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You Have the Skills, So Why Is Nobody Hiring You? · How To Protect The Ocean

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  You've got the degree,
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  maybe even have the skills.
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  So why can't you get that first real job?
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  You've applied, you've networked a bit,
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  you've done what people told you to do.
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  So why does it feel like
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  you're stuck outside the door?
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  This is the How to Protect the Ocean
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  podcast, your weekly
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  ocean news and career insight
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  podcast.
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  If you care about building a career that
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  actually protects the
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  ocean, hit that follow button
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  so you don't miss this week's episode.
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  Mondays and Tuesdays was all about
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  building careers, whether you're
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  networking or building
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  your own skillset yourself.
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  And then the rest of the week, we're
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  going to be talking about
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  ocean career builder stuff.
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  So don't forget to hit that follow button
• 0:39
  so you don't miss any of these episodes.
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  All right, let's talk about the
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  experience trap, the most
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  frustrating part of this whole
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  process.
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  You need experience to get a job, but you
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  need a job to get
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  experience is the conundrum,
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  the chicken or the egg, right?
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  And in ocean conservation, this problem
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  is worse than in a
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  lot of other industries.
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  Why?
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  Because funding is limited.
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  Like teams are small and organizations
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  don't have the time
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  to train from scratch.
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  So when they hire, they look for people
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  who can contribute immediately.
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  That's not unfair, but
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  it's, it creates a bottleneck.
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  And that bottleneck is
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  where most people get stuck.
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  So here's the shift you need to make.
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  Experience is not just paid work.
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  Let me say that again.
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  Experience is not just paid work.
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  It includes volunteering, internships,
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  side projects, content
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  creation, research you do
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  on your own.
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  We talked a lot about
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  this in yesterday's episode.
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  And this is where a
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  lot of people mess up.
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  They wait for someone to give them
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  experience, but the people
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  who break into those first
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  jobs, they build it.
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  Examples, you analyze open ocean data and
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  you post your findings online.
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  You start a blog
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  explaining Marine issues.
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  You help a small NGO with social media.
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  You create a GIS map
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  and share it publicly.
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  That's experience.
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  And more importantly, it's visible.
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  If no one is opening the door, you have
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  to build your own door.
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  This is where most people hesitate.
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  They think I don't want to bother people.
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  I don't want to ask for too much, but
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  that's the wrong mindset.
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  You're not asking for a job.
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  You're offering value for people.
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  You can say, for example, Hey, I saw your
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  project on color
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  restoration and I put together
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  short summary, a map or
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  content piece that might help.
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  Would you like me to share it?
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  Now you're not a stranger.
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  You're someone useful and
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  useful people get remembered.
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  You know, here's a here's a quick story
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  about someone who
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  unfortunately recently passed
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  away.
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  Billy Causey.
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  I, uh, I, when I was younger, I was
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  working for a private
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  consulting firm and I want to
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  do like a side project.
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  I want to build a GIS
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  database and I contacted him.
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  I want to contact him and I sent him an
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  email and I didn't get anything back.
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  But then when I contacted him again, I
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  actually called them.
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  This is the days when you can get phone
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  numbers and I called them
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  and he answered the phone
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  and I said, Hey, Mr.
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  Causey, my name is Andrew Lewin.
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  I am a young, you know,
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  marine scientist in Canada.
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  I've used to do work
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  in the Gulf of Mexico.
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  I understand you work for the marine
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  sanctuary and I wanted to
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  help you organize a database
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  for the marine
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  sanctuary, like a GIS database.
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  And he was like, wow,
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  that's really great.
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  He started talking to me.
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  He's like, Hey,
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  Andrew, can I call you back?
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  I'm about to take off on a flight.
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  We're in, I'm on the plane and they're
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  telling me to get off the phone.
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  Can I call you back when I land?
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  And I was like, yeah, sure.
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  No problem.
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  Thank you.
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  And so like, I didn't
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  think anything of it.
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  I, to be honest, I didn't think he'd call
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  back as soon as he
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  lands, he called back and
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  he was like sketching
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  out stuff in on the plane.
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  Now, am I saying that you
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  have to call somebody up?
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  No, you probably don't do that.
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  This these days and you may not even get
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  their phone number and
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  they may not even answer
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  these days.
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  But the thing is, is Billy did answer and
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  we worked for years
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  together trying to put
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  pieces together, you know, and, and I
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  think that's just what
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  it's like to work in this.
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  And when you offer some value now, you
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  know, that's a lot of free work.
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  I took on a big project and you know, I
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  helped out wherever I
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  can, but I'm not saying you
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  have to take on this big project, but do
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  what you want to do to
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  get the experience that
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  you need.
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  And that's what I was doing.
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  I was getting the experience that I need.
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  Now let's talk about volunteering because
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  it could go very, very wrong.
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  Volunteering is
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  powerful if it's strategic.
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  It's not an endless line of free labor.
