If you’re the type of person who wishes that you could spend all day hanging out with your fuzzy friends, looking after animals in need, or hanging out at dog parks (and let’s be real, who isn’t?), we have the perfect animal jobs for you!
Whether you envision your dream animal-related job involving pet sitting, dog walking, conservation, or helping out at your local zoo, we know just how to make it a reality; all you need to do is keep on reading!
What Are Animal Care Jobs?
There are a bunch of different careers that fall under the category of animal care jobs. In fact, we’re willing to bet that even the fussiest animal lover could find their perfect fit!
Basically, ‘animal jobs’ are any careers that involve looking after cute critters. This could mean taking care of animals when they’re sick, babysitting pets when their owners are busy, researching ways to protect habitats, studying animal behaviour, or a bunch of other super rewarding activities. Regardless of your favourite way to interact with your fuzzy friends, there’s a way to turn your passion into a career.
What Animal Jobs Are There?
In most industries, there are a few jobs that require a fair bit of training to break into. If these types of roles are the ones you’re hoping to snag, it’s best to start the planning process early; that way you’ll be able to figure out what kind of degrees, courses or programs you need to enrol in to make your dream career a reality!
However, if you want to jump straight into an animal job without any training, that’s totally possible too! In fact, we’ve got a whole section dedicated to animal care jobs for students; you just need to scroll down a little to find it.
Veterinarian
When we think of animal-related jobs, veterinarian roles are usually the first to spring to mind. Vets are responsible for diagnosing, treating, and looking after much-loved pets and ensuring they have a high quality of life. This animal profession is super important as animals can’t tell us how they feel, so vets have to act as translators to make sure their needs are being met!
To become a veterinarian in Australia, you have to complete an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in veterinary science, which usually takes around five to seven years. We know it sounds like a long process, but you’ll be getting some hands-on experience and hanging out with fuzzy friends while completing your degree, so it won’t be a drag!
Animal Nutritionist
How would you feel if you had to eat the same boring meal every single day? Unfortunately, this is the case for most household pets, and we can’t imagine it’s super exciting (or totally nourishing) for them. That’s why animal nutritionists are so important! This animal job involves using scientific knowledge to keep animals well-fed, healthy and happy. If you ask us, that kind of animal profession sounds pretty rewarding!
To break into this animal job, you’ll need to complete a bachelor’s degree in a related topic such as Animal Health and Behaviour or Animal Science. As far as university degrees go, it’s not a huge commitment (only four or so years), so we classify that as a huge win!
Wildlife Conservationist
Wildlife conservationist careers are lesser-known animal jobs, but the work that wildlife conservationists do is integral to helping animals thrive in their natural habitats. Some of the most famous wildlife conservationists include the much-loved Steve Irwin and his family, Jane Goodall and Sir David Attenborough, so by choosing this career, you’ll be in great company!
This animal profession involves a huge variety of different tasks (so you’ll never be bored), including testing soil, helping to protect endangered species, preventing forest fires, working on projects such as vegetation regeneration, and educating the public on all things wildlife. Sounds pretty cool right?
Aspiring wildlife conservationists will need a bachelor’s degree to get started, but because there are so many areas of conservation that you can go into, your education options are pretty expansive! However, some of the most popular picks are degrees in marine biology, environmental science, or wildlife biology.
Zoologist
Let’s be honest: days spent at the zoo are always the best kind of days. That’s why pursuing an animal-related job as a zookeeper is such a cool choice! What’s more, there are a tonne of exciting specialisations you can go into, including entomology, ecology, ethology, mammalogy, ornithology, and many, many more. This means that you can find your perfect fit, regardless of what you’re into!
To pursue this animal-related job, you’ll need a bachelor’s of science majoring in zoology. However, if you want to start building relevant experience before you head to university, you can try to land some work experience at animal shelters, zoos, wildlife parks, sanctuaries or animal conservations to really boost your application.
Animal Care Jobs for Students
Okay, so you want to work with animals without going to university or studying a TAFE course; that’s totally doable, too. There are a few super rewarding and very fun careers that you can start working towards today, and we’re about to show you how to do so!
Pet Sitter
Pet sitting is a dream animal job for many. When loving pet owners go out of town, they often need animal lovers to look after their fuzzy friends, and that’s where you come in! Essentially, you’re paid to care for and hang out with cute critters all day. Pretty sweet gig, right?
The best part about working as a pet sitter is that you don’t need any experience (besides, perhaps, owning and looking after your own pet). Simply keep your eye on community notice boards for call outs or asking family friends if they need someone to look after their pets if they ever go away.
Dog Walker
Do you love getting out in nature and hanging out with cute puppies all day? In that case, a career in dog walking might be perfect for you! Take your pawesome pals out for strolls at your favourite walking locations and make sure they get their much-needed exercise; trust us, they’ll love you for it!
As you become a more experienced dog walker, you can start taking out more and more pups (and making a pretty decent wage, too). There are plenty of people who have started their very own dog walking businesses that way, so there’s no reason that this incredible animal job can’t help you do the same!
Looking for Something More ‘You’?
If these animal-related jobs aren’t quite what you’re looking for, there’s no need to stress! We have a tonne of other blogs exploring other industries and professions. All you need to do is find a title that interests you, and we’ll do the rest. Head over to our helpful career advice blog and start your career on the right foot today!
P.S. Alternatively, you can go straight to these helpful guides to other pathways!
