Life after university as a conservationist

Laura talks about her experience of looking for a job after university, the barriers she faced and how she overcame them.

If you are currently studying at university, I bet the most common question you’ve been asked by friends and family is, ‘What are you going to do once you’ve graduated?’ this can be a very daunting question. In this blog, we’ll take a look my journey so far and the barriers I have faced as a conservation graduate - in the hope that you feel more at ease about life after graduation.

I don’t have ‘5 years of experience’

If you have been looking at job descriptions, I’m sure you’ll have noticed that lots of jobs state they want ‘5 years of experience’, which makes hunting for an entry-level career difficult. I used to think, ‘how can I get a job if they require me to have experience and in order to get that experience, I need a job?’ however, experience doesn’t have to be 100% conservation-related. Is there a job you can get that will develop the skills you need for your dream job? Seize that opportunity!

I would love to work in science communication – particularly the presenting side - whether it is on TV, YouTube or doing in-person talks. I want to ignite a spark of passion for nature in people and encourage them to care for the world around them. For the past eight months, I’ve been working as a student content creator and, while it isn’t conservation-related, it involves me creating vlogs, social media content and being in films to advertise the university - all of which improve my confidence in front of a camera, bringing me one step closer to my dream job.

Internships are also a great way to get experience and get paid - especially as many are purposely designed for students and graduates. I did an internship with the Natural History Consortium after I graduated, and it was incredibly worthwhile. The team I worked with were excellent at making sure I gained as much experience out of my internship as possible; I learnt so much about running large-scale events and social media campaigns.

A young woman looks directly into the camera smiling with a large bug on her face — Laura at her job at Bristol Zoo

I don’t have time to volunteer

I have heard lots of people talk about the challenges of balancing work with getting volunteering experience – I totally understand where they are coming from. I’ve been volunteering at Bristol Zoo whilst studying for my Masters alongside working three casual jobs. It is hectic and it takes discipline, but it is possible! The key is working out what you can manage with your schedule. When I chose my jobs, I made sure they were zero hours contracts so that I could pick up shifts that fit well around my study. Then, if I reach a busy assignment period with my Masters, I do fewer hours of volunteering. Therefore, I’d advise you to volunteer with an organisation that can offer flexible volunteering hours (even if you only manage to volunteer once a month, you will still benefit from it).

I don’t have the finances to volunteer

Do you want to volunteer abroad on a conservation project, but don’t have the funds? Fear not! You could do a sponsored event such as a litter-pick – not only are you raising money to go and carry out fantastic conservation work but you’re helping your local wildlife and community in the process (on your CV, this will clearly demonstrate your heart for the natural world in a very practical way). I did a sponsored litter-pick in 2020 and joined quite a few litter-picking groups (a great place to find them is on Facebook). I met so many lovely people who really cared for their local environment, so much so that they’d give up a couple of hours every weekend to clean it up.

A young woman with curly hair wearing a high vis jacket is litter picking — Laura doing her sponsored litter-pick

I hope that sharing some of my experiences after graduation has made you feel more at ease about life after university as a conservationist or has inspired your next step.