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Finding a Water-Related Job

Click on a link below to go directly to that section

General Job Search Resources

Water Job Listings

Newspapers and Magazines

E-Mail Discussion Lists

Internships

Professional Associations Job Listings Researching Employers

Jobs:  UW-Madison, Local Government, State of Wisconsin or Federal Government

Use "General Job Search Resources" to find information on deciding what you want to do, writing a resume, interviewing, job mega databases, etc.  Once you have investigated the general resources, look at the more specific water-related sites.  Although written in March 2002, a good starting point is still the American Water Resources Association's Searching for Water Resources Jobs on the Internet  http://www.awra.org/hydata/jobs.html. 

If you are interested in further education, see our listing of water-related graduate programs offered by UW campuses and Marquette University.

General Job Search Resources
The Riley Guide: Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet
http://www.rileyguide.com
All-inclusive guide to job-related information on the Internet.

UW-Madison College Library Career Collection
http://college.library.wisc.edu/career/
Comprehensive listing of career-related information including links to World Wide Web sites, books and journals in the College Library Career Collection and other campus libraries, and descriptions of UW-Madison resources.  

UW-Madison Career Information Guide
http://www.wisc.edu/pubs/career/career.html
Guide to finding career information at UW-Madison and on the Web. Also lists sites for information about student internships, clubs, professional associations, and student jobs.

Water Job Listings: WWW Databases
Some of these databases contain links to listings of jobs, others contain actual job openings.  A useful general database is MonsterTrak http://www.monstertrak.com.    MonsterTrak contains jobs that employers pay to advertise to students at specific campuses.   All UW System campuses have access to MonsterTrak, but you can only search the listings for the UW campus you are at.  (For example, UW-Madison users cannot search UW-Stevens Point's listings.) 

AquaNIC Aquaculture Jobs
http://aquanic.org/
Click on "Job Services" for a listing of aquaculture jobs.  Scroll down for links to many other listings of jobs.  You can also post your resume at this site.

Aquatic Network
http://www.aquanet.com/busdir/aq_bus.htm
This site includes aquaculture, conservation, fisheries, limnology, marine science and oceanography, maritime heritage, ocean engineering, and seafood employment opportunities worldwide.  There are also many links to additional career and employment resources.

Cyber-Sierra's Natural Resources Job Search
http://www.cyber-sierra.com/nrjobs/index.html
Click on "Watershed" for a listing of sites with watershed, wetlands, marine and aquaculture jobs.  Water-related jobs might also be listed in some of the other categories.

EE-Link
http://eelink.net/eejobs.html
Environmental Education on the Internet is a good place to check if you are looking for a water-related environmental ed position.  The links are to job directories and databases.  Be forewarned that most do not offer environmental education as a specific category so some searching is necessary.

EcoEmploy: Environmental Jobs and Careers
http:://www.ecocmploy.org
Includes job listings and links to many water-related opportunities in the USA and Canada.  

Earthworks
http://http://www.earthworks-jobs.com
Jobs listed under "Hydrology/Hydrogeology/Water Resources", "Oceanography - Marine Sciences" and more.  This site lists many academic and international positions.

Employment Resources in the Geosciences
http://libwww.syr.edu/research/internet/earth/jobs.html#Academic
Syracuse University Library provides this listing of many direct links to current job postings.

GIS Jobs Clearinghouse
http://www.gjc.org/gjc-cgi/listjobs.pl
Database contains hundreds of job listings or you can post your resume.  Also includes links to other GIS job resources.

PhDs.org: Science, Math, and Engineering Career Resources
http://www.phds.org/jobs/
PhDs.Org tells you "everything you need to know to find a job in science". It includes both academic and nonacademic positions.  Many links to other sites.

Newspapers and Magazines
To search the classified ads of a daily newspaper, try NewsVoyager http://www.newspaperlinks.com/voyager.cfm

Geotimes Classified Ads
http://www.geotimes.org/ads.html
Geotimes, a publication of the American Geological Institute, has a Classified Ads section which lists jobs. Also visit AGI's Careers in the Geosciences for additional career-related information.

