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All my life I have longed to protect nature, but what careers would allow me to do this?

I have never been a confident speaker, nor have I ever desired learning about laws or policies, but I love to be outside working with my hands. Whatever career I choose, I would love to know I am making a direct, positive impact on the natural world. #environmentalist #high-school-student #college #high-school #environmental-science #green-jobs #nature #career-path #careers

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Jason’s Answer

Megan,

Have you ever looked into trail crews? Most federal land agencies have them as do many state parks. Youth Conservation Corps could be a good start. Also try checking out Student Conservation Association for outdoor internships. Great way to get some field experience. You can also look into AmeriCorps programs. National Civilian Community Corps is a great gap year option that will get you some experience in environmental work.

If you want to be in nature and work really hard consider looking into wildland firefighting. Great way to protect nature and work in amazing places. If that interests you look into Wildland fire academies in your region to get your basic level certifications then start applying for jobs on usajobs.gov. All federal jobs are listed on that site. Hope this information gives you a starting point. If you have questions about opportunities I mentioned feel free to comment on this and I’ll get back to you. Good luck.
Thank you comment icon I participated in the Student Conservation Association as a trail maintenance intern the summer between high school and college. It was a great experience, living outside and working with a team. I now help build trails around the country with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - that experience helped me get to my career today! Just keep trying things out, more experience can help you narrow down your interests. Kevin Belanger
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Ken’s Answer

Congratulations on being interested in finding the right career to follow. It takes a special person to enter into a specific career field and meet the demands which that career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make one successful in that area. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow people doing what you might think that you want to do to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside.  When I was doing college recruiting, I encountered too many students, who skipped these important steps, and ended up in a career/job for which they were ill suited.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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