Hey Google! How do I become a jack-of-all-trades?

27 February 2025

A job on a nature reserve is varied work. No day looks the same. You may find yourself jumping from science to building work to counting birds to telling people about it, all in one afternoon. The career aspiration is to become a jack of all trades and a master of maybe one or two (if you're lucky).

Here at WWT Caerlaverock, we have a chance to take the first steps on that path – vacancies for a practical reserve placement. These posts (we have two) will give you a 12-month immersion (sometimes literally) into the weird and variable world of reserve management. This role will give you experiences more varied than you thought possible.

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wildflower picking by James Shooter

Where else could you spend a dawn counting 5000 geese and a dusk counting the song of toads?

You might be backing a tractor, felling a tree, laying a hedge, raising a fence and holding the fort.

What other job could you learn how to sned, coppice and pollard (chainsawing), replace a strainer (fencing), spread seeds (wildflowers) and clean a beach?

One day you could be spotting the difference between a lesser swallow prominent and a large yellow underwing (moths), the next the difference between a goosander and a merganser (ducks) and yet another you might learn to identify your barnacles from your greylags (geese) in the dark.

Some days you might be out before dawn and home after dark, standing in rain and sweltering in sun, battling wind and bumbling in fog - it is a job for all four seasons.

Before you finish you might get to feed a whooper (swan), shear a Hebridean (sheep) and ring a sparrow.

And more than just doing, you get to tell people about what you do, leading guided walks and activities and giving public talks. It is a role where you can make a difference and influence people and all at a very special place for nature.

Fancy becoming a jack of all trades?