Traineeships

As a trainee you will contribute to the work of the Trust through promoting conservation, education and biodiversity. You will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a variety of habitats, providing you with an ideal start to a career in conservation. 

The role is for 12 months and will see you working with Surrey Wildlife Trust 4 days a week.

As a trainee, you'll be based within our Reserves Management team, gaining valuable hands-on experience in conservation and land management. You'll carry out a range of practical habitat management tasks on heathland, chalk grassland, and wetland. You'll also get the chance to co-organise and lead practical conservation volunteer days and inspire volunteers to take action for nature. 

As part of the trainee scheme, you'll also get the opportunity to: 

• Plan guided walks including the opportunity to develop and lead your own walk for colleagues and/or public.
• Work with the Education Team at Nower Wood assisting with school visits to the education centre and undertake outreach visits to schools. Support the nature discovery day programme working with volunteers.
• Lead a research project. Conduct surveys, collect and analyse data and create results in a variety of topic areas using the expertise of staff from across the Trust.
• Support the work of the Youth Action Committee and be involved in organising events.
• Work with all members of staff within Trust, whether directly or through collaboration. Be invited to staff-wide events, meetings and training.
• Undertake career development such as CV and LinkedIn workshops.
• Freedom for independent learning and study. Opportunity to further develop interests suited to career ambitions.
• Marketing and communication skills development through blog and newsletter article writing, social media posts, and public engagement.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about wildlife and nature with a high level of commitment and enthusiasm. Previous experience in practical nature conservation is desirable and you must be able to demonstrate your desire to work in the conservation sector.

You must have a full driving license for this role and be prepared to work outside in all weathers.

You will be provided with a range of practical training on a variety of habitats, along with many more transferable skills. You will also get the chance to lead groups of practical conservation volunteers and be part of a team that truly cares about the environment. 

You would get the opportunity to undertake a selection of funded external and internal training, including First Aid, Brushcutter and NPTC Chainsaw courses (or suitable equivalents if you already have these qualifications).

You will be supported and mentored throughout your training, including advice on job applications and your CV and we’ll help to prepare you for interviews. We can also act as a referee for future job applications.

This is the ideal opportunity for you if you are looking gain experience in the conservation sector and can really make your CV stand out to future potential employers.

The traineeship provided by Surrey Wildlife Trust is an excellent opportunity to gain skills and knowledge needed to become employed in the practical conservation sector. From day one you are part of the team and this mentality really helps you learn and develop your abilities as a conservationist. You are in a setting where everyone there is enthused and interested by nature and that creates an excellent learning environment.

You are paired with a mentor who you spend a lot of your time with, meaning you can learn and improve your skills with their support. Whether that is through learning to run a practical volunteer task or gaining confidence in leading guided walks, your mentor helps you along the way. This, along with regular meetings to discuss progress and what you would like to gain from the traineeship, means you are fully supported and can tailor the trainee experience to what suits you and what you would like to gain from it.

In addition to this, Surrey Wildlife Trust helped me gain qualifications such as First Aid, Brushcutter and Chainsaw Cross Cutting and Felling. These were all essential qualifications when applying for jobs. I was a bit worried about using a chainsaw initially, however the staff at Surrey Wildlife Trust helped me see it wasn’t quite so scary. I now use a chainsaw at least twice a week during the winter and I love it!

The traineeship opened my eyes to the practical side of conservation. I started my traineeship in 2021 and 9 months later I was working as a full time Countryside Ranger for a local authority. Without the traineeship it would have been a lot harder to kickstart my career in conservation. I would encourage anyone who is interested in working for nature to give the traineeship a go. It is an excellent way to gain the practical skills, knowledge and experience needed to obtain a job in this sector.

I found taking part in Surrey wildlife trust’s traineeship was an excellent way to improve my skills in a more hands on way. Spending more time out on nature reserves with a knowledgeable group of individuals inspired my growth. The reserves team work in a very supportive environment which allowed me to boost my confidence, improving my ability to lead others on work-parties or assisting their understanding of why we carry out the tasks in conservation land management. The traineeship also provided an opportunity for me to gain more experience managing a range of habitats like lowland heath, chalk grassland, woodlands and wetlands, providing a variety of chances to learn the quirks of each and watch these wonderful habitats change and develop over the year.

Over the traineeship I had the opportunity to shadow one of the reserves teams and learn from their skills and experiences, bouncing my existing knowledge off them to best complete the allocated tasks, gaining new skills as I went, like improving my wildflower identification skills, people skills, machinery handling and overall confidence. I was also given the opportunity to spend time with other teams within Surrey wildlife Trust like the grazing team, learning the ins and outs of conservation grazing and how to better look after and approach working with livestock; or the education team looking at how we can encourage the next generation to take a bigger interest in looking after the environment.

