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Daughter Looking to move West

Muskeez

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My oldest daughter, Carlee, now 21, whom many of you have seen me post antelope and mule deer hunting stories about here on HT, is graduating from college in May. Her degree is Fisheries and Wildlife Management from SDSU in Brookings, SD. Like many of her classmates she is finding that the job market in her field is slim. Her and another female F&W graduate are looking to move out west and look for a career in a different field if necessary.
Now for the father bragging points; She is graduating in the top 10% of her class, one sharp little lady! She was raised to be and is a dang hard worker and not afraid to get dirty or bloody. She has to live somewhere with good access to hunting and fishing or she will go crazy! She loves to hunt all big game and fishes as often as possible at school. She is open to all career paths other than waitressing at this point. She will live with her friend and share rent wherever they both can find a job. A few years ago she moved to Rapid City, SD area on her own and worked as a horseback riding guide for a summer job. She worked from 8 am till sunset nearly every single day, I think she had a total of 5-7 days off for the entire summer, so she isn't afraid of sweat, and hard work. On the other hand she is a very pretty young lady who also likes to look nice and stay fit. Last summer she worked for SD GF&P as a fisheries intern, pulling nets and talking to fishermen doing creel surveys and Aquatic invasive species education, so she can also work well with the public and talk with strangers.
My point of posting this is to ask you guys that if you know of any jobs out your way I would appreciate it if you could reply or pm me of any opportunities that you think she should look into. So far she is thinking MT, WY, or CO, and I am voting for SD so that she isn't so far from home :)
Thanks for any advice guys and gals!
Clayton
 
You know, how about looking at going to Montana State here in Bozeman for some sort of advanced degree? There's a FWP office on campus and I know they don't have the interns they normally have working for the information officer. I don't know if that's because of budget or what, but Andrea Jones is the information officer. Maybe give her a call.
Also, I have a friend who's wife has a nutrition degree. She is a bank president now. She started as a teller and worked her way up. I see all the tellers at Big Sky Western Bank move on to other positions so its a bank with some upward mobility. But being a teller would get her foot in the door.
 
Has she considered graduate school? A Master's degree would make her a much more competitive candidate.
 
Has she considered graduate school? A Master's degree would make her a much more competitive candidate.

I would strongly encourage her to consider this. The field is becoming more competitive each year. I have friends that finished Master's that are still working tech jobs until the right job opens.

I'm sure she is familiar with all the job sites. But I would encourage her to get after it and work the tech circuit for a bit.
 
Trump & Co is planning (or already has) to lift the hiring freeze. She may see a push for open positions in the next 30 days. Fisheries and Wildlife Mgmt will be next to impossible to get without a masters. There are just too many applicants for so few jobs. Last year we had PhD students apply for entry level positions...neither were selected

http://swcdm.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2015/12/SGI_Position_Annoucement_Roundup_Malta_March2017.pdf Closing date is Friday...this will get their feet in the door
 
Thanks for all the replies so far guys! So far she is considering abandoning the F&W field. She loved her studies but like others have said when Masters degrees and beyond are required to get $12/hr jobs, it may just be time to consider a completely different field of work. She is keeping an open mind but the market is dismal at best.
 
Take the Masters degree in a different field. Done all the time. An exciting time of life, but full of worry,
 
Ditto what others have said. We often have 100+ applicants per open seasonal position and many of them have Master's or PhDs. Combine that with the worst job market I've seen in my career, and I just don't think a wildlife career is a smart move for someone just starting out these days. Hell, I'm not even sure it's a smart move for me these days but unfortunately many of the skills are not highly transferable to many other things.

The downside of a wildlife degree is just that...it doesn't transfer to other professions very well. She may do well to take a two year certificate in something with a better job outlook. I think some sort of technical certification in healthcare would likely pay for itself in pretty short order, and you can find a job nearly anywhere (at least compared to wildlife).
 
