Countryside Jobs Service
The countryside and conservation sector is really rather large and the range of jobs and careers on offer can seem overwhelming when all you know is that you want to work outside or with animals, you enjoy bird watching and want to help wildlife in some form, you’re at home in woodland and think that something to do with trees might be the way to go.
Countryside Jobs Service or CJS has been publishing newsletters since 1994, originally simply advertising jobs in the sector but today each daily and weekly edition contains a host of information from in depth features and news to important announcements. With all this accumulated knowledge CJS has a wide range of information to share with you.
About Us
About us: CJS is an ethical business working in harmony with environmental professionals to conserve the British countryside and natural world. Motivated by conservation success not profits.
CJS works with and is endorsed by many of the sector’s major organisations and is delighted to be the official jobs service for the Rangers Associations of England, Wales and Scotland: Countryside Management Association and the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association.
Where to Start
If you are considering any sort of outdoor, green, conservation type career then there’s no better place to start than Countryside Jobs Service. CJS is the leading source of jobs and information for everyone in the countryside, conservation, nature and wildlife professions. As the name suggests CJS covers all the practical boots on the ground jobs including those hard-hatted up in the trees ones, typical job titles are Ranger, Landscape Officer, Tree Officer and Ecologists. However, working in the countryside is so much more and you’ll find all the support roles, wildlife work and environmental education jobs too.
The CJS website provides a one-stop shop for everyone in the countryside, conservation, ecology and wildlife sectors. You’ll find adverts for jobs and volunteer placements, there is a daily news service, a full training directory of courses and professional events and a large library of in-depth information covering the whole industry. Although much of this is aimed at people already working in the sector there is a wealth of information to be gained by browsing through what’s there.
Sectors
Details about working in each area of the sector. Each area has information on Jobs and employment, Skills, training and CPD, Information and in depth articles plus details of useful organisations.
Job Profiles
Browse through some profiles of the many varied job roles you might find across the sector. Written by people actually working in the field explaining exactly what the job entails, the qualifications and skills they need and offering a little advice to people looking at a similar career.
Volunteering
Find voluntary roles by what you’ll be doing or discover organisations in your area who may have opportunities for you to tag along for a day or would welcome a regular commitment to help out with some practical tasks.
NatureScope
Adam Nixon is a Presenter and Editor of a youtube channel called NatureScope – a channel for those passionate about nature. He currently works for Essex Wildlife Trust as a Coastal Ranger and with his co-presenters the YouTube channel is looking to inform people about working with wildlife and nature. Check out the channel here.
Playlist
Southern Upland Way
In this video the Ranger is putting non slip material down on a boardwalk that was raised the previous year. Jobs that can be done in summer when it’s not so boggy. The time of year dictates the jobs that need to be done. Also find out why Ross the Ranger was drawn to this type of work
The Southern Upland Way is managed by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
The New Forest
The Rangers at New Forest National Park Authority created a video to promote Green Careers Week in 2023 – it gives lots of reasons why a career in conservation is a good idea.
Belfast Hills Partnership
Laura is an Environmental Engagement Officer, she oversees the volunteer programme and the physical tasks involved whilst also encouraging the next generation of conservationists through the Partnership’s environmental education work. Find out about why she thoroughly enjoys her job and what she suggests you do to get the most out of your working life.
In the second video, Nick, an Assistant Ranger with the National Trust talks about what he does through the seasons. He loves the job because of the variety it provides and suggests conservation is quite a difficult sector to get into but provides some advice on how you can do it.
Find out more at: https://belfasthills.org/
Laura
Nick
NatureScot
have provided us with 3 videos – see these and more at: https://www.nature.scot/doc/working-nature
Ben
Ben works at BH Wildlife Consultancy. Ben never did very well in school but studied forestry at University. He works with drones monitoring wildlife now. He thinks there are going to be lots more jobs as the technology develops.
Philip
Philip works for the community led marine habitat restoration organisation SeaWilding. The job is so varied but basically he works with native oysters and seagrass. He would actually even still do the job if he won the lottery.
Shalom
Shalom works with projects involving fisheries and river management, she loves every aspect of the job so can’t put her finger on any one thing that she enjoys the most. Shalom is pleased to be contributing to the future of a healthy environment.