My training opportunities during the traineeship were excellent and were tailored to the individual trainee, ensuing we had the necessary skills to progress or gain a better chance of being employed in the future. We were given to opportunity to go on an outdoor first aid courses, obtain brush cutter and chainsaw qualifications, and given access to online courses to expand our theoretical knowledge. If we already had existing tickets, we were given options for other worthwhile training options like trailer training, a 4x4 course, tractor operating, or other skills to best keep our progression going.

I would highly recommend the traineeship to anybody trying to gain more experience in the conservation industry, providing an excellent foundation to anyone willing to learn and take part in helping the environment.   

When I applied for the traineeship with Surrey Wildlife Trust, I had just graduated from university and knew that I wanted to make an impact to British wildlife and habitats, but lacked a lot of the practical experience. The traineeship has changed that! Over the course of my year with the Reserves Team, I have gained my brushcutter and chainsaw tickets, undertook hedge-laying, first aid and tree safety courses, attended surveys and ID sessions, helped build a whole new stock fence, cleared significant areas of scrub, learned to drive off-road and become comfortable with leading volunteer activities. Not to mention, the skills I gained from joining other teams at Surrey Wildlife Trust. From my time with Research and Monitoring, I learnt how to map sites on ArcPro and with the Education Team I gave talks at school assemblies. I particularly enjoyed days with the Grazing Team, learning how to handle and care for cattle and sheep. One of my highlights was helping to deliver a calf on my first day helping with lambing and calving – a nerve-wracking yet rewarding experience that I won’t soon forget!

The traineeship definitely prepares you for a career in the conservation sector, making you suitable for future roles on reserves and ranger teams across various charities and organisations. Starting as someone with little experience of practical tasks and managing volunteers, I developed leadership skills and knowledge of habitats that enabled me to lead and assist with volunteer tasks in scrub clearance, invasive species removal, coppicing, reed clearance, infrastructural repairs, hedge-laying and fence building. The camaraderie between the volunteers made this satisfying work, with volunteers becoming familiar friends over the course of the year. Volunteers have so much knowledge which they are willing to share and have contributed so much to my personal development this year.

Mostly, I have benefitted from the knowledge, positivity and care of the Reserves Team. The dynamic amongst the team is one of togetherness and helpfulness, with my colleagues becoming good friends who I spend time with outside of work – we love a walk and a pub quiz! The traineeship sets you up with mentors who ensure that you build confidence in running volunteer sessions and teach you about the different species and habitats we encounter. I have learnt so much from my mentors about the unique habitats we have in Surrey, especially chalk grassland, and have been fortunate to experience many wildlife encounters with them which make the traineeship extra special. Spending so much time outdoors you really feel the changing of the seasons and get glimpses into the natural world you would otherwise miss.

I would recommend the Surrey Wildlife Trust traineeship to anyone considering a career managing British habitats and wanting to gain practical skills and conservation experience. The traineeship is completely adaptable to your goals, with the flexibility to join other teams, go out on different habitats, choose courses to attend and select which tickets you want to work towards. After my year, I feel prepared for future roles that I take on and excited to make further positive impacts to our native wildlife.

I came into the traineeship looking for a career change, and whilst I knew I loved spending time outdoors in nature, I did not know exactly what I wanted to be doing long-term. The traineeship at Surrey Wildlife Trust provided me with the perfect platform for a career in practical conservation.

Much of your time is spent on nature reserves with the Reserves Management team and volunteer groups, undertaking a wide range of practical work including on heathland, wetland, woodland, and grassland reserves. I have been involved in removing invasive scrub, lighting and managing bonfires, repairing stock fences, clearing trees with a chainsaw, laying hedges, and building footpaths, to name just a few things! You also gain hugely valuable experience in surveying and learning to identify a broad variety of wildlife. Alongside this, there is a strong element of independent learning, which allows you to explore any other interests you may have. I found the 4-day per week working pattern offered a great balance of feeling part of a team, whilst being given the time and encouragement to learn and grow in other areas.

The traineeship really is what you make it – the Reserves Management team has an enormous collective pool of knowledge and experience, and is extremely supportive of your progression. The traineeship is set up to accommodate anyone interested in caring for the countryside, whether you have a specialism already, or just love it all! It allows and encourages you to try your hand at everything – from working with schools groups, to helping to deliver calves and lambs, or getting stuck into a research project, the possibilities are endless. Personally, I had always been interested in trees and plants, and was given the opportunity to plan and lead my own tree ID walks for volunteers on our nature reserves. I was able to attend various related courses to boost my knowledge, and have benefitted hugely from this.

The placement equipped me with an extensive toolkit for getting into the conservation sector. From a practical perspective, I obtained qualifications in the use of brushcutters, 4x4 driving, hedgelaying, emergency first aid, and tree surveying. But equally as important was the vast amount of knowledge I gained throughout the year and the confidence to pursue a career in conservation at a critical time for UK wildlife. Surrey Wildlife Trust is a supportive environment in which to grow and learn new skills, and forge strong bonds with like-minded people. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a career in conservation.