Looking for a career with wildlife or in conservation? Well, the good news is that the opportunities to work in these fields are greater than they have ever been: the range of available jobs, both paid and unpaid, is vast and varied.

The bad news is that competition is incredibly fierce. This is particularly true for paid jobs working for conservation organisations (whether they be large international groups such as Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth or much smaller community-based cooperatives or local wildlife trusts) and for paid jobs working with whales and dolphins.

Unless you are exceptionally lucky, and fall into your dream job without really trying, you need passion, perseverance and preparation. You have to be passionate about your subject because, in most cases, you will have to work very hard for relatively little financial reward; and, of course, it helps to show that you are genuinely committed because there will be plenty of other people chasing the same job who are equally passionate and committed. You need to persevere, because it may be a long time before you get exactly where you want to go – and there is likely to be a lot of hard work along the way. And you need to be prepared, so that when your ideal job does eventually come along you will stand head-and-shoulders above all the other applicants.

Here are some specific recommendations to consider. None of these hold any guarantees, of course, but they are based upon Mark’s own experiences and upon the experiences of his many friends and colleagues working in the same field.