Animal Jobs Digest

No Experience With Animals? These Skills are Transferable

By Animal Jobs Digest July 2, 2016All articles, Career options, Featured articles2 Comments

By Paula Fitzsimmons

Are you a career-changer considering a switch to the animal care and welfare sector? If you’ve worked in fields like business, communications, or another nonprofit category, you may already have what you need to find a job working for animals.

Sure, veterinarians, humane law officers, and animal behaviorists, to name a few, need specialized skills and experience. But animal welfare organizations need people with other talents, too. One requirement that is non-negotiable? A love for animals and a desire to improve their lives.

The following is a look at several transferable careers . . .

Shelter Medicine: An Emerging Veterinary Specialty That Offers Hope

By Animal Jobs Digest May 24, 2016All articles, Career options, Experts & interviews, Featured articles

By Paula Fitzsimmons

Rescues are filled with animals who have suffered to some degree in their previous lives. Then there’s shelter life, rife with its own unique challenges – from the stress of being in a new environment, to increased vulnerability to outbreaks.

Balancing the needs of individual animals with that of the group’s isn’t a cake walk for shelter staff, either.

Purrfect Work: Career & Business Ideas for Cat Lovers

By Animal Jobs Digest May 9, 2016All articles, Career options, Featured articles

By Paula Fitzsimmons

Have you ever thought about turning your passion for cats into paying work or a profitable business, but weren’t quite sure how to make that happen? You may be surprised at the variety of options available to you – and at the number of organizations seeking your passion and special skills.

I know, because opportunities working with cats and other animals regularly get posted on the Animal Jobs Digest jobs page.

Essential Job Skill: Speaking Up for Animals

By Animal Jobs Digest April 25, 2016All articles, Featured articles, How-to succeed

By Paula Fitzsimmons

If you want a career advocating for animals, you’ll need to get comfortable speaking out for them. Being their voice is an enormous responsibility, and can feel intimidating, but learning a few basic skills can help you speak out effectively . . .without losing your sanity in the process.

Some careers require more advanced communication skills than others – a public relations manager will obviously need to speak out more than an animal caregiver, for instance. Regardless of your position, you’ll need decent communication skills, because you’re representing not only yourself, but an entire organization.

Practicing even one of these tips can make a difference.

Keeping Informed for the Animals: New Book Club Series Can Help

By Animal Jobs Digest April 11, 2016All articles, Reviews, Tools for success

By Paula Fitzsimmons

What are the biggest threats to the Grauer’s Gorilla? How about to the Monarch Butterfly or the Lemur Leaf Frog? Switching channels, do you know what political action committees do, and how they differ from nonprofits? Or which animals are protected under the Animal Welfare Act?

Why am I asking these assorted questions? Because understanding the issues impacting animals is essential to being a powerhouse advocate. It’s impossible to know everything about everything . . . admittedly, I didn’t know what the Lemur Leaf Frog looked like, or that it was even endangered, until I did a little research. But the more you do know, the more effective you can be.

Overcome the Barriers in the Way of Your Animal Protection Job

By Animal Jobs Digest April 1, 2016All articles, Featured articles, Inspiration & ideas

By Paula Fitzsimmons

What do you believe is holding you back from finding your animal dream job – No college degree? Lack of experience? Your location? What may seem like a barrier may very well be nothing more than a minor setback, or even perhaps the prelude to an even better opportunity.

You may very well have legitimate reasons for not being able to accomplish what you want to do right now: Vet school is too competitive; family obligations are preventing you from pursuing that advanced degree; you can’t accept an internship because you’re working two jobs. Situations arise . . . I get that.

The Freedom of Flexibility: Customize Your Own Animal Welfare Career

By Animal Jobs Digest March 23, 2016All articles, Career options, Featured articles

By Paula Fitzsimmons

Like it or not, we’ve entered a new economy. Today’s workforce looks different than it did a decade ago – and remotely resembles the one-career-for-life model of the pre-1990s. An increasing number of workers are cobbling together part-time jobs, freelance gigs, and small business ventures in order to eke out a full-time living.

Reach Out to Potential Employers with a Letter of Introduction

By Animal Jobs Digest March 15, 2016All articles, How-to succeed, Tools for success

By Paula Fitzsimmons

Searching for a solid way to reach out to potential employers? Consider sending a letter of introduction. As a freelance writer, I use LOIs to reach out to editors and clients, and ultimately land paying gigs. They’re an essential part of the professional freelancer’s arsenal, but they can also be used to land a job in just about any field, including animal welfare and care.

A Career as a Conservation Canine Handler: Part 2, Do You Have What it Takes?

By Animal Jobs Digest March 9, 2016All articles, Career options, Experts & interviews, Featured articles2 Comments

By Paula Fitzsimmons with Jennifer Hartman

Conservation canines and their handlers are playing a vital role in wildlife protection. Dogs have an unrivaled ability to detect scat from dozens of species – scientists use these samples to learn more about a wild population’s behaviors, movements, and feeding patterns. This data is valuable not only in fighting wildlife crimes, but it can aid in forming effective and humane wildlife management policies.

The dogs, who primarily come from rescues, have to possess certain characteristics to make the cut – namely, a playful spirit, boundless energy, and the ability to work in the field for hours at a time.

Wildlife Defenders: A Career as a Conservation Canine Handler (Part 1)

By Animal Jobs Digest March 2, 2016All articles, Career options, Experts & interviews, Featured articles

By Paula Fitzsimmons with Jennifer Hartman

With wildlife poaching at epidemic levels and time the enemy, fighting these crimes has never been as critical. Conservationists fortunately have effective tools at their disposable, most of them technological in nature – DNA analyses, acoustic traps, and radio collars, to name a few. But one tool, which some conservationists claim is even more effective, turns out to be our four-legged canine friends.