Most people who struggle to
break into conservation are not being held back by the sector. They are being held back by avoidable mistakes in how they approach the process.
Sending generic applications is one of the most common. A CV and cover letter that have not been tailored to the specific job and organisation tell an employer that you have not thought carefully about what they are looking for. In a competitive field, that is usually enough to move your application to the bottom of the pile.
Describing activities rather than results is another. Telling an employer that you managed social media channels or coordinated a volunteer programme gives them almost nothing to assess. Telling them that you grew an organisation's Instagram following from 800 to 6,000 in a year, or that you recruited and managed a team of twelve volunteers across a six month survey programme, gives them something concrete to evaluate. Employers want to know what changed as a result of your work, not just what you did.
Applying for roles you are not yet ready for wastes time that could be spent building the experience needed to compete. Many people apply optimistically for roles that require competencies they do not yet have, receive no response, and conclude that the sector is impenetrable. Often the problem is not the sector. It is the mismatch between where they are and what the role requires.
Waiting until a job appears before preparing is a version of the same mistake. If you see a role that requires competencies you do not have and the closing date is three weeks away, it is too late to address the gap. The people who are most consistently competitive are the ones who identify what their target role requires and build towards it continuously, not the ones who scramble when an opportunity appears.