Thanks for all the replies so far guys! So far she is considering abandoning the F&W field. She loved her studies but like others have said when Masters degrees and beyond are required to get $12/hr jobs, it may just be time to consider a completely different field of work. She is keeping an open mind but the market is dismal at best.
If she wants to stay in the field, or a related field (Botany, Range, etc), I'd still highly recommend her to pursue an MS. The degree and willingness to move will open some doors for her. There are jobs in those fields that do a bit better than $12/hr.

If she's considering a switch, I strongly suggest nursing or a nurse practitioner. Jobs just about everywhere with good pay and benefits. If she goes this route my wife would strongly suggest she get a Bachelor's level nursing degree.
 
She loses nothing (in this field biologist's opinion) by spending a year or two doing low-paying field jobs in cool places. If she's able to land one job and does well, it's a lot easier to land the next one or come back to the same one the next season. She'll grow up a lot in the meantime and have more focus when she comes back to do an advanced degree in biology or something else. We see it all the time here. The kids in grad school I work with who have come straight out of undergrad are at a bit of a disadvantage experience-wise compared to those who've lived without running water in the back country of Arizona or the Amazon and learning from beyond a book and classroom.
This is the kind of person any graduate program is looking for (if she wants to do an advanced degree):
http://www.themeateater.com/podcasts/episode-054-carmen-vanbianchi/

Otherwise, yeah, health field or computers will allow her to go wherever she wants when she gets done with that degree/certificate.
 
God bless. Mine is 24 and one of the hardest things in life when she left the nest.

Have her look at SLC. Lots and lots of young people with large percentage from out of state. Strong economy, low unemployment and the outdoors lifestyle attracts them.

Significant number of federal and state jobs in the state which would allow her to keep looking for something in her field.

You might also suggest she look at the fire crews for a summer. They start them off for the first couple of years away from the hot zone.

SLC article - http://www.cntraveler.com/galleries...-american-cities?mbid=social_facebook_aud_dev

She might be interested in looking at this current opening.
Job #: 11830
Job Title: Wildlife Recreation Events Specialist
Opening Date/Time: Wed. 04/05/17 12:00 AM Mountain Time
Closing Date/Time: Sun. 04/16/17 11:59 PM Mountain Time
Salary: $15.48 - $24.56 Hourly
Job Type: Full Time
Location: Salt Lake County, Utah
Department: 560 Department of Natural Resources
 
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I'm sure the basic requirements for her degree are pretty similar to most B.S. degrees. These would transfer into a nursing program. There may be a few courses she will need to add, each program always has a few. There is literally an explosion in the health care field. She is not bothered by blood and guts which opens all branches of surgical positions and Physicians Assistant jobs. The PA does all kinds of work without the responsibility of the M.D. or the time requirements. Then she can go anywhere. GJ
 
I'll put the plug in for the Springs. 3 colleges and 4 military bases in town (so plenty of young people and federal jobs), pretty decent job market and close to the mountains. Great place to live with tons of parks, trails and amenities and not too expensive. If she is good with getting out of the city but still wants to be close I would also suggest Woodland Park. It is up in the mountains with lots of outdoor stuff going on. Not as "young " of a place but a good deal cheaper housing wise. Another thought, though it would come at a price, would be hospitality jobs in the resort towns. I have a buddy whose daughter just graduated from IU and got a job in Crested Butte. One of my favorite resort towns, still pretty western. Just some ideas.
 
Might look into one of the environmental management fields. The geoengineering companies seem to have openings frequently, and she would still get to spend some time in the outdoors, oftentimes in some very cool country. It's not what I do, but I interact with them fairly frequently.
 
Might look into one of the environmental management fields. The geoengineering companies seem to have openings frequently, and she would still get to spend some time in the outdoors, oftentimes in some very cool country. It's not what I do, but I interact with them fairly frequently.

I've worked in the environmental/civil construction field for about 20 years, there are plenty of opportunities, especially if you are willing to travel. I chose to work about 4 or 5 months away from home, but the pay is amazing and the scenery in southeastern MT and Wyoming is hard to beat. Things are somewhat slow currently, but she should check into a field resource position (biologist) with AECOM, CHM2Hill, Insignia, ERM, Ecology & Environment, SWCA, or any other company that provides field resources to energy and mining companies. Good luck
 
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