Lisa: Policy Officer at Wildlife and Countryside Link

Career progression: Following her placement, Lisa secured permanent employment at Wildlife and Countryside Link as a Policy Officer where her focus is developing policy concerned with animal, plant and wildlife welfare.

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After completing her degree in Physical Geography at the University of Sussex, Lisa had gained employment as a Visitor Experience Officer at the National Trust. Despite really loving the organisation, she dreamed of working in a different part of the sector – developing nature policy – and started applying for jobs in this field.

After a number of unsuccessful applications, Lisa considered returning to university to obtain a policy qualification (which she hoped would increase her chances of entering the sector) though this would have been far from ideal financially. So, when Lisa stumbled across New to Nature in her job search, she couldn’t believe her luck. Being a Policy Officer without the barriers of needing extra experience or qualifications sounded perfect.

Lisa began learning on the job from excellent and supportive colleagues how Government works, how to write policy briefings and how to understand legislation. To build up her knowledge and skill base, she took as many training opportunities as possible, learning a lot by listening to more experienced team members. The role soon became second nature. 

Lisa has taken the political knowledge and skills she acquired over the course of her placement into a permanent Policy role remaining at Wildlife and Countryside Link where she continues to advocate for the protection of nature and build her green career.

Lisa said:

“My placement was a very steep learning curve! It took time for my work to get up to scratch, but I felt supported by my team to improve. I took as many training opportunities as possible and learned a lot by just listening to those around me.

“I have learned so much and gained so many skills that I didn’t have previously. I can chair meetings, digest complicated material, turn ramblings into policy suggestions, produce material for MPs and Peers. There is still a lot to learn and improve on, but looking back at when I started, it’s wonderful that some of the things I was doing that felt entirely alien feel like second nature now.

“Understanding different perspectives and learning from those with different experiences is pivotal to making improvements to our local and national environments. Nature belongs to us all, but it also means something different to everyone and it’s important to understand that.

“New to Nature showed me that there is a much wider variety of jobs than I had considered, and a lot of the roles are essential but underrepresented.

“Jobs need to be promoted in different ways to reach a different audience. Using social media is a good way to reach younger/more diverse candidates. It is also extremely valuable to hire someone with potential, rather than direct experience. Through training they will soon become an asset.

“Promote the diverse range of green jobs to a younger audience, starting with primary school and embed it in the curriculum all the way through to school leavers. Ecologists, solar engineers, foresters – these roles are essential for the future and the net-zero world. School leavers should be presented with additional pathways to enter green careers. More apprenticeships and direct fast-track courses are a good way to reduce the slow pipeline of transitioning university students to workers.

“Switching roles in the sector is quite common, and that’s a good thing! There will be other roles and other organisations that you can get experience working with to keep learning and improving. There are lots of ways to benefit nature.