Are you considering yourselves a true animal lover and environmentalist? Then 2020-2021 could be the perfect time to turn your passion into a rewarding career in animal care. Fortunately, working with animals is not limited to just one field but involving a diverse range of career pathways to cater for all interests, skill levels and abilities.

Veterinary Assistant

Working alongside veterinarians, nurses and medical experts, you will truly be making a difference to the lives of these amazing creatures. Entry level as it may seem, the role of a vet assistant is vital to the operation of any animal care facility. It can vary from grooming patients to sanitising equipment and administrative work.

While the commonest career path is applying into a pet clinic, Vet Assistance and Animal First Aid graduates also find themselves working on farms, animal shelters, education settings or even in zoos. A vet assistant will often start in general practice to gain experience, then move into specialist fields or referral facilities if they wish to be further challenged.

Animal Trainer

There is a misconception that an animal trainer only works with pets and their employment is limited to private practice organisations. In fact, if you wish to join the pet care industry or the law enforcement, being a trainer is always a good option. You can even run your own animal training business or choose to work alongside veterinarians, in animal shelters or with rescue charities.

Especially, dogs and horses are popular service animals that help people with disabilities, assist in the medical field and to protect society through Police Force or other government agencies. These animals require the highest standard of care and training. Aim to try such a challenging and exciting career path? You can start anytime with our online course in Dog Care, Training and Psychology.

Pet Grooming Specialist

Pet grooming is booming in Australia as households spend approximately $12 billion per year caring for their furry friends. The job is hands-on and actually requires deep understanding in animal care, handling, behaviour and animal disease prevention. In return, you have a chance to come into close contact with animals you love and add to their comfort and welfare.

As a professional groomer, you can choose to work in the pet care facilities (e.g. catteries, stables, dog kennels etc.), large chains of grooming parlour or may find yourself managing a private business of your own. Your knowledge and experience in grooming and animal care are also useful to seek employment in the ever-growing pet retail industry, as sales representatives for pet food companies, the pharmaceutical industry, or medical equipment wholesalers.

Animal Welfare and Protection

Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation are of great importance to help protect Australia’s unique flora and fauna both in individual incidents to during national environmental crises. Available roles are park rangers, animal rehabilitation workers, sanctuary management and positions within local agencies, to name a few. With further education, you can also look into Biology specialists or research and educational positions. Many choose to work on farms or in commercial animal operations in which they help develop humane and efficient businesses.

A normal day in the life of a wildlife rescuer or rehabilitator would include managing wildlife control programs, assisting with research purposes, relocating endangered species out of urban areas, educating people about animal protection and maybe cooperating with police forces to prevent wildlife crime.

Zoologist

Did you grow up dreaming of working in the zoo with such amazing creatures? Today, becoming a zoologist is not a far-fetched dream anymore as you can enroll in various online courses for a starting point and an entry-level job in the zoo.

You could be working closely with exotic animals as a qualified zookeeper, venturing on countless expenditures as a contract zoologist or embarking on a research role in herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians), entomology (study of insects), ichthyology (study of fish), mammalogy (study of mammals) etc.  

There are many zoos, aquariums and wildlife sanctuaries in Australia as well as across the globe, allowing you the chance help protecting Australian native ecosystems or move abroad for a challenging career path.