KEY POINTS:
Name: Ken Millwood
Age: 33
Job title: Hamilton Zoo education team leader
Working hours: 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday
Employer: Hamilton Zoo, other zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, reserves
Pay: $46,000 to $55,000
Qualifications needed: BSc., teaching experience helpful, interest in conservation
Career prospects: similar job in different institutions including overseas.
Describe your job?
Every day is different. Any school groups coming in make initial bookings through the Education Department.
We focus on their learning wants and what part of the curriculum they want to focus on, which depends on the subject and year level. One group might have a technology focus so will look at enclosure design, another might focus on a specific animal and its needs, others might be looking at classification.
After a group books we'll send out dates, times, a confirmation pack which includes guidelines for while they're at the zoo, maps and check lists.
We also offer teachers a pre-visit. Sometimes groups have been doing project work so they might just have a question and answer session with the educator.
Depending on the age of the group, lessons may be from 30 to 45 minutes. We have to update our resources when new animals arrive or have gone, which involves preparing information sheets, laminating and photocopying them.
I'm also the volunteer co-ordinator. We have 60 volunteers who can act as hosts and I organise that if a group wants a guided tour.
Why did you choose the job?
When I was at university and did a BSc in geography I studied a variety of ecology papers because that's always been a fascination - conservation, animals. So when the opportunity came up to be a zoo educator I jumped at it. I was teaching as a primary school teacher when the zoo job came up.
My nine-year-old son is over the moon that dad's working at the zoo. I was impressed with the focus of the zoo on conservation and captive breeding programmes and wanted to get involved, find out more about it and pass on that information.
Why is the job important?
It's important because of the whole message of conservation.
Education is not only talking to groups but includes providing signage and information generally about what we are doing, why an animal might be endangered, things that can be done to preserve it, what we are doing as a zoo to help it.
We're involved with some of our New Zealand native species, releasing them to predator-free islands and that type of thing. Educating the public is one of the most important roles of the zoo.
What's the best part of the job?
I just love it. No two days are the same. You may spend a day behind the computer making resources or be out there with new animals finding out information.
You're constantly involved, talking with the keepers and other staff and finding out what's happening as well as meeting the needs of the students who come in. It's just an exciting place to be.
There's no real major downside, just some days it may be a bit repetitive if you have a group of six classes and you are teaching the same lesson over and over.
What are your strengths?
You have to be a good communicator and flexible to deal with a variety of students of different ages and abilities.
Because you are dealing with large groups of people there is budgeting and finance, and as we are council owned there are various meetings and that is always challenging.
What's your job hunting advice?
It's a real advantage if you are passionate about environmental issues and conservation.
Anything to do with education, working with groups is an advantage. Volunteering is an entry point. One of our previous educators was originally a volunteer and the advantage of that is you get to find out how the zoo works, about the animals, their backgrounds, and their history. If a job comes up you've got all that knowledge already.
Any interesting tales?
It's amazing to see the Sumatran tigers plucking the feathers off chickens before they eat them. They use their paws to hold the chicken carcase down. One of my very first days here I went in and was watching a male tiger eating away when he looked up at me and kind of did a snarl but it's hard to take it seriously when its whole mouth is covered in feathers.
