Seasonal National PS employment

[Geocritter]

I’m looking for some experienced insight regarding seasonal National Park employment. Being a retired geologist who still loves geology I figured that obtaining seasonal work as a geologist at one of the National Park interpretive centers would be a pleasant way to fill my summers. However, I just spent the morning perusing different websites that discussed working for the NPS and now I’m not so sure that I want to spend my summers doing such work. The employment process alone appears unnecessarily cumbersome and arbitrary. Reading about mainly management issues (or lack thereof) was unsettling. I now wonder if it’s even worth the bother. Can some of you out there who have had such employment share your insight with me about seasonal NPS jobs?

Steve

[2012Coleman]

It allows incompetents and fools to hide within it's folds and hang out till retirement.

This is true of any corporation, including all the ones I've been employed at.

Seriously, don't let the bad experiences of a few axe grinding internet posters bring you down. If you want it, go out and find it. Sure, you may start out at the bottom rung, but anyone should realize that. good luck.

[2gypsies1]

Do you need a paying job? A volunteer in a national park is a much more pleasing experience. Also look into other agencies.

Pick the park you think you could be beneficial and contact them. We loved interpretative volunteer gigs but our specialty was giving lighthouse tours.

I will say that as a volunteer you are treated much better than an employee. They go out of their way to keep you happy at what you're doing. Also try the Oregon state parks. They're awesome to work with!

I just Googled "volunteer interpretative geologist" and this is the first one that came up:

http://www.dinoridge.org/volunteer.html

[Geocritter]

Well dang! After my early morning research I was afraid I’d get responses like I see here. Back in 2009, during the recession, I was laid off from my job with Halliburton. Unfortunately, my wife was also in a multi-year battle with cancer and I really really needed a job because of insurance benefits. There was still hiring going on in the oil industry so I applied and applied and applied. I’d never in my 32 years as a geologist had a problem with employment. I’d even had my own business for over 15 years. Suddenly, I couldn’t get so much as a hey, nay or gotohell. It was like sending my resume off to a black hole! After my wife died I ended up doing geological consulting (research/writing) for a petroleum industry technical publication. That work dried up last year when oil prices crashed. I guess it’s time to search out more consulting work because I will not go through a dehumanizing job search process again and when you get no response at all, as if you don't exist, that's what it is.

Even though your responses weren't what I’d hoped for, I want to thank you all for responding to my query.

Steve

[dave54]

Forest Service, BLM, FWS, et al also hire geologists. Check the other agencies too. If you are willing to do field work then expand your search to include related fields such as soil science.
Agencies hire seasonal field crews to do the dirty work -- spend 40 hrs per week hiking through the woods taking field samples and measurements. That will get your foot in the door, then you watch for and apply for other positions.

[mkl654321]

The NPS is a government agency, with all that that implies. Still, it's a better employer than Xanterra or other national park concessionaires, or God forbid, any one of those private outfits that want to hire slaves and give you a receipt instead of a paycheck (because all the deductions exceed the amount of your pay).

The trouble is, the applicant:opening ratio is about 15:1 for all types of NPS jobs. You qualifications or lack thereof have very little to do with whether you win that lottery. Being "juiced" in really helps (and may be essential), as many parks are in isolated areas and the locals depend on the NPS for seasonal work--thus, supervisors who are also local tend to steer what jobs there are in the direction of such people.

What can be frustrating is that the very long and tedious application process implies that the hiring process is merit-based, so you apply and apply and apply with the expectation of at least hearing from them, and you never do. This goes for all gummint jobs but especially the Forest Service and NPS. You have to have juice, you have to have personal contacts; otherwise, forget it, unless you're satisfied with an Assistant Toilet Maintenance position at Death Gulch National Monument.

It's pretty much established that NPS management is not only incompetent but also a competitive, back-stabbing environment that would make Game of Thrones look like Mayberry RFD (and if you understand both those references...). This doesn't really affect foot soldier hiring, but it does let you know the nature of the bureaucracy you'll be dealing with.

Of course, the ultimate reward is being able to live and work in someplace beautiful. But that reward may take a decade or more to attain, while you pay your dues as a Ditch Flushing Technician at Nuclear Waste Hills National Monument in eastern Nevada.

[Twomed]

Gary has the long version pretty much spot on. We spent eight years volunteering before retirement, then 12 years as seasonal ranger after retirement in seven different parks, large and small.

Some were fun, some not so much. Realize that most seasonal's are forty hours, so it is a job, although sometimes great.

I found a better gig with a concessionaire in the park so that has been a great couple of years...who knows what's next. I always tell them hey I don't mind working, but the BS years are over, it's either fun, or I will be gone. That's what the wheels are for. 🙂 🙂

[garyhaupt]

I worked for the NPS for a 10 week stint in the Mojave Desert Preserve and can offer some insights, perhaps. Let there be no doubt in your head, that the juggernaught that is the NPS is a monster. It is a buearucarcy that defeats all attempts to manage it.

It allows incompetents and fools to hide within it's folds and hang out till retirement.

That is the truth. But..there are other truths as well. The NPS does great work. And pretty much any of the staff I came into contact with are devoted, hard working souls that have found a life long 'home'. The NPS tolerates those that have difficulty working in 'normal' environments. From the managers right on down to the people on the ground doing back-coutry work, there is a pride in the wearing of the 'badge'.

If a person is a bit of a loner and has a bent for the odd-balls of the world..they'd do well. If a person can tolerate the black and white of beauracracy and muddle thru the maze of apparent nonesense and fiefdom building and just find a niche, hunker down and get known.

One of the problems is that much of the NPS work is seasonal, so..the people that are doing the ground work get released at seasons end. There is lots of secret bum patting and back-stabbing..trying to find a new gig or next years.

If a person can identify a job..in your case a geologist, then dig around and determine which NPS locations have need of one...then be in touch with the manager of that locale. Are you looking for paid work or a Volunteer position? As a Volunteer you'd be able to look at many various sites. And you learn the ins and outs of the organization. I'd sugggest that perhaps you look at Volunteering first. Get in the door and learn the ways of the NPS. That way, too..if you can't quite get comfy with the whole thing, at the end of the your term, you can just walk away. No harm, no foul. But..being a Volunteer doesn't allow for easing of the 'rules'. OMG, no. So..it is still a monster, but one you can laugh at.

Gary Haupt