Trainee Ranger Review

I found the whole experience very enjoyable and rewarding as I already had an interest on the location and wanted to gain a better insight of the roles and work at Hengistbury Head. I would definitely consider it a potential career in the future. I found the work really engaging.

All members of staff were very friendly and welcoming. From my first day I was made welcome with a very relaxed atmosphere. I always felt valued and felt like i was making a difference with every job that I took part in.

I received comprehensive training when using machinery or before partaking a job either verbally, physically demonstrated or through the use of Power points so tasks were always extremely well explained with concise information. Each job was explained clearly, and I always felt comfortable asking for help if I needed it.

I feel that my placement has helped me develop skills that i didn't even have previously. I learned about environmental management and wildlife biodiversity which perfectly links in with my degree over the scientific areas. I also got to use my photographic skills in a documentary style which has definitely developed my experience in this area.

The work varied very much on what needed to be done in urgency and importance. At the start of each day I and other members of the team were briefed on what we were going to be doing. I found the structure effective as it made the work interesting and not repetitive. If a problem arose there was always a solution in order to complete tasks.

The atmosphere was very fun and sociable which I greatly appreciated. It made the working day go extremely fast and it made the jobs fast paced. Team members were always insightful and very experienced at their jobs making the atmosphere engaging as I was constantly learning new skills through them.

I felt that I was given tasks that I had the ability to incorporate my degree within, which was specifically my photography. Each job enabled me to document the process but also take part in as well. My photographs may potentially be used by the company for social media coverage, which was personally investing towards me. Making my photography feel relevant.

A significant extent... I had the opportunity to view a range of rolls throughout the company giving me an insight on the career diversity. Also the work I performed provided me a first hand on the job content from day to day. I found this aspect very enjoyable to view .

The Insight helped me greatly in understanding the company culture, through learning about the diversity of wildlife species residing within the site. Also through working alongside the ranger team I experienced how crucial and important their work is in protecting the habitat biodiversity, through their environmental management. In this regard the placement was extremely helpful!

The content of the days greatly varied showing me a broad range of differing jobs that are achieved over the course of a single working day. I found the content extremely valuable, and feel from leaving this experience that I may be involved in documentary style photography depicting environmental safeguarding, regarding wildlife biodiversity. I found my photographic placement role very engaging and rewarding which has made me consider this genre of image making as a potential career choice in the future.

I was not paid or reimbursed during this experience as it was a module confirmed through my university and the work placement. It was completely voluntary. I don't feel that I needed to be paid as I was providing a photographic service for the organisation and they were providing me an engaging work placement which I learnt a lot of new skills from.

Yes, I met a number of employees who each had differing roles in the company which were explained to me in depth. This was helpful in building an overall picture on the different job roles that are present within the organisation. It was interesting learning about the roles from each member of staff.

As I was only present for a short amount of time no social events took place. However I have been given the opportunity to network by potentially helping the organisation with future events through my photographic practice. I look forward to this as this will enable me to effectively network my photography not only towards the organisation but other surrounding areas.

There are a number of opportunities for members of staff and placement students to take part in free training outside of the work place. These can aid and contribute to their job skills. The training can range from wildlife identification to bird song identification which are extremely useful, regarding the job roles on the site.

I would definitely recommend this placement to a friend as I have found the overall experience very positive and have left with essential skills which I did not have previously. I would especially recommend it to individuals who are on my degree as the forms of work that the organisation perform, are directly relevant to our course content!