National parks are usually located in places, which are largely undeveloped and are often developed in areas with exceptional native animals, plants, ecosystems, biodiversity, and unusual geological features. It’s rare to find national parks in developed areas; the goal of the national parks is to return the area to resemble its original state as closely as possible. Hence, these kinds of jobs are also known as green jobs or eco jobs. The advantage of having such a job is that it lets you live and play in some of the most wonderful places on the planet like mountains, deserts, seacoasts, and more.
Many countries designate sites of special historical, cultural, and scientific importance as national parks or even as special entities within their national park systems. Different types of preservation schemes are used in different countries for the sites of historical importance. These sites, if they meet the required criteria, are awarded World Heritage Site title by UNESCO. UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world, which are considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
In U.S most of the jobs at national parks are available either through the federal government or through park concessionaires, which are private companies that provide temporary workers to cater to visitor needs such as food, lodging, gas, and gifts, that are not easily managed by National Park Service personnel. Over there, all government positions are filled in accordance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations. Normally, a person seeking an initial appointment to a permanent position must acquire eligibility through an OPM register, though some positions may be applied for directly to the National Park Service.
Even getting temporary jobs at a US national park is considered to be memorable experience. These jobs provide opportunities to learn about the outdoors and explore some of the most beautiful protected lands and wilderness areas that the country has to offer and also to meet new and interesting people. According to the survey reports approximately around 45 million Americans participate in national park volunteer activities each year. Not only this it is believed that, more than 85,000 people donate more than three million hours of service to the US national parks. Voluntary service at national or state park provides the opportunity to meet new people; many of them share common interests like, protecting the environment, being in the outdoors, and exploring nature. In most of the cases it helps to receive valuable training and experience for their service in this area.
In US, there are approximately 300 different types of government occupations in the national parks. There are many jobs but the most famous is the national park ranger visitor protection position. These types of rangers perform police, structure & forest fire fighting, emergency medical services, technical search & rescue, and wildlife management services. National park rangers are involved in the administration of the parks; they handle the information stations, collect entrance fees, manage campgrounds, work with wild animals, fight fires, serve as tour guides on boats and buses, give programs at camp fires and hotels, and conduct guided hikes.
National parks are visited by millions of people every year. Nowadays National Park Service career is considered to be great, especially in US. More than 20,000 Americans work to preserve and protect the United States of America's most prominent natural, historical, and recreational resources. They are the employees of the National Park Service (NPS). Vacancies are posted at USAJobs, the official employment website for the United States Federal Government. In order to protect the national park resources and to meet the needs of the visitors, the NPS appoints approximately 10,000 seasonal and temporary employees every year. The summer seasonal government employment applications’ deadlines vary, but most jobs are filled between December and March. NPS offers a broad range of job opportunities from the permanent career positions to temporary and seasonal positions. Most of the temporary employment opportunities are available as Visitor Use Assistants, park guides, biological science technicians, park rangers, and seasonal maintenance positions.
The National Park Service seeks qualified, highly motivated people with backgrounds in academic disciplines or trades, for a wide variety of career opportunities available nation-wide. The eligibility criteria for jobs in National Park Service vary depending on the position applied for. But the basic eligibility criteria are:
- Candidate must be a United States citizen. In some cases, the candidate needs to meet age and physical qualifications.
- The summer law enforcement ranger jobs require an applicant to have at least a standard first aid training and a semester long program in federal law enforcement training offered at some colleges around the nation.
- Most rangers are college professors, public school teachers, college students, or retired persons. Training from an emergency medical technician (EMT) course, which is better than Red Cross Advanced First Aid training program, is an added advantage for those applying for ranger job.
- ‘Visitor Use Assistant’ is another good college seasonal entry position that can lead to other opportunities, including the ranger job.
Working for the US National Park Service includes following benefits:
- Working for a leading conservation agency
- Living and working in wonderful, scenic places
- Doing interesting and meaningful work
- Comprehensive life and health insurance
- Excellent vacation and sick leave benefits
- Friendly work policies
- Flexible workplace opportunities
- Flexible work schedules
- Tuition assistance available
- Transit benefits available
- Great retirement benefits
