Podcasts Culture Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson SHED SESSION - Everything I Know About Landing a Job in the Conservation World

SHED SESSION - Everything I Know About Landing a Job in the Conservation World

Published: Aug. 1, 2023, 8:21 p.m.

For years now, listeners have been emailing me with many different versions of the same basic question:

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\u201cHow do I get a job in the conservation world?\u201d

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Some of the inquiries come from college students or young professionals, while others come from folks who are deep into a specific career path but want to make a change. I\u2019m always happy to receive these messages, and I\u2019m flattered that anyone would think I have valuable advice to offer.

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Unfortunately, I\u2019ve never been able to provide what I believe to be a suitable answer, mainly because I could not do the question justice within the constraints of email or social media. And over the last few years, the volume of messages has reached a point that I simply cannot keep up with it all\u2013 so if you\u2019ve reached out and I have not responded, my sincere apologies.

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For (at least) the past three years, I\u2019ve been considering answering this question in podcast form, thinking the episode could serve as a detailed resource for anyone who asked the question\u2026 and for those who will in the future. But I\u2019ve procrastinated or rationalized reasons not to, mainly because I felt extremely uncomfortable about sitting by myself, blabbing my thoughts and ideas into a microphone. I never want to come off as a know-it-all or some kind of wannabe internet guru.

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But the volume of the incoming messages kept increasing, so I finally decided to put my ego and self-consciousness aside and just answer the question in podcast form.

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I wrote an eight-page outline that laid out everything I know about finding a job in the conservation world, then I sat down in The Shed and let \u2018er rip. The result is a ridiculously long soliloquy in which I put it all out there. I\u2019m calling it a SHED SESSION.

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Please keep in mind that this episode is simply a recounting of my own personal and professional experience\u2013 it\u2019s not some kind of one-size-fits-all \u201chack\u201d that will lead you directly to your dream job. I\u2019ve long said that I am the last person anyone should be asking for career advice, and there are certainly tons of people who are much more experienced and accomplished in conservation than I am.

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But for those of you who did ask, this episode is for you. I lay it all out, including: my specific career path; my specific job in the conservation field; skills that are needed in the conservation sector; why relationship building is the most important skill; how I built a deep and broad network in Colorado despite only knowing one person when I moved here in 2010; why I think networks are the most valuable assets; what I looked for when I was hiring for conservation roles; what you should look for (and avoid) in conservation organizations; pros and cons of working in non-profit conservation, book recommendations, and more. Links to everything are in the episode notes.

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Again, all of this is just my personal experience and my possibly weird ideas about doing purpose-driven work. For those of you who have reached out, I hope this adds some value. For everyone else, we\u2019ll be back to the regularly scheduled interviews later this week.

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Thanks for listening!

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

  • 3:12 - Intro, Questions, and Goals
  • 10:20 - Disclaimers
  • 13:58 - Discussion outline
  • 15:45 - My career path
  • 19:53 - My specific job in conservation
  • 22:30 - How I built a network from scratch
  • 40:01 - Advice on how to build a network
  • 48:55 - What I looked for when I was hiring
  • 54:39 - What you should look for in a conservation organization
  • 1:05:51 - Book Recommendations
  • 1:15:05 - Pros and cons
  • 1:22:22 - Closing thoughts

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