Nick shares some excellent advice about finding your role within the green industry.
“What you really care about will be your motivation, your rocket fuel, to drive your purpose.”
Highlights:
Nick explored various roles within the conservation sector before he found his passion was helping other people progress their careers in conservation
Nick loves that his role creates a positive impact in the conservation world by helping people find where they can benefit the cause
He shares excellent advice on how to find a green career once you find your passion
My passion for conservation started when I used to go fishing as a teenager. I became very interested in watching birds, plants and insects, and being immersed in nature. At Uni, where I studied biology, specialising in ecology, I spent a lot of time volunteering with the conservation group and local nature reserves. Whilst studying Barn Owls for my PhD, I found I really enjoyed being outside and studying nature. After various roles, including ecological consultant and roles in the charity sector, such as communication and fundraising, I realised that what I really wanted to do was to help other people find careers in wildlife conservation. I wanted to show people the diversity of green jobs out there and provide people with holistic and effective support to have successful careers within the sector. So, I started Conservation Careers 11 years ago, a place to provide the best support, advice and training opportunities to our members. My role is varied, I find people to create the courses and support them to develop the training material. I organise live events, interview interesting people for our podcast and work with all the people that make Conservation Careers who we are. I also learn how the business can grow, expand and change to reach out and help more people.
My career is about creating an impact in the world and helping people have happy, successful careers. The best moments for me are when we help someone get into a new role and play a part in progressing their career. I love talking to people years after they started their green career and finding out how they got to where they are and what they enjoy about their roles. I love helping people, seeing the difference we’ve made to a person’s life. The way I see it, I can have a career as a conservationist and do my bit, which is great. Or I can help hundreds or thousands of people to enter conservation. I see more impact when I do the latter!
Our role in the green agenda through Conservation Careers is to help people understand the green careers sector. There is such a diverse and expansive range of green positions out there and we help people navigate their options and find the right job for them. We provide people with the training and experience to make them more employable and then assist them with developing great application and interview skills. We are not looking to glorify conservation or the green sector as the perfect place that everyone should work within. We are honest and transparent with promoting the types of jobs available and advising how to secure a role yourself.
My advice for someone that has their career ahead of them would be to identify your cause, find your role and then gain experience:
Your cause is your rocket fuel!
Find what you are passionate about. What problems do you want to tackle? What changes do you want to make in the world? If you’re not sure, find the pattern in the books on your shelves, the conversations you have, the things you watch on YouTube and what you share on social media. What you really care about will be your motivation, your rocket fuel, to drive your purpose.
Your role is where you fit in to aid this cause.
Are you a communicator, or a fundraiser, or an organiser, or an ecopreneur? The cause is knowledge based, the role is skills based. What skills do you have that makes you uniquely different to make a difference for this cause.
Next, network!
Talk to people in these roles and causes. There will be lots of people that are happy to advise and support you, and you will get to where you want to be a lot more quickly and easily if you accept their support! You do not have to work from the ground up by yourself.
Then finally, experience the role!
Get involved, volunteer, find an internship. This will give you the experience you need to make you employable. It is also the best way to find out if you do love the role. And if you don’t, it is okay to find something else! You do not have to fight for one cause or do one role forever. You can change your mind and change your career path at any stage in life.
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