Chronicle of Higher Education ChronicleCareers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/
Hundreds of job postings are available free each week from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Also lists positions outside higher education.  A good source for general career advice and news as well.

ScienceCareers.Org
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/
Includes over 1,000 job postings, career advice articles, graduate program information, meetings & event information, funding opportunities, and a Career Forum where scientists can get free advice about career-related issues from veteran advisors.

E-Mail Discussion Lists
E-mail discussion lists are a good place to find job openings in specific fields.

Water Resources Discussion Lists
http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/lists.html
Joseph R. Makuch of the National Agricultural Library's Water Quality Information Center has compiled this listing of electronic discussion lists that are primarily concerned with water resources topics. It is frequently updated and well-annotated.  

Internships
Two to three internships are recommended during your college career.  MonsterTrak http://monstertrak.com includes internships as well as job listings.  Also, you might want to contact your campus career services department about the possibility of converting a summer job into an internship for credit.

Environmental Careers Organization
http://www.eco.org/
ECO, probably the most respected environmental internship program in the U.S., places over 700 interns per year.

Student Conservation Association, Inc.
http://www.thesca.org/
Conservation internships and volunteer opportunities in our national parks, forests and other public lands.

NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program
http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp
Click on Search for an REU Site and look at the Earth Sciences and Ocean Sciences sections of this National Science Foundation program.

UW-Madison Center for Limnology
http://limnology.wisc.edu/  
Click on CFL Employment to find year-round and summer-only positions at both the Center and the Trout Lake Station in northern Wisconsin. 

Professional Associations Job Listings
Most professional associations have job listings, although some restrict use to members.  Others have special services for members such as a placement service or resume referrals.  Some of the better free sites are listed below.   For more links to professional organizations, UW-Madison users can go to Associations Unlimited http://www.library.wisc.edu/elib.coreguide.1/assocun.html.  Non-UW users can use Google www.google.com or Aquatic Network's Employment Links http://www.aquanet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=43.

Researching Employers
Use search engines such as Google http://www.google.com/ or Alta Vista http://www.altavista.com to find information about an employer.  Why?  Employer Web sites present the employer's self-portrait and they contain information useful for cover letters and interview preparation.  Often they also contain additional details about a job opening and resume requirements; and they are a great source for email and snail mail contacts. 

Find a Job with:
If where you work is most important to you, check out the following resources.

UW-Madison
 UW Student Job Center
http://www.jobcenter.wisc.edu/
Lists part-time, limited term, summer jobs and internships at UW-Madison and off-campus.

University of Wisconsin - Madison/Employment Opportunities 
http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/pvl/pvl_internet_report_home.html
Lists vacancies for faculty, academic staff  and higher level administrative positions at UW-Madison.  It is updated daily Monday-Friday.

UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension Job Openings
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/personnel/
The place to look for openings with UW-Extension water resources programs.

Local Government
 Dane County Employment Opportunities
http://www.co.dane.wi.us/danedept/emprel/jobs/default.asp?frmJobID=381
Lists county job openings.

City of Madison Job Openings
http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/jobs.html
Check for city employment opportunities.

State of Wisconsin
 Current Opportunities Bulletin
http://jobs.state.wi.us/jobs/openalphatoc.asp
Look here for Wisconsin State agency vacancies.   Also, lists classified staff positions at UW campuses, and various city-county job vacancies.  Updated weekly.

DNR Employment Opportunities 
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/employment/
Listing of jobs available with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 

Job Net
http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/jobnet/mapWI.htm
A service of the Wisconsin Job Service and Job Centers, JobNet lists thousands of jobs in Wisconsin.

Federal Government
USA Jobs
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov
The U.S. Government's official site for job and employment information.

I welcome your comments.  Please email the author, JoAnn Savoy, at  josavoy@aqua.wisc.edu.

Acknowledgements:  Thanks to Barbara Lazewski and Jean Ruenger-Hanson, Steenbock Library, for their assistance with this project. 

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