BhamFred, so your saying that they are doing away with the enforcement position and having only the enforcement/Biologist(degreed) position?

They are not doing away with the normal conservation officer positions. They still hire COs. They also hire COs with the Biologist Option. Some of these positions are new, like the hybrids Troy is talking about. They will do enforcement during peak hunting seasons (deer) and assist the biological programs (WMAs, deer, turkey, private lands, etc) the rest of the year.

what Matt said....

I understand what your talking about now. Thanks....

From what I have heard about the "hybrids", the positions are not as cut and dry as Nov.-Jan. as a CEO and the rest of the time as a biologist. More of a if they are needed to do biologist type work then they do that, but if the LE section needs something done then they help out with that. However, during Nov.-Jan a majority of their time is spent doing L.E. work.

Raise some out of state license's and pay better!

This question is mainly for troy. And feel free to pm me. But I am medically retired military I got pushed out because of a few too many explosions in iraq and being a gw has been a goal of mine for years! And want to know since you were in that line of work for so long what do I need to do to help my chances? Thanks

Veteran's points help, but disabled veteran's points will help a whole lot more.

Yeah fair enlightenment and I have applied for the job several times. But is not having a biology degree hurting me that badly? Or is there something I should do?

Truthfully alot of it is timing. Even though they have alot of opeinings, they don't get to hire often due to the seemingly constant state hiring freezes. Being in the right place when they can hire is the key.

A big strike against you is that you are not already an APOST certified officer, or at least I gather that you aren't. You are competing against seasoned LE officers for these jobs. Naturally, the brass is going to go after the known commodities when they can. That way they have an idea of who they are hiring and can save money on training costs.

Unless I'm terribly wrong in my generalizations of most Aldeer members, your pigmentation and the package between your legs don't help you either. May not be right, but it is a reality. If you are a minority member, I apologize for stereotyping and tip my hat to you for not allowing yourself to be constrained by what society thinks you should be.

If you really want to be a GW, the best way is get on with a local agency and get your certification, do your contract time (usually two years), and then go after it and remain patient.

Jawbone I appreciate everything you have told me thus far. I truly do. And I am a white male vet ha. You nailed it. What is that certification? And with DCNR is that who you are saying I should get certified and do "contract" work with? And what is that? I have a million questions about this I apologize. But I appreciate your patience with me on this one. and as far as qualifications go. In the army I was a combat engineer, I am trained with professional explosives, homemade explosives, could terms mobility and mobility breaching. I am CLS certified (combat life saver) basically a paramedic. I ama a SAWE small arms weapons expert a trained armorer, and was in sniper school before being medically retired. I have a purple heart, army commendation medals Army achievement medals and an Iraqi campaign medal w/ spear head device. Because of what I did in iraq. Which was patrol in front if every other convoy 4-500yds away in a vehicle without a mounted weapon and clear the route of any and all explosives. So I don't know what this certification is but I feel as if it would be that difficult to achieve or maybe I am wrong.

Jawbone is referring to APOSTC certification, as in having been to a police academy. You generally have to be employed by a LE agency in Alabama to attend an academy.

http://www.apostc.state.al.us/

AUduckiller, sorry, been off the puter for two days.

Contrary to what DCNR says they are almost 100% hiring folks with college degrees, usually in biology or law enforcement.

Your service definitly helps.

A APOST certification definitly helps, as the dept dosen't have to pay to send ya to the police academy.

Timing is also VERY important, as a LOT of the time they aren't hiring at all, no matter how qualified you may be. I stayed after them for three years before I was hired, keep at it and good luck.

If ya need more help just ask, here or pm.

troy

too little given the responsibility involved
and the danger.

Troy,I heard they didn't like to hire you for the county you live in? If someone gets hired as a GW for a county do you have to live in the county or a certain mileage from the county?

If you are hired for a county, you MUST live IN that county, sometimes even within a geographic area of that county.

The longstanding policy of not assigning a new hire to their home county was done away with a few years ago.

Scruffy, for many years they wouldn't assign a new hire to their home county, ya had to work elsewhere for 5 years. Gunslinger says no more so we'll go that way...

Ya have to live in the county yer assigned to, some counties(Baldwin) have divisions within the county so ya may have to live in a certain area.

Some Captains try to make their officers live in different areas of the county, some don't care.

troy

Thanks! May have more ?'s when they come to mind.

Scruffy,

Don't forget that one of the qualifications is this:


There are other state jobs you could take to help you qualify as well as get you on the state payroll. I never applied for a game warden job because my color blindness usually eliminated me from any law enforcement positions. [I was in the top 5 for Bham PD when I first got out of the Army 'til they found out about my color blindness].

I did apply for Biologist Aide II with the state because I had college courses in biology, and I got an offer with the state but declined it. It was with ADEM, but it might have helped me eventually get to the DCNR if I had pursued it.

I also applied for, and was eventually offered a job as Forest Ranger Technician. I found out that the advertised salary included 5% that would be deducted from my pay for retirement, and that changed my mind about working for the state. The feds paid about $8 an hour more at that time for the same position, but they wouldn't even consider me because I was older than 34.

You might shoot for Biologist Aide to help get your foot in the door and meet the (6) months experience requirement above.

Here's a link to the announcement for Biologist Aide:
Biologist Aide announcement

They used to have Biologist Aide I and II, but I don't see that any more. I qualified as Biologist Aide II as an entry level job. Here's a link to the promotional job though:

Biologist Aide, Senior


BTW: I was no. 1 on the list for Equip. Oper. for years, but I never got a job offer. The DCNR has EOs too. That might help you move up to gw if you can qualify and work with the DCNR as an EO.

Equipment Operator announcement

or forest ranger:
Forest Ranger Technician announcement


List of job classifications at DCNR - link


Some federal jobs:
Biological Science Tech
Bio Sci. Tech - General
Bio Sci Tech - Wildlife

Park Ranger - Wildlife Mgmt.

The forestry firefighter jobs have turned into temporary positions starting out. They paid much better back when I applied, and they were permanent positions. I don't know if they still hire permanent or if you have to get promoted:
Forest ranger/firefighter - temporary position

The "6 months experience" has been VERY loosely interpreted in the past, as including hunting, fishing, boating, etc...........