This feels a little SO awkward to ask, but I’m genuinely curious to hear about how you got into your profession. Lately, I’ve been having one of those late-night spirals of doubt about my current pathway, and I’m hoping hearing others’ stories might reignite my motivation (or at least ease some of my worries!). iNat has been such a huge help to keep me driven.
For some context, I’m nearing the end of my bachelor’s degree (botany yay), but I still feel unsure about my place in the field. Imposter syndrome has been hitting hard—my peers seem so knowledgeable, and I often find myself wondering if I’ll ever reach their level. I recently got accepted into a small unpaid internship (my first real work experience in the field), so I’m hopeful it will help me find my footing.
That brings me to my question: How did you get from where you were during your studies to where you are now? What was your academic journey like, and what career paths did you explore along the way? Do you enjoy what you do? How much did you struggle or cope? what about financial security? Of course, no need to share anything too personal—just whatever you’re comfortable with.
I should really get started on my last assignment but instead im perusing on iNat forums
Thanks in advance to anyone who shares their story—I really appreciate it!
During my first two summers of undergrad, I interned with the USFS. It was my first “real” job and so I didn’t fully realize the work environment was pretty toxic (more to do with this specific work environment and not necessarily indicative of the USFS as a whole). I include this to say, just because you are a fresh face in the field doesn’t mean you have to put up with unreasonable work conditions or poor behavior from employers.
Prior to grad school, my career was the single most important thing to me, and everything else (e.g., relationships, hobbies, other life goals) came second. But grad school almost “broke” me. I completed my Master of Science degree but seriously considered leaving the field and becoming an anesthesiologist. I’m glad I eventually found a middle ground. I still work in wildlife research. I like my job, it’s important work, but it is by no means my dream job. But I can get my fulfillment from more than just my work, from my partner, my community, and my time outdoors recreationally.
All in all, I’m happy where I ended up and there are relatively few things I would change about the somewhat convoluted path I took to get here.
This gets me too. All of my coworkers are highly specialized and I have a very limited understanding of some of the stuff they do. But I have to remind myself, they feel the same way about me. I have skills and abilities that compliment their skills and abilities.
How did you manage work and education at the same time? I recently spoke to a classmate that did a honours degree after their bachelors and they mentioned how they struggled as their only source of income was casual work and government help since their honours took a lot out of them.
“Spirals of doubt” as you contemplate what to do now that you’re finishing a degree is not unusual. I certainly had that. I would say that as a botanist you might have more opportunities than someone like me who went into zoology since my field is probably over-saturated. But I don’t have a sense of the current job market … I’m at the opposite end of my career from you as I’m close to retiring from a state wildlife agency after 25+ years. All I can suggest is that you look into various agency jobs, even seasonal work, if you want to get some experience to boost your resume. I bounced around among agencies for years and don’t regret that, it was great experience. Good luck to you.
Added: my experience was in the U.S. I can’t advise what employment opportunities might exist where you are or where you want to work.
Regarding imposter syndrome: that’s probably not unusual for someone young and just entering a field of employment. I’ve had it at times in the past. I tried to view it as a sign that I needed more experience in something I was possibly deficient in and so tried to acquire those skills or that knowledge, sometimes by finding a mentor. No one expects someone coming out of college to be fully trained. Use your early employment opportunities to continue learning and that will boost your confidence and future job prospects.
I went to medical school in my home country Dominican Republic, but I live in the US now and work as a land steward for a non-profit and work as a subcontractor (landscaping) for a native plant landscaping design company and work as a medical assistant at an orthopedic practice life is weird like that.
it is very simple. senior year in gymnasium school, i needed to fill an university application. i chose biology and veterinary medicine, got to both, chose veterinary medicine, did six years, emerged as mvdr. and i am, unsurprisingly, a vet. did small animals, mixed practice, i have done exclusively poultry for the last five years, impostor syndrome is a terrible thing, but they made me a senior vet and pay me to attend congresses and sometimes to even speak aloud there, so it must not be that bad.
biology is a hobby. something i do when i need to not think about sick chickens.
