Fish or Animal related jobs?

[tr6]

Just curious about people's jobs.

How many people have a job in the animal industry?

I wanted to be a vet when i was younger, but the premed kicked my back, I make more now then i would as a vet, but don't really dig my job. I guess my plan is to do my job for another 10 years, retire, and start something i may really like.
At that point i will be 50, and no way i will go to vet school at that age, so what kinds of things would be open for me to enjoy and make a decent living?

Going back to school to get a advanced biology degree is out of the question, but there are other ways. Advanced degree in anthropology is doable, and you can specialize in primates. You can go to africa, study primates just like a biologist would.

Maybe some kind of job diving in the tropics.
I don't know, just looking for ideas.
What jobs do you do now, know of, or would like to do in the future.

Parameters...
No more than 3 years full time college.
Don't really know what pay to specify, because it will vary state to state and country to country, lets just say comfortable.

 

[philliptobin]

Is this with an Associate's degree? or Bachelor's degree?

 

[tr6]

its more of a question.
what kind of animal related job can one find with less then 3 years of training.

so for most people that would mean AA degree.
I have 3 degrees, so getting another BA degree would not take me the 4 plus years, so for my case, either AA or BA, actually i could get a MA in anthropology (primate behavior emphasis) in less then 3 years.

so the question is, what job animal related can I and most people with a previous degree attain in 3 years or less, that pays modestly well.

 

[Medusa LA]

I run the fresh water department in a fish store - it's a fun job.

 

[swede]

you can become a breeder

 

[tr6]

I have seen fish stores close weekly it seems.
though i would love to have one, thats a huge risk to start up.

As far as a breeder, i do breed some fish.
Moba, kitumba and mpimbwe frontosa, phenochilus, albino electric blues and various pleco's.
There is nice side income in this but doing it as a primary source of income?
I know some people who own fish farms in florida, i'd love to do that, but i'm more thinking of something where my financial security is not at risk.
someone else's company, or state, university type job, rather than me starting my own.
yeah, i know no risk no reward, but for every 1 person that is succesful starting their own company, there is 10,000 that lose everything.
i'm not that type of gambler.

 

[tr6]

I run the fresh water department in a fish store - it's a fun job.

i plan on coming over and picking up some comps and electric blues, maybe albino eureka reds too.

 

[Zoodiver]

Hands on experience > a degree.
I'm just sayin'......

 

[tr6]

Hands on experience > a degree.
I'm just sayin'......

I don't disagree, but tell me what are the jobs where i can even get started to get hands on experience that will at least put food on my table till it actually earns me some money.

Say i wanted to be an underwater photographer. Yeah i can get a degree in art and photography, or even a minor is biology, so i can somewhat understand the animals im snapping, but if i would go the Hands On Experience route, how would i get started in that, or any type of interesting animal field?

I can go volunteer to clean up poop at the zoo, and maybe in 5 years move up, but i'm not a kid or a senior, i can't live on being a volunteer.

I'm trying to find out, what kind of job, degree or not, could i do animal related that will pay fair now (meaning cover rent and other bills without having to have room mates in a 1 bedroom apt) and then later afford owning a home thats the median of the area.

I can take a 25/hr cut in pay, i just can't go down to single digits an hour, or volunteer to get experience.

 

[Zoodiver]

The entry level jobs won't put food on the table. Most 'full time professional' animal jobs will barely make ends meet at the end of the month. A lot of the people I work with also have part time jobs on the side and roommates to make sure the bills get paid.
As far as school goes, a good internship will do wonders. There is an aquarium science program you can look into out at Oregon Coast Comm College that I would suggest. Volunteer work is a great way to start, and how most do it. Single digit per hour is something you'll have to face at first once hired. The problem is there are 200 or 300 people per job when it comes to working with animals. So the demands on new staff can be high, and the pay very low. The reward comes in the day to day work, not in the paycheck.

Finding something entry level at your local animal facility/zoo/aquarium is a start. Start looking at conferences and events you can attend to meet people and learn (RAW is coming up hosted by Newport Aq in KY in a week or two - just an example).

Hope that helps.