Is a question I’ve been thinking a lot about recently.
I went into the final Bio Enterprise and Employability workshop, the Careers Café, hoping to gain some answers to this question.
The panel consisted of five Bangor graduates:
- Bethan Wynne Jones (2014 graduate, completed a masters Wetland Science and Conservation). Ecosystem and Climate Change officer at the Snowdonia National Park.
- Graham French (completed a Marine Biology degree in 1998, then a PGCSE in Outdoor Activities and Science in 2000). Lecturer in Education at Bangor University.
- Nia Jones (2003 graduate, completed an MSc in Ecology). The Living Seas manager at the North West Wales Wildlife Trust.
- Jon Cannon (1998 graduate, studied Marine Zoology). A Process Manager at Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water).
- Rhys Morgan (2012 graduate, completed a Masters in Zoology). The animal care technician at Bangor University.
Each speaker talked about their career after finishing studying at Bangor University, and gave advice about our future careers.
One common theme throughout their talks was the importance of volunteering. I discovered that volunteering has helped all of them before and during employment. I was happy to hear that they valued volunteering, as I do it when I can and feel it gives me valuable skills.
Overall, this was an enjoyable event (with the added bonus of free biscuits and coffee), which has given me a lot of possible career paths to think about. It was nice to see the variety of careers a zoology (or zoology-related) degree can lead to.
Although the Careers Café did not narrow down my career ideas, which I thought it might, it has broadened by horizons. I think doing a PGCSE degree at some point would be a useful asset for my career. I was slightly surprised when Graham French mentioned you could integrate an outdoor education aspect into a biology-based PGCSE at Bangor University, which is an aspect I feel I would enjoy.
At the moment, I’m writing assignments and revising, so career planning is on hold. However, this event may shape it in the future.
In the mean time, I’ll bear Errant Science’s advice in mind.
Barreleye Zoology 
Reblogged this on Wildlife Genetics and commented:
I’ve been asked similar questions quite often recently and sometimes it is difficult to give an answer that is supporting and honest at the same time. So I found it interesting to read the reflections of a student who has a clear view of what she wants and explores the possibility with a critical mind.
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Hi Katrina, great piece of writing, as we discussed we are publishing this article in our e magazine Holocene, hope that should be ok. Please let us know if you have any objection, otherwise we are going ahead. Thanks
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Hello, that will be OK. Could you email me a copy when it is published?
Thank you,
Katrina
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sure, it will be published after 20th of June
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