The objectives of a CV (Curriculum Vitae)
or Resume are to tell your prospective employer about you. In two to three pages, not more, you must summarise your life,
your employment history and your skills and achievements.
The CV should be constructed for the post
and the collection to which you are applying. Do an internet search for information about the company. Read all you can, get
a ‘feel’ for place. Do you know any present or ex-employees? Chat to them if you can. Read the job advertisement
again. Once you feel confident you can set about putting your CV together.
All CV’s should start with your name,
address, email and contact number.
So:
James Smith,
71 Percival Street
Otterbourne
Northumberland
NR2 P83
Tel-123 456 7890
Next give your date of birth and any relevant
personal information.
So:
Date of Birth – 7th April 1967
Place of Birth – Hebdon
Bridge, Yorkshire.
You could at this point make mention of
whether you are married or are divorced or have children. For some work applications the information is relevant, sometimes
it is not. Add or omit as you see fit or maybe stick it in towards the end of your CV.
Next you should give a précis of your employment
history in chronological order starting with your present, or last post, and working back. It is important that any dated
‘gaps’ in work are explained.
Next give details of your education, further
education and qualifications.
Finish with your hobbies, interests and
relevant society memberships.
Example CV
One last little tip:
Use a good quality cream or pale blue paper
for your Application and CV…preferably a different colour for each. The paper should be just about 10mm bigger than
A4 in size, so you will have to shop around and cut neatly to size.
The reason is that most applicants will
write on standard white A4. Your Application and CV will stand out as different. The ‘slightly bigger’ size will
mean that even if it is at the bottom of the pile of applications on the Directors desk it will not be missed.
Example CV
Curriculum Vitae
Full Name :
Peter Dickinson
Date of Birth : 3rd October 1948
Nationality : British
Health :
Excellent
Postal Address : Suite 201, Gateway House, 78
Northgate Street, Chester,
CH1 2HR United
Kingdom
Home Telephone: UK
00 44 (0)123456789
E-Mail : peterd12345@yahoo.co.uk
Summary of Experience
I have been working continually in zoos
since 1968 and, for most of this time, in the capacity of Curator, Assistant Curator or Head Keeper. I am thoroughly familiar
with all aspects of Zoo Administration and Management and have extensive zoo contacts. I have wide experience of animals common
to British Zoos and, due to my time in the Middle East, a number of less common species as well. At
all stages of my zoo career I have taken an active part within the zoo, hand rearing where necessary and assuming a keeper
role in times of staff shortage. I have been responsible for organising and running breeding programmes, and taken a particular
interest in staff training.
I am dedicated to, and take great pride
in my work. My health has always been extremely good and apart from the odd bout of flu, absences from work due to sickness
have been very rare.
December 2007 – January 2008
Working as part of a dedicted rearing team
for Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins in Dalian, China.
I came in at the hatching stage and was able to assist hatch several eggs. Sadly collection/incubation problems (which I was
not involved in) meant that hatch was much lower than anticipated and a three
month contract was therefore shortened.
November 2006 - January 2007
Temporary position as head of the extensive
Arabian Rodent section at Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, Sharjah, United
Arab Emirates.
October 2003 - April 2004
Collections Manager of the South
Lakes Wild Animal Park.
This popular North of England collection specialises in Kangaroos, Lemurs and Tigers but maintains a wide range of other species
including Giraffe, White Rhinos and Spectacled Bears. The Park has three areas of responsibility, Admin, Cafe/Shop and Animals.
My responsibility was for the animal side of the operation including the hiring, training and supervision of 12 full time
keeping staff and maintenance department as well as food ordering, veterinary liaison, pest control, licensing etc.
I had an excellent salary and as in all
of my career adapted to and enjoyed my work. However I decided to resign and travel so that I could see a bit more of the
world.
September 1983 - October 2003
Assistant Curator/Head Keeper of the Welsh
Mountain Zoo . A small mixed collection covering around 35 acres. Six full time
keeping staff , three or four trainees and a varying number of volunteers. Responsible for day to day running of the zoo including
staff rotas, supervision and training. I acted as zoo liaison with ISIS and was responsible for the development and maintenance
of zoo records and studbooks using ARKS/SPARKS as well as stock control, diet implementation and adjustment, environmental
enrichment, breeding programmes, drug administration, incubation, hand rearing, COSHH, first aid, driving, food ordering,
veterinary liaison, keeper relief, show commentaries, educational lectures, telephone enquiries, correspondence etc. I also
acted as British Isles studbook holder and coordinator for the Red Squirrel, UK
representative for the European Otter EEP and was EEP for the Andean Condor and acted as the zoos representative at species
related meetings and conferences.