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  Ask yourself, am I
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  learning something valuable?
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  Am I building something that I can show?
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  And am I connecting
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  with people in the field?
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  If the answer is no, you need
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  to rethink that opportunity.
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  Also, you should think about
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  there's a time to walk away.
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  If you're not growing, not getting
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  exposure or not moving
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  forward, staying there could
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  cost you.
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  This is where things start to compound.
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  One small opportunity leads to another.
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  If you use it properly, this is what I
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  call reputation stacking.
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  So you show up on time, you deliver what
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  you promised and you communicate clearly.
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  And suddenly you're the person people can
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  trust and trust is
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  everything in this field,
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  because when someone hears, hey, we need
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  help on this project,
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  they don't go to job boards.
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  They go to people they already know.
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  And here's like a quick story again.
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  I do a podcast with Dr. David
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  Ebert and I called beyond jaws.
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  And we talk a lot about careers and Dave
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  is one guy like, you
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  know, he's old school, right?
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  He's been in the business for a long
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  time, but he constantly tells people as
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  he's as he's mentored
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  graduate students for a very, very long
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  time throughout his career,
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  he constantly tells people.
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  He's like, Hey, look, like if I have a
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  graduate student that I'm
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  working with, and they're really,
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  really good.
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  I'm out there almost shopping them around
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  to PhD programs or to
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  people they know he knows
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  in the business.
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  He's got a lot of contacts within, you
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  know, within NOAA or
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  academic institutes or private
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  consulting firms, because he's had a lot
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  of students and, you
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  know, all of his colleagues,
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  they will say, Hey, I've got a student
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  here who's really, really good.
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  They're looking to do a postdoc or PhD or
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  something like that.
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  Would you like to take them on as a
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  student because they're perfect for what
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  you want to work on?
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  When you when you show what you can do,
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  whether you're doing it as a student,
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  whether you're doing
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  it as volunteering, people will back you
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  up. Your reputation will
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  proceed you and that will help you
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  get opportunities. They may be paying
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  jobs, it may be volunteer,
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  there may be student jobs,
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  or there might be a graduate opportunity,
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  but those will pay
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  forward for you for the work
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  that you're doing. And, you know, there's
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  there's a thing that we
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  we've seen about volunteering
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  around, you know, around the ocean and,
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  you know, in the world.
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  And there's this sort of
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  predatory type of volunteering where
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  organizations are using
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  people who can pay money
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  to go and get experience, whether it's
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  two weeks, a month,
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  two months, three months,
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  and that's fine if you have the money to
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  in the means to do so. But
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  not everybody can do that.
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  Most people can't do that. And I feel
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  like it's predatory because
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  you're not always getting what
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  you need. You're paying a lot of money
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  for getting something
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  little, but unfortunately,
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  the people who get the experience will
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  get opportunities to get
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  jobs after because they
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  have experience because they've shown
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  they can work on a project, they can show
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  they can work in team
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  environment, and that's their
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  volunteering. They're just
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  paying to get it done. So they're
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  guaranteed to get it done. So you have to
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  be careful with some of
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  those. I find some are using
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  them for using people who have degrees as
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  their profession. You just
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  have to be careful. Some are
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  really great. Some are not. But make sure
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  you look up references of
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  other people who have done
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  the program. If they enjoyed it, make
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  sure you you see like reviews online,
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  make sure the people
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  that have been through the program got
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  what they wanted out of it. If they
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  didn't, it's not well
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  organized. Just be careful. Also, safety,
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  safety matters in a big
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  way. So if you feel stuck right
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  now, you're not alone. Just know that.
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  But the next mistake is
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  thinking that the next step is
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  the perfect job. It's never going to be.
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  It's not. It's the next step
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  is this next small opportunity.
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  You know, one project, one collaboration,
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  one piece of work you can
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  point to. And that's how people
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  break in to their first real job, quote
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  unquote, real job. So stop
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  waiting for that perfect job.
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  Create one small opportunity this week
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  and turn into something
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  bigger. And if you know someone
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  trying to break into ocean conservation,
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  send them this episode.
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  Make sure that they are part
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  of the community and that people know
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  what they can do to break in
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  to get that first real job.
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  I want to thank you so much for joining
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  me on today's episode of the How to
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  Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew. And if you have a
• 8:24
  comment or a question,
• 8:26
  please feel free if you're really
• 8:27
  listening to this on Spotify, you can put
• 8:28
  a comment in. But otherwise, go to
• 8:30
  speakupforblue.com
• 8:31
  forward slash feedback.
• 8:33
  Let me answer your question if you have a
• 8:35
  question or a comment. I'd love to see
• 8:36
  it. Speakupforblue.com forward slash
• 8:39
  forward slash forward slash
• 8:41
  feedback. Sorry, I had trouble doing
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  that. But I want to thank you again for
• 8:45
  joining me. Have a great day. We'll talk
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  to you next time and happy conservation.