I’m just trying to weigh up the cost of an MSc with the career prospects gained from doing it. Jobs in wildlife conservation/ecology/field biology interest me most – all aspects of conservation/environmental management interest me, but wildlife is what I’m most passionate about, especially working with wildlife abroad. I have applied for a few different courses – environmental management, which I don’t think will be suitable, Ecological Impact Assessment, which has a very strong consultancy bias, and then a few in ecology/biodiversity/conservation.

I’ve read that an MSc in the environmental sector does provide a massive advantage, however, the course leader for the Ecological Impact Assessment course said it won’t be the MSc that gets you a job in this sector but having a lot of experience in field skills, something that he said can be gained from voluntary work, I imagine he was referring primarily to consultancy work rather than wildlife conservation but I wondered what people’s opinions were on this was and how much of an advantage having an MSc is? Sorry if that's a little vague.

Thank you very much,
Chris

I have no idea about job prospects but do whatever you will find most interesting. You can always forge a career if you want it.

I *should* have done the MSc down at exeter on animal behaviour/psychology as I too would love to work with wildlife - but I didn't and now it will be too expensive to go back and do it :-( so do what you want to do, especially if you're not motivated by salary and want to spend your working life doing something you enjoy.

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I'd agree with the MSc course leader that it's experience that counts in this field. Having a MSc is useful especially with the competition for jobs and may help career progression but it is hands on experience that is really useful. Getting various licences to handle wildlife is particularly useful e.g. a bat licence as they are a protected species.

Check out the Natural England website for more info:
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/regulation/wildlife/licences/default.aspx

I don't know what the requirements are abroad if you want to handle wildlife so it would be a good idea to check what is needed if you intend to go abroad to work.

Hope this helps.