January 1976 - August 1983
Curator at the National
Zoological Gardens, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates. This was a very large and comprehensive collection which includes many rare
and endangered species. The collection, whilst I was there covered more than 400 hectares and maintained more than 2000 specimens
of around 350 species. My responsibilities were for roughly half the collection including most of the Arabian fauna. In conjunction
with the vet, I was instrumental in setting up successful breeding programmes for Arabian Oryx, Arabian Gazelle, Laristan
Sheep, Arabian Wolves, African Spur-Thighed Tortoises amongst other species. My range of duties were wide but included budgeting,
staff training and supervision, pest control, animal capture and movement. Whilst here I gained considerable experience in
the chemical immobilization of animals using a variety of systems. Though personally responsible for several sections and
around 30 keepers, I had a supervisory role over the staff encampment which housed around 200 people.
I made one trip to Kenya,
bringing back a number of new species for the zoo. From time to time I was called in to assist with animals on large private
collections on islands in the Arabian Gulf. After contributing a paper to the 1977 Zoo Architecture
Symposium I was consulted by architects setting up new Middle Eastern Zoos.
Outside of the zoo I was a committee member
of the local and very active Natural History Society. I left this post to move back to the U.K.
to allow my children to go to an English medium school.
February 1974 - December 1975
Curator of the West
Country Wildlife Park,
Cricket St Thomas, Somerset. A small but very popular mixed collection. My duties
included the day to day management and supervision of the collection as well as acting as Elephant keeper and doing relief
keeping as and when necessary.
April 1972 - February 1974
Curator of Cleethorpes Zoo and Marineland
in Lincolnshire. This large coastal zoo held species which included Dolphins and
Sea-lions as well as Elephant, Black Rhino, Chimpanzees, Giraffe, Kangaroos etc. My responsibilities were diverse but included
staff supervision, general management and liaison with the Group Zoological Director who was based in Yorkshire.
December 1970 - April 1972
Curator/General Manager of Stanley
Zoo, County Durham. Duties here were
the day to day management of staff and animals but included the supervision of Bars, Cafeterias and Gift Shop as well as the
implementation of advertising schemes and building programmes and forward planning. I was also responsible for accounting
and banking.
August 1968 - December 1970
Keeper/Senior Keeper at Flamingo
Park Zoo, Yorkshire. After training I was given responsibility
for large cats but also acted as relief keeper on other sections. I was sent out as `cover` curator to other group zoos when
their curators were on annual leave. I was also sent on a tour of major European collections to pick up ideas.
N.B. From August 1968 - February 1974 I
was working for the same company within a group of zoos.
EDUCATION
Primary education took place at the Anglo-American
School, Ahmadi, Kuwait.
Secondary education was as a boarder at
Fyling Hall School
in Yorkshire.
Further education was at Durham
Technical College where I took Business Studies,
(uncompleted).
In 1982 I was awarded the City & Guilds
Diploma for Zoo Animal Management with Credit and Distinction.
I have taken part in two customer care
courses.
I hold several Certificates for staff training.
I am a qualified NVQ Assessor (will need
renewing)
On the Secretary of State’s list
of Zoo Inspectors
I hold a Firearm Certificate (will need
renewing)
I hold a Shotgun Certificate (will need
renewing)
I hold a clean driving license
I am a qualified First Aider (needs updating)
Personal Details
Status:
Divorced (2003)
Spare Time Activities
These include reading, writing, travelling,
trekking and genealogy.
I run a private weekly Zoo News Newsletter
(ZooNews Digest) on the Internet. This has around 5000 subscribers in over 600 zoos in 80+ countries. This Newsletter is being
used as a training aid in Zoos and colleges throughout the world. This has greatly extended my range of contacts. It was presented
with a commendation by the Zoo Federation for services to Zoo Education.
Associated to ZooNews Digest is Zoo Biology,
a group I own and moderate. Membership is mainly restricted to Zoo Professionals and is the most successful group of its kind
contributing advice daily to the world zoological community.
In the past I have written articles which
have been published by magazines which include `International Zoo News`, `BBC Wildlife`, `Oryx` etc. One of these articles
in `Ratel` was voted best of the year. I wrote the Zoo Management Guidelines for the Red Squirrel and did all the groundwork
for the Management Guidelines for the Andean Condor before passing on to the TAG. My most recent paper was on environmental
enrichment for chimpanzees which was posted freely on the internet.
Was a Member of the Association of British
Wild Animal Keepers
Regular reader of publications from EAZA,
WAZA, AKF, International Zoo News etc
Recently resigned as:
Coordinator and Studbook Holder for the
Red Squirrel (ROLTAG)
UK
Coordinator for the European Otter (SCTAG)
EEP for the Andean Condor (BOPTAG)
Owner/Editor of Zoo News Digest.
Owner/Moderator of Zoo Biology E-group
