Animal Careers & Animal Jobs

Unusual Animal Careers Part Two
How to Research Animal Careers & Animal Jobs

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Animal careers, animal schools, & animal courses are just a few topics you will find here. You can read about careers with animals, discover animal programs, and enroll in unique animal career seminars. This is part three in an unusual animal career series. In this section you will learn about how to research jobs.

Editor's Note: This is the continuation of an ongoing series related to animal careers. To reap the benefits of all the tips and requirements of this series it is suggested that you read them in order. You can do this easily by going back to the animal career index page.

The first three parts of this series discussed types of careers and which ones might be appropriate for you, how to begin researching those career options, and how to find specific information in the area of your interest to help you further clarify your goals and contacts.

Once you have narrowed down what type of animals you are interested in, you should then begin to look at what specific area of interest you have in working with them. If you are interested in domestic animal care-taking, for instance, then you should consider such things as pet-sitting, humane society work, kennel attendant, or something related.

If you like the scientific side of things, you could get more into the medical area, and could consider studying to become a veterinarian, veterinary technician, laboratory technician, biologist, genetics specialist or something along those lines.

In the psychology realm, you could consider becoming an animal trainer, animal behavior consultant, or animal psychologist. There are also opportunities for studies on the human and animal bond from within the animal welfare area, and a variety of other types of work with therapy animals and related research from the clinical realm.

If you are interested in wild or exotic animal work, it gets more complicated. You need to ask the same questions as above, and decide where you want to ultimately be in your own country or another one? If you pick a foreign country, you will need to know what the culture is like, what languages are used, and what the political complications may be.

After you have decided what animals or species you are interested in, ask yourself if it is a realistic goal. Carefully review or list those animals that most attract you. Do you want to work with captive animals or wild animals? Any particular species? Marine mammals, terrestrial animals, or do you care? Where will you be in ten years if you are in that work? Do you want indoor or outdoor work?

You will need to really get a good feel about this to see if it is the right area for you, and what you will want to do for a career. For instance, many careers with animals do not pay well. If that is a concern, could you do animal work part-time? What about just helping from a volunteer or docent position? Once you narrow down what kind of work you are interested in and in what capacity, there are a few steps you can take.

One of the first things to do is to start reading related publications; this can be professional journals, books on the subject, and company or organizational reports. Many times your local public library or college/university library will have some of these specialty works. If not, check to see if some of your local professionals will refer you to a professional library source, or perhaps let you look at some of their personal subscriptions.

Another way to find out more about career opportunities, and what the positions in those career areas require, is to subscribe or check into the various scientific journals in that area of interest. Reading about those specific areas will help you find out what it is really like. It will also help you to find out who is doing what kind of work. Often, professional organizations and their publications are hard to find. Many will have student memberships, but you may have to find a sponsor in that profession or organization in order to subscribe or join as an associate/student member. Ask your librarian to point you to the reference books that lists organizations and journal publications related to your interests.

As you begin to read the articles and journals, look to see where the authors have studied or received their degrees, and explore to see if you would be interested in such studies, or in the topics published in that journal. If you aren't interested, then it probably is not an area of study you should pursue.

Before you contact anyone connected with these professional groups, you need to do a bit of research on your own. You will also need to keep your inquiry focused and to the point. Remember that when writing professional people, you will need to respect their time and input by carefully researching and preparing yourself PRIOR to contacting anyone.

People who work with animals receive many, many inquiries about careers with animals. Unfortunately, there are many people who contact them without thinking about what questions they want to ask, or who have not done any exploring or thinking through what it is they are interested in, and if it is even possible.

Writing a letter or e-mail without stating your area of interest, educational background, location (or desire to relocate) or why you are contacting someone is not advisable. Many times professionals will take the time to respond to someone who has thought out such things; while they may or may not drop a note to the person who has not bothered to consider that they might be very busy.

If you write something like, "Hi, I am interested in working with animals. Do you have any recommendations?" this does not give the person you have written any incentive to want to assist you. It is too much work to try and guess at your intent. Writing a letter to a busy professional should show respect and consideration of their valuable time. It also should show that you have taken the time to really research the topic and have a real interest in the field. Hundreds of people think they want to work with animals. Very few of them follow through, learn the options and do the work to achieve their goal.

Here are some things to do before you contact an organization or people related to one:

Research your topic
Have you asked the librarian for assistance? Have you checked with a career counselor? Have you checked the public library, or the college career library? What can you not find in the library or in journals that you need to ask about? Is there a specific group or individual that is the best source to contact for more information?

Research current programming
Have you been able to find programs related to your interest? Where are they? What are admission requirements? How is their placement? What will it take financially and otherwise to participate? Are there career advisors at those locations that you could contact?

Research the organization
How long have they been around? Do they have a mission statement? What are their goals? Who comprises the membership of the organization? How large is the membership? What do they do? What have they done? Do they have any publications they produce? Do they have regular or annual meetings?

Research the person
What is their area of interest? Where did they go to school? What work have they done? Are they published? How long have they been in the field? What else have they done? What could they specifically help you with that nobody else could? Are they the right contact person for you or is someone else better?

Once you have asked the above questions and answered them, you are ready to begin contacting some other sources for additional help. To do this you will want to include the following background in your one page letter:

• your name and mailing address
• where you live (city or country)
• if you will relocate
• what education you already have
• the area of interest you are contacting them about
• what species or animals you are interested in
• what you have found through your research
• what you are looking for
• what you need their help on
• other people or organizations you have contacted
• other questions you have
• thank them for their help in advance

You can begin your investigation by writing to the secretary of the organization, or the editor of the journal, and asking for recommendations to programs, or to other related professional associations or publications that you might join or subscribe to.

Once you have contacted the related organizations, the next step could be to contact published authors from the journals, or people you think would be appropriate to contact. These could be people you read about, who are currently working in the area you are interested in, or who are referred to you by the secretary of a professional association.

While you are doing this, you might also ask about what future projections they might have for your area of interest or their field of expertise, and the career options within it. If there is not a good future outlook for that job market, you might want to reconsider.

Unusual Animal Careers Part Three: How to Locate Animal Jobs

Diana Guerrero, author of this series, has extensive experience in many areas of the animal world. She offers animal career counseling and related programs.

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