As a BCIT student, one thing is going to be on your mind all the time: jobs. Inevitably, everything you do at BCIT is to help you get a job. Most of your instructors have had industry jobs before teaching at BCIT. You have guest lecturers that have awesome jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs.
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Eventually, I’ll get a job working in a place like this!
As it’s mid-January of my last semester in FWR and the end is fast approaching, I’m starting to put a lot of time and effort into job-hunting. I’ll most likely be going back to BCIT next year for the Ecological Restoration program, so just a summer job for now. Most summer jobs in the environmental field work sector run May till August, and are in Alberta.
I’ve been getting a few job postings from my instructors, and there are lots of resources you can use while at BCIT. I’ve been extremely impressed with the instructor’s commitment in helping you find work – it’s been a great help.
Here are a few things I’ve learned while applying for jobs, in the environmental sector anyway -
1. Tailor your resume to the job. This is probably one of the most important (and obvious) steps, but the most tedious (to me anyway) … if it’s an interpreter job, stress your communication skills. If it’s working with wildlife, talk about all the wildlife work you’ve done in the past. It’s time-consuming to change your resume and your cover letter, but well worth it.
2. Get as many qualifications as you can. The first week of my first semester in FWR, we took first aid, transportation endorsement, chainsaw safety, bear safety, and basic fire suppression. These things really help when employers are hiring.
3. Don’t expect too much. If it’s an entry level job, it won’t pay you $100k a year. Of course pay is super important, but so is experience … and it can hold you back to only apply for jobs over a certain pay grade.
4. Be open to new experiences. There are so many summer field jobs out there working with a variety of different things! Who says you can’t work with amphibians or invasive species??
5. Don’t be afraid of rejection. You’ll get a lot of it… it’s a small field with a lot of competition. Kind of an everybody-knows-everybody situation. You’ll find something eventually. We had a guest lecture in yesterday, a FWR grad from last year, who didn’t find a job until the graduation party last year (he worked as a naturalist in Robson Bight with orcas).
Image may be NSFW.
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- I saw orcas at Saturna Island this summer, and it was the highlight of my summer!
Anyways, time to go apply for some more jobs… until next week!
Cheers,
Audrey
