Tips for wildlife biologist interviews.

Do you have any tips to help prepare for an upcoming wildlife biologist interview?

Are there common interview questions that come up again and again?

I know that every interview is different, but some questions that I am always prepared for:

1) Why do you want this position?
2) What skills would you bring to this position?
3) What are your three best/worst qualities? (that's always a fun one!)
4) How would you deal with this situation.... (dealing with difficult people, a difficult coworker, a difficult/impossible assignment, a tight deadline, etc)

Basically, look at the key skills they are looking for (organization, verbal or written communication, multi-tasking, technical skill, etc.) and be prepared to give examples of your skills in those areas. Also, you need to expect questions specific to the job you are applying to. If you are applying for a small mammal biologist position, then you certainly better brush up on your small mammal knowledge, specifically for the state that you are applying!

Hope this helps someone. Lord knows that I have been through my share of interview!

One more quick comment. Practice for the interview! You should at least stand in front of a mirror and practice answering some of these expected questions, and better yet, you should have a friend give you a mock interview. The interview is SOOOOO key in getting the job, so you better be prepared as much as possible. I can tell you from experience, that it gets much easier and you get much better with time. I was horrible at interviews when I began, but after going through countless numbers of them, I have certainly improved.

Also the interviewer is looking for you to show a personality that will not only fit in well with your potential co-workers but also deal well with the public. Once you move out of pure research wildlife management is mostly people management.

hi my name is Liv Smith and i am a seventh grader in Marin county. i am doing a class project on the effect of de-forestation on our climate, and I'm wondering if there are any biologists, climatologists or ecologists out there who are available to interview for my project. thanks!