I started off graduating with a bachelor’s in biology. After which I decided to join an Americorps crew which really jumpstarted my career. My crew worked in state parks doing various resource management activities, such as prescribed fire, herbicide use on invasives, trail building, kestrel boxes, etc. After which I was able to land a 1500-hour job in state parks doing the same activities, funnily enough I still had the same supervisor as she hired me afterwards. Spent about a year there doing about the same activities, adding on helping with managed hunts to control deer populations. Learned a lot of interesting stuff about aging each deer that came in via their teeth. Now I’m in the job I’m at now, being a forester. I still feel I have no business being a forester, especially with my peers going to fancy schools like Virginia Tech for forestry degrees and I somehow stumbled my way in here with my general knowledge about resource management. I do enjoy it though; I love doing prescribed burns and getting to be outside in general. Also getting to go to cool conferences about forestry and travel around a bit. Income is definitely on the lower side but good benefits working for the state, don’t know how I would be able to afford insulin otherwise. I would like to go back to doing all the resource management activities in the past at some point though.
I just have a BSc majoring in Behavioural Ecology (UC NZ). During uni I did typical uni work (Bookshop and promo stuff, 20-24 hours a week on top of full time). I then got a one year working holiday visa for the states (I had a 3 month gap year visa in the states between highschool and uni, after doing a 4 months course in adventure leadership at poly, and then running the adventure program at a camp in NJ). I worked the summer at Milwaukee Zoo as a education intern, then I worked Outdoor education at a camp in OH, then did winter in vegas doing not much, and spring outdoor education in CA. I returned to NZ and did some labour temping, until I got a job on cruise ships in the youth department which I did for two years. Came home and did labour temping, then got a one year work exchange visa for canada and did 6 months outdoor ed/summer camp in ON, and the ~6 months covering winter in guest relations at the Calgary zoo in AB. Returned home and worked in a plant nusary until I got a summer temp visitor centre ranger job in the Arthurs Pass National park. A full time position came up but I didnt get it. So I travelled for a few months, then got a similar position here as a Visitor Centre Ranger in the Paparoa National Park. The first 6 years it was still only summer temp, so I mostly travelled winters. But I have been full time about the past 4 years. My primary job isnt that sciency, mostly talking to visitors, giving information and advice. But I have been helping processing invertebrates from a pitfall project from the Heaphy Project in the Kahurangi national park, have joined some other bio projects, like the past few years doing gecko surveys. Do quite a bit of work with Westland petrels, and hopefully in a few week join another research mission for the Paparoa/Giant Mole Weta.
Mikey, as per a comment above, those peers may be thinking the same thing about you.
When you are studying and mixing with people in academia, you may get the impression that the career path of a botanist or other life science graduate is tightly bound to teaching or research roles. I certainly wouldn’t discourage from following that career path if that is your desire. I would point out however, that there is plenty of work for botanist/ecologists in other industries. I think this is especially true for Australia, where I believe you and I both live.
Last year I retired (at age 69), after 15 years working as an ecologist specialising in botany and regional ecosystems. My first paid job was working as a cowboy from age 16. Later became a forest ranger for several decades. Undertook part time study and eventually graduated with pretty average grades from a small regional university at age 40. From there I worked for state government mapping ecosystems and as an environmental law enforcement officer. Eventually moved to the private sector where I worked as a well renumerated ecologist in the resources and agricultural industries. My advice is that the key to a satisfying career is to always remember why you were drawn to this field of study in the first place. The beauty of a career in the life sciences is that, no matter how much knowledge and experience you acquire you will still be an amateur with so much more to discover. My other bit of advice is take some GIS electives. They will stand you in good stead. Best of luck going forward and welcome to the fraternity.
From all I have learned so far, career pathways are usually never straight and you might end up somewhere you never expected. Sometimes it’s an opportunity that leads you somewhere else, sometimes it’s an experience you make.
I’m also still wandering around trying to find my place in this world.
I first studied and finished an automotive engineering diploma. And I enjoyed that quite a bit even though as probably most students, I struggled with my decision from time to time. Instead of directly looking for work after graduating, I made the ‘mistake’ to volunteer for a wolf sanctuary in the US. Which basically turned my life upside down. I tried to work as a test engineer for a year afterwards but it wasn’t just me anymore and even though it was an interesting job I quite and went back volunteering for the wolves and for a nature center here in Germany. And worked in construction
After 6 years, I decided to study again and I’m in my third semsster of Environmental Monitoring at the moment. I truly love and enjoy what I’m studying but it also can be really stressful and exhausting, making you doubt your decision.
