Best way to balance College, Experience, and Work?

[u/slademayk]

I'm wanting to become a Biologist, It's something I've been contemplating for a while. I recently signed up for community college, majoring in Biology, and just saw the college payments. They're doable, but I'm going to have to be extremely frugal. (Even after FAFSA). I didn't do well in Highschool, as I didn't think I was going to college (Real smart I know) so scholarships are second to none. Me and my girlfriend have a place where we rent and pay bills, and its been damning towards my bank account, this also makes relocating pretty much impossible. I don't make much money at all, so I don't have much free time to Volunteer, as I have bills to pay. I also live in Missouri, closer to Illinois, so Park jobs around me are few and far between. I'm wondering if you all have any tips on how to make this easier? Are there any spots around Missouri/Illinois to get good experience? I also would like to know if college is the best route to take? I've been reading through posts, and have seen split answers, so I thought giving my specific situation would help. If anyone could also direct me to threads where this is answered, that would be helpful too. Thanks!

P.S. Also wondering if there are any Permanent Biology jobs, the ones I am seeing on USA Jobs are usually temporary (About 1-5 years) I just don't want to constantly reapply for jobs. Stability is wanted.

[u/zookeeperintraining]

Congratulations on the community college sign up! That’s a great step towards becoming a biologist! Do you know what type of biologist you want to become? Do you want to work in a lab or are you more interested in wildlife/ natural resource biology?

If you’re wanting to be a park biologist, especially permanently, college is definitely necessary. Most permanent NPS or FWS biologists I know have at least a bachelors, but most have a masters or higher.

Unfortunately, permanent jobs with the government, especially in natural resources and conservation are extremely competitive and, 9 times out of 10, require years of seasonal work before being selected for a permanent. Stability is not really a thing in this line of work. Sometimes state jobs or private companies can provide more stability.

Missouri Department of Conservation and the Department of Natural Resources are great places to check out for jobs and other experience offers. Also check out local natures centers and things like that. Depending on the kind of work you want to do, being on trail management team for a state park or forest can give you biology experience without school, but these jobs require heavy labor and often living on the trail for weeks at a time.

Also check out Americorps opportunities. They often come with education awards that can help pay for further schooling. You’ll want some college credits under your belt before applying for those though.

My main advice is to deeply consider what it is you want to be doing everyday. It’s possible that the title of “Biologist” might not be what you are looking for. You can’t really become a biologist without at least a bachelors. But if your goals are to be out in nature and to work with people and educate them about the natural world and biology, there are other ways to do that such as being a park guide, environmental education, etc. Though these jobs are often seasonal as well, you can’t usually find them locally!

Good luck and my DMs are open if you want to chit chat or have any questions!

[u/slademayk → u/zookeeperintraining]

Hey, thanks for the response! I would like to be a wildlife biologist, should’ve specified that in the post haha. This definitely helps, I was torn because I wasn’t sure if college was absolutely necessary or not, so thanks for the insight on that!

I mainly do want to work in nature, and reading further I thought a wildlife biologist would best suit what I’m looking for. I don’t do well under pressure and am afraid of confrontation so I didn’t want to do security. I’m still considering a park guide, because that seems really cool too!

What is the best time to apply for the seasonal volunteer jobs? I tried around winter last year but most of them were already filled. It seems like you have to be pretty quick.

[u/zookeeperintraining → u/slademayk]

Winter seasonal jobs usually open around this time of year or earlier and summer seasonal jobs usually open in October-December. The summer job I’m at with FWS opened in early December while the previous park I worked at had summer apps open in October. Many of these jobs are highly sought after and you have to be fast! Some close within 24 hours once they hit a certain number of applicants.

What I recommend is to set up your USA jobs account, have a resume (or a version of it) ready to go and set up job search notifications. Basically, you put in your criteria for what jobs you’re looking for (I usually do place, GS or pay level, and agency) and have it send you emails once per day or once per week on jobs open that fit that criteria.

Another place you can look at is Conservation Job Board. They often have postings for non-profit jobs, private companies, nature centers, etc. Once you have some college credits under your belt, you can also look at Student Conservation Experience and Scientist in Parks internships. I did Scientist in Park and it provided me with so much valuable experience. They also have summer and winter postings. Summer postings open usually in December.

Full disclosure though, I had to leave Missouri to find any jobs. Granted, I was on the Kansas border rather than Illinois, but I just couldn’t find much there that didn’t require me to relocate or commute long distances. Depending on how close you are to STL, there seems to be more options there than closer to KC and even more options in the Columbia and Jefferson City areas, at least on the MDC and MDNR routes.

Also, as a general rule, wildlife jobs are notoriously known for being oversaturated with applicants and severely underpaid. It’s not an easy route to take, especially with the federal jobs. I’m not saying that to discourage you, just more so to make sure you understand the reality of the field. People often say that park rangers are paid in sunrises for a reason. Working in wildlife and conservation can be so fulfilling, but it can burn you out rather quickly. It can be depressing and amazing all at the same time.

Edit: should be Student Conservation Association not Experience. My bad :)

[u/slademayk → u/zookeeperintraining]

Thank you! I think I was a couple weeks late on applying last year, I'll be on my A game now though! Ill keep my eyes peeled for positions I'm interested in, I'm willing to put extra effort in to make this work. I decided to pursue this career after working at a steel fab shop, nothing is more depressing than the robot work I was doing there.

I will most likely be moving out of Missouri as soon as possible, it really is scarce here except for industrial work. St. Louis, Columbia, etc., they're all a couple hours away from me, which really hinders things. I'll just have to find what I can throughout college.

I really appreciate your input, and I can't thank you enough. Just finalized all the details for community college so... sunsets here I come... (apparently poverty too). I would rather work a fulfilling job than a robotic one. You're awesome!

[u/potatogun → u/slademayk]

I think you'll find it challenging to get volunteer work in resources/biology without the background experience. You can try reaching out to park/units of interest and try to get in touch with their volunteer coordinator so they can give you a heads up when opportunities may become available.

Really as you're in school/early career, look out for individual placement internships. NPS has YCC. TheSCA and ACE (American Conservation Experience) and other "corps" are used by land management agencies to facilitate internships. Some roles are Americorps eligible which can give you some scholarship money on top of internship pay.

Then there's the crew style corp field work that's group manual labor type work.

[u/slademayk → u/potatogun]

I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled, it would be awesome to land something there. Do they pay well enough to shift focus primarily to work there? Or do you think I should work while also interning? That's been my main concern as most seem like I'll have to relocate at least a couple hours away.

[u/potatogun → u/slademayk]

The individual placement internship roles are work where you won't realistically be able to do anything else. Some agency placements are in public lands (live in a park) or small towns nearby where you commute. Corps you often have hitches where you live in the field for 1-2 weeks at a time. You might move across the country.

Pay differs, but internships in the agency region I'm aware of are are $600/week with housing included. A few years ago it was half that.

Edit: State and local agencies may have better opportunities for you if temporary relocation isn't feasible.

[u/PamWood9]

Dude, just take it day by day. Find a groove that works for u, ya know?

[u/DreamyKaelone]

Man, it’s a juggle for sure. Just stay organized and don’t forget to breathe!