Department of the Interior (Denver: transfer, living in, law)

[jmmcnally]

I am interested in working for the DOI, more specifically the Bureau of Land Management. Does anyone have experience with this department or know anyone that does?

[jazzlover]

Well, first, unless you are only interested in working a seasonal, temporary position, you will probably have to have a specialized degree in a field where they need employees, e.g., range science, geology, law enforcement, etc. Then you have to go through the whole federal civil service hiring process. If you manage to get hired, you probably won't be spending a lot of time living in just one place. They still like to transfer their people around the country quite a bit--especially if you plan to advance in your career. As with the Forest Service, too, more and more of their field people--regardless of their specialty--need to have law enforcement training. I don't work with BLM, but know some career guys who do or have. Most of them spend about 90% of their time in an office in town--the days of spending most of one's career working out in the field are pretty much over. Go very far up the food chain in the Forest Service or BLM and you can expect to spend a stint (counted in years) in one of their major city offices--Denver, Albuquerque, San Francisco, etc.--or in DC . Not exactly the "ranger in the woods" stereotype most people think of.

[jim9251]

Honestly although the Feds have great pay, benefits, retirement, etc., I would work for the State Parks. That's more of an outdoor job I think, at least it is here.

Here's the BLM career page:

Careers in Demand_Main

Colorado State Parks career page:

Jobs - Colorado State Parks

[jmmcnally]

I don't mind working in an office. Its what I am used to. I do plan on applying to several state and national parks.