, > ecotoxicology, and a few others. I went on to get my PHD adn was > fortunate to be hired to a series of academic and nonacademic jobs > each with their positives and negatives. > > What I have learned from this process and in talking with others is > that if you are doing you will do, and if you are thinking about doing > you will continue to think about doing. You can't get anywhere > thinking about doing. IF I had not been at that pond turning over > bark, I would not have found the deformed frogs, they would not have > made TV, my future boss at the aquarium would not have seen the story, > I would not likely have been hired, I would not have constructed that > proposal, I would not have learned of ASU's PHD program, would not > have met Stan Trauth. WHo knows if I would ahve ever earned a PHD, or > later got hired anywhere? > > But that is not what happened. Today, I recognize that you have to do > with what you got. Everyone is not in a perfect job, everyone does > not have perfect opportunities. BUt, if you work hard on your own you > can make your opportunities and force the issue so you move forward. > This is what employers want, people with initiative to do it anyway. > Everything matters except the excuses. So, take your own reigns, who > knows you might find yourself at the right place at the right time and > everythign will work out. If you are sitting around feeling sorry for > yourself and your situation, you will probably be the only one > thinking about you and your situation. Academia, government, or start > up a private consultancy, you can win your own game. > > Maybe, this story will give you some ideas. > > Malcolm McCallum > > > On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 9:26 AM, R K <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I would like to know if there's anyone else out there who has fought >> their way through grad school, and finished with a real sense of >> accomplishment, only to discover the utter impossibility of finding a job >> in conservation science, the sham of building a career in this field. I >> would like to know if there are any others who have gone a year or more >> since graduation with no work, no prospects, and no hope left. >> >> I'm not looking for career advice, especially not from all those who >> feel so very proud and superior to have a job where I do not. I've had >> enough contempt, scorn, and smug cold amusement to last me a lifetime. If >> you're employed, count yourself fortunate and move along. >> >> I'm not here to start a discussion; I'd just like to know if there's >> anyone else living in the same place right now. If you've gone through the >> endless rounds of application and rejection, if you poured yourself into >> hopes that have gone to barren dust, I'd like to hear from you. Send me a >> reply off-list. >> >> > > > -- > Malcolm L. McCallum > Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry > School of Biological Sciences > University of Missouri at Kansas City > > Managing Editor, > Herpetological Conservation and Biology > > "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - > Allan Nation > > 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert > 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, > and pollution. > 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction > MAY help restore populations. > 2022: Soylent Green is People! > > The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) > Wealth w/o work > Pleasure w/o conscience > Knowledge w/o character > Commerce w/o morality > Science w/o humanity > Worship w/o sacrifice > Politics w/o principle > > Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any > attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may > contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized > review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not > the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and > destroy all copies of the original message. > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1427 / Virus Database: 2441/5375 - Release Date: 11/05/12 > -- Neahga Leonard *There is not just a whole world to explore, there is a whole universe to explore, perhaps more than one.* http://writingfornature.wordpress.com/
