Jobs in The Living Seas

[daubie99]

Does anyone know who I can contact about jobs in The Living Seas? I've been talking to answering machines and mailboxes, but I can't find a real person. I stumbled in here, and thought maybe someone could help.

Anyone know anything about who to contact for aquarist or animal care specialist jobs?

Thanks!!

:kiss:

 

[DisneySaint]

If you're in college, some of the advanced internships are in the Living Seas.

 

[daubie99]

I did check into that. I got pushed into the enxt round at the time for the Advanced Aquarium internship because I had gotten a knee injury and needed to finish up my open-water dives before I could get my SCUBA certification.

I'm graduating this May though, so I'm more looking for an actual job since an internship won't help me too much since I'm not going to be in school anymore by then.

 

[xfkirsten]

Originally posted by daubie99
I did check into that. I got pushed into the enxt round at the time for the Advanced Aquarium internship because I had gotten a knee injury and needed to finish up my open-water dives before I could get my SCUBA certification.

I'm graduating this May though, so I'm more looking for an actual job since an internship won't help me too much since I'm not going to be in school anymore by then.

Actually, you can still interview for the fall. You can interview through your last semester of college, and do an internship right after you graduate.

Living Seas is my interest, too - bio/psyc student looking to get into marine mammal care. I wanted to apply for an Advanted Internship, unfortunately at the time I had no way to get a car down there.

I went to a career thing with a manager from The Living Seas. As I understand it, that tends to be a high-seniority area. Most of the aquarists and marine mammal trainers either come in with a lot of experience under their belt, or start in anothere area at Living Seas (education or diving) and work their way into it.

Also, keep an eye on the AZA'a website as well as the International Marine Animal Trainers Association website, as job openings are often posted there.

-Kirsten

 

[daubie99]

Originally posted by xfkirsten
Actually, you can still interview for the fall. You can interview through your last semester of college, and do an internship right after you graduate.

I did not know that (or if I did, I forgot it - its been at least a year and a half since I applied last). I figured as much as far as the seniority thing. I'd be happy to spend a couple years cleaning plastic coral with a tooothbrush as long as I got to dive and work my way up along the way. I went to a military academy before I blew my ankle and came to the college I'm at now so I know a thing or two about the pecking order. :animwink:

I've been looking into training, but that's something for down the road for me. My BS is in marine science, specializing in marine biology and marine education, so it doesn't really fit that whole "a psych degree is better" thing.

I'll have to keep my eye open on posters around campus, see if I can tack onto an interview session sometime.

 

[xfkirsten]

Originally posted by daubie99
I did not know that (or if I did, I forgot it - its been at least a year and a half since I applied last). I figured as much as far as the seniority thing. I'd be happy to spend a couple years cleaning plastic coral with a tooothbrush as long as I got to dive and work my way up along the way. I went to a military academy before I blew my ankle and came to the college I'm at now so I know a thing or two about the pecking order. :animwink:

I've been looking into training, but that's something for down the road for me. My BS is in marine science, specializing in marine biology and marine education, so it doesn't really fit that whole "a psych degree is better" thing.

I'll have to keep my eye open on posters around campus, see if I can tack onto an interview session sometime.

Yeah, I opted for a biology major because it works better as a fallback - so if I don't get into training, zookeeping in general is still a viable option. But psych is my minor anyways. Thinking about Moorpark, but I think I wanna finish my BS first, and really give it good thought before I commit to two straight years. I at least have a little exotic animal experience already to get me started (working in wildlife rehab and at the Seattle Aquarium) in the meantime. I was actually hoping the San Diego Zoo would hire summer keepers again this year, but looks like they're already cutting back staffing anyways, so I'm going tomorrow for a foot-in-the-door interview at SeaWorld.

As for presentations, there's a listing of dates and times at www.wdwcollegeprogram.com for the upcoming interview sessions.

-Kirsten

 

[daubie99]

I did go check out the presentation schedule, and for some reason they're not coming to my school this semester. The closest place is a couple hours away from me. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll add one more in there....

 

[xfkirsten]

Yeah, recently they've make a pretty hefty cut in the number of schools they visit. If you still really want to do it, though, you're still allowed to go to a presentation at another school.

-Kirsten