Ok...it's an interesting story.
I was going to school for wildlife biology. I had worked with ND Game and Fish on and off prior to college. During the last year at school, I was in Texas visiting my family. While there, they took me to the Dallas World Aquarium. While there, they expected me to be the tour guide and tell them all about what they saw. While going around, I started also pointed out pros and cons of the set up they had going. This guy next to us started asking questions ...."What would you do with this and with that....". We started talking and I offered what I thought would work better. Turns out it was the owner, he hired me on the spot and said you have two weeks to get here. I joined on a freshwater guy. As time passed, I moved on to saltwater guy and for awhile, I was the ONLY fish guy. From there, it was a lot of hands on learning (which I prefer anyway). I got to gain knowledge no book or prof can teach you. With enough time spent doing this, you can go almost anywhere as long as you gain a solid reputation. From there I was hand picked to work at Como. My background fit what they needed at the time. While working here (like other places) I've gotten to know fish guys at the other local facilities. When I chose to leave Como, all I had to do was mention it and suddenly I was flooded with calls.
Real world: Go to school for some type of biology AND something else....something very random. From there, do whatever it takes to get experience. LOTS of it. As a keeper, we see ten thousand people with a bio degree apply for jobs, but they have no experience. In this world, it's all about hands on experience. Be dive certified. The more hours under the better. I have over 1,200 now. Be diverse. What I mean by that is don't do just fish. Learn how to care for primates or cats on the side. Become familiar with ALL aspects of fish keeping...medical, nutritional, collection, transporting, plumbing, electrical, acrylic work, rockwork, chemistry....... the more you bring to the table, the better off you'll be. Public speaking is a good thing as well. I was doing 4 public talks a day at Dallas. Prior to that, I HATED talking. Now I can get behind a mic without thinking about it.
