Conservation Placement Review

Each day had three to four talks made by either conservationist, that taught us about their jobs and the wildlife around them, or other workers who taught us specifically about getting jobs and how to apply. Through these talks, we also got to learn what opportunities there are in the industry. We also got put into discussion groups during the day and could share our ideas with others. We had time to start our group project to help engagement with children and wildlife through a social media campaign.

I developed my communication skills as well as my critical thinking as I was able to ask the lectures questions. It also helped my time management skills as we did a group project within a certain time frame which allowed me to make a timetable and we all called in at certain stages to feedback what we had done. I was able to pick out key points from the lectures that would aid me in the future.

It was really interesting to see all the roles that could be available to me. We got to hear about previous internships ran and volunteering opportunities people had taken part in. It was amazing to see how much help could be given to us to help us succeed in the future. One talk showed us that we could even get free mentoring to increase our job skills. It was lovely to hear first hand experience within wildlife conservation jobs.

Everyone was so friendly and talkative. The people who ran it always made us feel welcome, even over call, greeting us every morning and talking to us during breaks if we wanted. It was fun to see lots of people on call and have many discussions. The talks were kept interesting and engaging and the talks were so down to earth it was hard not to love the atmosphere. I definitely missed everyone once the virtual placement was over.

I absolutely loved it, I never felt bored. Nearly everything was new to me and it was so eye opening to learning about some things in a different way, for example cattle in the UK. They did a great job at picking out talkers and the schedule was made so that we were never kept listening for too long. Different topics were fit into a day and we always had time for discussion after the talks.

Yes

I think you need to surround yourself with nature and go into depth about conservation within the UK. It'll be handy to have background knowledge to allow for better questions and discussions. Don't take it too seriously, everyone was relaxed and comfortable during the sessions and it's a good way to get to express yourself. Keep finding opportunities like volunteering as it'll only help them to choose you to be apart of the placemt.