Linking Students to Careers
It isn’t just students who dream about what they want to be “when they grow up.” Whether one looks back at a childhood fantasy career (like being the star basketball player), or at a future career that may take place after retirement (the novelist), we continue to grow and dream about what we can do to be fulfilled and happy in our lives.
We often get emails from students who are looking for information on careers. Fashion designer is popular. Anything related to sports is popular. The career that crosses genders is veterinarian.
We all know there are many jobs associated with the care and well-being of animals. There are jobs at animal shelters, pet stores and zoos. Aquariums, universities and museums also contribute in different ways to the welfare of animals. I know of one person, very close to me (my daughter), who has her heart set on being an animal photographer.
The Occupations Outlook: An Exploration for Teens is a reference book for young people which also includes careers which may be of interest to those who want to work with or for animals. These jobs include cat breeders, ranchers, fishers, marine biologists, park rangers, veterinarians, wildlife biologists and zoologists. Each occupation also includes the cluster from the Careers for Me interest inventories, its Holland Code, and the Department of Education’s career cluster.
Some websites offer great career information on a variety of jobs related to animals. For instance, the San Diego Zoo includes the people behind the scenes on the business end who are critical to keeping the zoo open for visitors. Young people may not think about it much, but those workers are important for the residents who call the zoo their home. (If they could talk, of course!)
Here are just a few you can add to your list for young people researching. These are also on our links page. If you find more good sites, please email us so we can add them. We will be adding more links which will be helpful for your students to collect good career information.
Sites with Career Information Related to Working with Animals
http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/animatedjourneys/aboutvets/aboutvetsfl.asp - veterinarian, veterinary technician
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/jobs_science_watching.html -working with animals, plants, science and conservation, people, running the zoo
http://www.mbayaq.org/lc/kids_place/kidseq_careers.asp - marine science (aquarist, ed specialist, exhibits coordinator, exhibit designer, research biologist, science writer)
http://www.uga.edu/~lam/kids - maintained by the Large Animal Medicine Department of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia