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Why Ocean Jobs Look Great, Until You Actually Start One · How To Protect The Ocean

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  There are a lot of people who get into
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  ocean conservation and
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  they quietly leave a few
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  years later.
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  They don't make a big announcement.
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  They don't post about it.
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  They just disappear from the field.
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  It's not that they died or anything.
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  It's just they've gone.
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  And it's not because they didn't care
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  enough to become a marine
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  biologist or become a marine
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  conservationist or ocean conservationist.
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  It's because their career wasn't built to
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  last or they had difficulty breaking in.
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  This is the How to Protect the Ocean
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  podcast, your weekly ocean news and
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  conservation podcast.
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  If you care about protecting the ocean
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  and building a real
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  career in this space, follow
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  the show so you don't
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  miss tomorrow's episode.
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  Let's be honest about something.
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  Most people don't say it out loud.
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  Ocean conservation careers can be tough.
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  Low pay, short term
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  contracts, constant uncertainty.
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  And on top of that, emotional burnout.
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  Let's be honest here.
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  We're working on
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  problems that feel massive.
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  Climate change, overfishing, habitat
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  loss, probably some of the most important
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  jobs that we've seen today for food
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  security and safety from climate change
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  and stuff like that.
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  And from the ocean and sea level rise and
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  everything like that.
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  And sometimes it feels like you're not
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  making progress fast enough or that
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  funding continues to get cut
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  so you can't do those jobs.
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  And it won't. Passion gets
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  you in the door for sure.
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  But structure, income and stability are
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  what keep you there.
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  But structure, income and stability are
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  what eventually keeps you there.
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  If you look at ocean conservation
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  careers, most people fall
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  into one of three paths.
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  First, there's academia, research,
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  publishing, grants,
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  teaching, all that stuff.
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  It can be really rewarding, but it's
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  competitive and often unstable early on.
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  Second, there's the NGO and government
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  work, policy, conservation programs,
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  communications, field projects.
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  This path can offer some structure, maybe
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  a pension every once in a while if you're
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  working for government.
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  But budgets are super tight
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  and burnout is very common.
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  And also, there's also when you have a
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  president or prime minister who comes in
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  and just cuts the jobs altogether because
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  they don't believe in
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  environmental anything.
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  And then, of course, third, the path is
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  growing far out fast right now is
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  entrepreneur or creator, people building
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  platforms, consulting, media or
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  businesses around ocean conservation.
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  This is the least traditional path, but
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  it's also one where there's a lot of
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  flexibility and opportunity that exists.
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  And here's the key. The path is perfect,
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  but no path is perfect.
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  But some give you
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  more control than others.
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  If you want to career that last, you need
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  stability and most ocean jobs won't give
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  you that by default.
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  So you have to build it yourself.
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  One way is through
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  multiple income streams.
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  Maybe you work a conservation job, but
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  you also consult inside or you have a
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  side hustle, whatever that might be.
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  You know, I know some people who work in
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  conservation and then they walk dogs,
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  which is very, I'll be honest, it's kind
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  of lucrative if you walk dogs.
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  I've never done it, but I know people
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  who've done it and they make like 75
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  grand a year by walking dogs.
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  It's incredible.
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  Or you run a podcast and get sponsored by
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  it or you're an influencer and you get
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  you get sponsors through there.
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  You can create content
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  that leads to partnerships.
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  Another way is
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  building transferable skills.
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  So communication, data analysis,
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  storytelling, project management skills
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  that work across all sectors.
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  I got a GIS analyst diploma, advanced
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  diploma after while I was doing my
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  master's or just
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  before I did my master's.
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  And that kept me employable across every
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  sector if I wanted to.
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  You know, I went through a period where I
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  couldn't find a science job.
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  So I became a GIS analyst for a company,
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  which was doing science and I got to do
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  field work as well as
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  do as be a GIS analyst.
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  You know, that's how I got into I
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  eventually how we stayed in the
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  government as a GIS analyst.
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  It wasn't my perfect career by any means,
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  but it got the skill got me other jobs.
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  So these skills work across sectors.
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  So if you know one job ends your career
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  doesn't in the government when you work
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  for the federal government here in
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  Canada, there's a bunch
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  of different opportunities.
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  So there's indeterminate,
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  which is full time permanent.
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  There's terminant, which is full time,
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  but there's an end date to it.
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  Usually every year or if there's a like a
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  fun, like a three year funded
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  project is after three years.
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  Then there's a there's contractor and
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  then there's casual right or casual,
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  which is you could be in the building 90
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  days and then there's contractor, which
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  is kind of like off and on.
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  You know, you come in, but if you're a
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  terminant employee, like I was, if my
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  boss couldn't renew the position the next
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  year because of funding, I had to go and
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  network within the building to be like,
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  hey, I'm looking for a job this, you
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  know, in this April because we had year
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  end is March and I'm looking to see if
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  you have an opening, you know, and then
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  you would talk to
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  people and stuff like that.
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  Some people would hold interviews. Some
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  people would just like, yeah, no, come
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  along. I've known you for years. I want
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  to get on that board and I was able to
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  get on it because I had GIS and that's
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  what kept me
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  employable within the building.
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  Right. So, you know, you don't just start
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  over. You're just shifting a little bit.
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  It all depends on, you know, networking
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  always plays a role, but
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  looking for that extra position.
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  Now, this is the mindset shift that
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  changes everything. Your career is not
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  your job. Your career is the collection
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  of of everything you build over time. Too
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  many people pull all their too many
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  people put all of their
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  trust in one organization.
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  You're not going to work with your entire
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  life. That's very rare that you do that.
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  You might be great if you did, but it's
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  not always going to happen that way. One
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  contract, one boss, one opportunity. That
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  doesn't happen like it used to.
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  I remember when I went to school, you
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  know, people were talking like in a DFO
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  fisheries and oceans in Canada. People
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  were talking about, yeah, I got hired
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  right out of school and I've been there
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  ever since and I've been there for 50
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  years and they were doing
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  their 50 year retirement.
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  That doesn't happen with my generation or
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  the next generation or the next
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  generation. I'm Gen X, by the way. And
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  so, you know, instead, like, so you want
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  to like, make sure you're a part of
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  something. Right. So that, you know, when
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  it disappears, when that one job
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  disappears, everything
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  doesn't just fall apart.
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  Instead, you want to own something. You
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  want to have an audience, a network, a
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  niche, a body of work, something that
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  moves with you no matter where you go.
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  That's how you stay in the game long
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  term. My podcast has
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  stayed with me for 11 years.
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  I was working during the podcast, like
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  when I not when I started it, but after I
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  started it and then I've been working all
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  the way through ever since there's a
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  period where I didn't work. But then when
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  I like the last six and a half years,
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  I've been working and I've been doing
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  this podcast at the same time.
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  And, you know, if somebody wants to buy
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  the episodes, they'd license it out if
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  they want to put it on their platform,
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  you know, but I never give it up. I never
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  give the rights up to it. Because I
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  always have this. This always keeps me
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  not only connected to ocean conservation,
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  but connected to all like the colleagues
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  and friends that I've
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  made over the years.
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  And that's been important. It's also
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  given me the experience and skill set to
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  get to have a potential change in a
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  career, which I hear more tomorrow.
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  Right. So that's how you stay in the game
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  long term is keep something going for a
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  long while. You continue to keep it,
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  whether it's on the side
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  or it's your full time gig.
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  And then you become a resource within
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  that within for that niche. It's really
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  great. So here's the truth. Most people
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  don't realize a career in ocean
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  conservation isn't a straight line.
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  It's a series of pivots. You might start
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  in field work, which I did. You might
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  move into policy, shift into
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  communication and maybe even build
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  something of your own. That's not
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  failure. That's adaptation, which is
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  great, especially if you
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  work in a field with nature.
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  The people who last in this field aren't
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  the ones who had the perfect plan. If you
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  listen to the Beyond Jaws podcast, where
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  we talked to shark shark experts and
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  shark scientists and shark
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  conservationists and just
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  conservationists in general, their path
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  is never linear. It's always meandering.
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  They're the ones, the people who adapted,
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  right? The people who are in the field,
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  the longest, they're the ones who kept
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  evolving. They treated their career like
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  a long game, not a single game.
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  And I think it's really important if you
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  want to stay in ocean conservation, you
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  need more than just passion. You need a
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  plan that actually supports your life. So
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  you don't plan the next job. You plan
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  your career. You can actually sustain.
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  Right. That's what you really want to do.
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  And if you go over to ocean conservation
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  careers dot com, you can see job postings
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  that are up there. And I have a resource
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  that I'm building to help people like
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  yourself. If you're looking for a job to
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  help people build out resumes to help
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  people really organize their conservation
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  career, especially in oceans. So check
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  that out. Ocean
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  conservation careers dot com.
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  If this episode helped you think
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  differently about your plan, about your
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  future, follow the podcast and share it
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  with someone who's trying to break into
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  ocean conservation. It's really important
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  that we get more people
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  listening to this stuff.
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  Because I see on Facebook, I see people
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  posting about jobs and everything like
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  that. If you know of somebody who has a
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  job available here or if you know anybody
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  in Africa, if you know anybody, it's not
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  about finding like asking people to get
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  that job. It's about building your skill,
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  building your experience
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  to get that job. Right.
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  And if you listen to any of the episodes
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  we've done this week, you'll find that
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  these skills, I hope you find that these
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  skills will help you and not only gaining
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  experience, but break into that either
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  first, second, third or fourth job and
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  move around and adapt, you know, with
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  specific skills that can help you move
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  across the sector, you know, within ocean
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  conservation or even maybe
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  outside for a little bit.
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  You know, I've been outside of the game
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  for 16 years, but I've kept in it because
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  I've been doing communication for those
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  16 years. And I think that's a that's an
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  important thing to have always in your
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  heart to be able to say, hey, you know,
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  I've just I've done this.
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  You know, this is what I've been able to
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  accomplish. This is this is my legacy
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  eventually. So that's it for today's
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  episode. You know, if you like I said, if
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  you know someone who is going to benefit
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  or if you have like send it to them, send this podcast to him.
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  If you have a question or comment, I
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  would love to hear from you. If you're
• 10:23
  listening to this on Spotify, feel free
• 10:24
  to leave a comment because they allow
• 10:26
  that if you're not. No worries. You can
• 10:28
  hit me up on speak up for blue.com
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  forward slash feedback that speak up for
• 10:34
  blue.com forward slash feedback.
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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 tomorrow.
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  You're going to hear a big announcement
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  that I have to make about my career and
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  has to do with stuff I've done that I've
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  talked about this entire week.
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  So tune in tomorrow for the next episode
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  and follow this podcast to learn more
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  about career building, ocean conservation
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  and science enjoy and
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  I'll talk to you next time.