And I also feel you with the imposter syndrome. I always had the issue that I couldn’t really focus on one thing and always felt like others could do so much more. But I learned that being a generalist with a wide field of interests is also useful. We kinda need both types of people in this world. Some people digging deep and others helping connect ideas.
I think one of the most important things is staying open to new opportunities and not being afraid to take them. It can be really scary sometimes (like deciding to go to the US alone, or studying again) but it will lead you to many new experiences. And you never know how they will change your life. It’s sometimes crazy to think back and see how one thing led to another and what wild choice led you to where you are today.
Honestly, this is something I wanted to hear. I loved that you were able to transition and it’s another source of motivation for me to push myself out there.
Did they look into your bachelor degree much? Did you even need one in the first place?
I definitely feel a lot of us will have big pathways like this, and then settling down into something more comfortable, I envy that! thank you for sharing
Thank you for sharing your insight. I think part of my worry stems from the fact that I chose to pursue a BSc as a personal challenge and to secure a stronger academic foundation after really enjoying my time doing a Cert III in horticulture. Due to citizenship and funding issues, I wasn’t able to start any further studies after highschool until my late 20s, and by that time, many people my age had already begun their careers. I know it’s not a race, and I keep reminding myself that everyone grows at their own pace - but it’s something that crosses my mind now and then. Your pathway has a wonderful flow to it, I’m hoping mine will be similar.
This is really sound advice, and its something I will hold on to forever - thank you.
You didn’t need one per say but it was preferred that you did. They honestly didn’t look into my degree much and more so looked at my work experience up until that point. Same thing when getting into forestry, even though a degree was required with this job.
All good, yeah I think many of my peers have bounced around, many of them still are. Several jobs in the field often end up being seasonal, and often done by people whos bodies havent been ravaged by the lifestyle of crawling around in the mountains (Knees are often burned out quick, backs of course, if you have working ones of those, look after them). Often projects also have a shelf life. Being flexible, being able to move around and not be tied down, and taking opportunities and making connections certainly helps.
I was on track to get a doctorate in chemistry. I’d just finished my qualifying exam (like a halfway point in the Ph.D. program and equivalent to a Master’s), and had made my first big discovery in the field of magnetic materials: itinerant magnetic order in the compound Ti3Cu4, the fourth compound ever to exhibit that property, and the first (as one of my colleagues discovered later) to have a field-induced quantum critical point. I won’t bore you with the technical details of what all that means, but suffice it to say, I had just passed a significant benchmark in my academic career and I had a promising project to carry me through to my doctorate. I also happened to really enjoy the work I did, and I had good coworkers.
Unfortunately, I also had a really crappy micromanaging control-freak for a research professor. I opted to attend an NSF presentation rather than the colloquium she was hosting to schmooze one of her guests, and that eventually spiralled into losing my place in the lab. My options at that point were to leave with a Master’s or find another professor who would take me (most likely in a completely different area of research) and start my Ph.D. all over again. I chose to leave and started applying for chemistry positions.
Despite the fact that I was not an environmental chemist, I applied for a job with the Army Corps of Engineers. I was accepted, I moved halfway across the country with basically no money left (I burned through the tiny amount of savings I had while applying for jobs), and now I work on projects cleaning up contamination at superfund sites and DoD sites. It’s not anywhere I ever expected to land (my original plan was to work for a Nat’l Laboratory after my Ph.D), but it’s generally been good work (a little dull sometimes, but making a positive environmental impact) with good people, and I make enough money to be comfortable (I still might not ever be able to afford a house in my current locality, but I don’t struggle to pay for rent or groceries, and I even have enough leftover ro put away some savings every month). I’ve even had some opportunities to continue doing some research-type work and get my name on some publications (not that those really matter much anymore in my current position).
Unfortunately, the ride’s still not done taking unexpected turns: The next four years at a minimum look like they’re not going to be good years for federal workers (especially scientists) in the U.S., so I’m looking into alternatives abroad and making preparations to leave. Ideally, I’ll find something similar to what I do now or maybe fall back to something more research-oriented.
Wish me luck, and I’ll wish you the same. The best advice I can give if you’re planning on following a similar path is to prioritize finding a good, stable person to be your research advisor and to take opportunities as they present themselves, even if they don’t quite match with the path you may have envisioned for yourself.
life is weird like that.