Job Profile

What does your job involve and what might a typical day involve?

There is no such thing as a typical day. My job involves a wide range of activities, but I spend approximately half my time inside doing paperwork and organising projects and the other half outside working with volunteers on projects.

My role as a project officer involves

• Creating and managing practical conservation projects for groups of volunteers
• Working with community groups and other organisations to organise environmental days and projects
• Organising and managing a programme of conservation holidays
• Managing Volunteer Officer placements

What qualifications and experience did you have before starting the job?

I have a degree in Rural Resource Management from the Scottish Agricultural College. This degree encompassed environmental science and business management. I have also gained experience whilst working as a farm labourer during my studies and then volunteering with the RSPB and BTCV.

What are the best and worst bits of your job?

The best part of my job is meeting a wide range of people with different backgrounds and abilities all of whom have come to volunteer for completely different reasons. I also get to travel around Scotland a bit (Isle of May, Colonsay and Arran) and of course just being outside whatever the weather!

The worst part is the lack of money and the difficulty in find funding to carry out projects, plus as ever the paperwork.

What satisfaction do you get from your work and how does it make a difference?

Seeing people who start off the day not very confident in their ability to carry out practical tasks learn and discover that they actually can do it. When walkers passing by a project stop to chat and thank the volunteers and are genuinely happy that some work is getting done to improve their environment. It is not just good for them but good for the volunteers and also good for me to hear our work is valued.

Do you have any tips for someone looking for a career in this area?

When looking for a job or work experience to gain employment try to narrow down what you actually want to do to certain areas of conservation (education, waste recycling, wildlife surveying, land management, communities). Then try to gain as much experience in it as possible, the more time you can devote to volunteering the better the experience you will gain. Then just apply for jobs and don’t get too disheartened not to hear back from them, there’s always another one just round the corner.

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