The dream of the animals: From horse jockey to head zookeeper at Aalborg Zoo
Louise long believed that she would be a gallop jockey and create a working life where horses were the center of attention – now she is the head zookeeper at Aalborg Zoo, and is responsible for the zookeepers and the animals in the garden. The road to getting there has not been straight, but determination, will and a strong professionalism have created fantastic opportunities and ultimately – a career with animals in focus.
From horse girl to animal caretaker
It wasn't in the cards for Louise to end up as a zookeeper. Horses had long been her dream, and as a self-proclaimed horse girl and trained gallop jockey, it was obvious that her career path would involve horses in some form or another. However, injuries were inevitable in the profession of gallop jockey, so one day Louise's parents asked her if it wouldn't be an idea to consider an education that would provide opportunities and security – and a break from injuries.
The educational choice fell on zookeeper. It gave Louise the opportunity to still work with animals, and it was possible to keep horses on the sidelines while she was in training. After completing the basic course, she is lucky to be one of three who gets a place as a zookeeper student at Aalborg Zoo, and Louise has no doubt that her previous experience with animals helps to secure her one of the places:
“I had a bit of experience because I had worked with horses. There was something that smelled a bit like shit on my CV, and that made me get through the eye of the needle and get the position here.”
Teacher at Techcollege
When Louise graduated, however, she didn't feel she was ready to commit 100% to the job of animal caretaker. She therefore took a short break from physiotherapy training before ending up as a teacher at Techcollege, where she will train future animal caretakers. A career change that gave her the impetus to develop animal care training:
“I set out to make the zookeeper education at Techcollege the best in the country. Then I developed the education in collaboration with the zoo, which I still had good contact with. Our focus became how we could get students to understand that the job of zookeeper is the coolest job in the whole world.”
Back to Aalborg Zoo
Louise spent eight years at Techcollege, where she developed the zookeeper education and created the best framework for future zookeepers, before Aalborg Zoo called one day and asked if it wasn't time for her to return to them – this time as general manager. A position Louise accepted.
The new job as general manager gives her a working life where she is present in the garden most of the time and helps the zookeepers with daily tasks. It is her job to help the zookeepers implement various initiatives, streamline tasks and generally just be of assistance if they need help and sparring. In addition, she is still responsible for some of the animals and facilities in the garden.
Last year Louise was promoted to HR Manager, and although her everyday life mostly takes place in the office now, she is still in touch with both the garden and the animals. She lends a hand if there is illness or vacation, and is in close contact with the zookeepers at the garden.
Louise has no doubt that her practical experience as a zookeeper is a clear advantage in her daily life as a personnel manager and head zookeeper. Because she has a zookeeper's certificate, she can support the zookeepers in their daily lives and there is confidence that she has a handle on how to move around the park:
"Because I have a vocational education, I have some skills that my colleagues, who come with, for example, a university education, do not have. I know some other things than my office colleagues can. And it is clear that I can speak much more into the problems that the animal keepers face, precisely because I have a professional background and practical experience within the job that they themselves are trained in."
Louise spent eight years at Techcollege, where she developed the zookeeper education and created the best framework for future zookeepers, before Aalborg Zoo called one day and asked if it wasn't time for her to return to them – this time as general manager. A position Louise accepted.
The new job as general manager gives her a working life where she is present in the garden most of the time and helps the zookeepers with daily tasks. It is her job to help the zookeepers implement various initiatives, streamline tasks and generally just be of assistance if they need help and sparring. In addition, she is still responsible for some of the animals and facilities in the garden.
Last year Louise was promoted to HR Manager, and although her everyday life mostly takes place in the office now, she is still in touch with both the garden and the animals. She lends a hand if there is illness or vacation, and is in close contact with the zookeepers at the garden.
Louise has no doubt that her practical experience as a zookeeper is a clear advantage in her daily life as a personnel manager and head zookeeper. Because she has a zookeeper's certificate, she can support the zookeepers in their daily lives and there is confidence that she has a handle on how to move around the park:
"Because I have a vocational education, I have some skills that my colleagues, who come with, for example, a university education, do not have. I know some other things than my office colleagues can. And it is clear that I can speak much more into the problems that the animal keepers face, precisely because I have a professional background and practical experience within the job that they themselves are trained in."
Close collaboration with Techcollege
Even though Louise's daily life no longer takes place at Techcollege, the collaboration between Aalborg Zoo and Techcollege is still great.
“I am in close contact with Techcollege. It is hard not to, because I myself helped start the education in the direction where we should be more practical. We wanted to show the students what a working life as a zookeeper looks like in reality.”
When Louise was at Techcollege as a subject teacher, she helped establish a close relationship between the zookeeper training program and Aalborg Zoo. Here, the zookeeper students had a physical course out in the garden, where they were assigned a classroom and then had theory and practical assignments in the garden during the course. It is still a collaboration that Louise and Aalborg Zoo prioritize, where the zookeeper students have practical days in the garden.
“The zookeeper students have the opportunity to come out and be in the garden as part of their education. They have just been here for two days, where they have been divided into three different departments. Among other things, they have had to deal with facility design, noticed how heavy the wheelbarrow is that we drive around with, and how fast we walk when we go from A to B in the zoo.”
Don't give up – there is room for you too!
From the start, Louise was aware that there was not a place for everyone as a trainee zookeeper – but that did not discourage her, on the contrary. She knew that the road could be winding and her advice is to fill the waiting time with experience instead of being on standby. Because even if it may not be a trainee position at first, you should not give up.
“You must not give up. You must not end up where you think it is too difficult to get a student place. Because if you think like that, you will never become a zookeeper. The place has to be awarded to someone, and it may as well be you who is lucky enough to get through.”
All experience counts. Whether it's the farmer who needs a helper once in a while on the weekends, or a pet store looking for an employee for a few hours a week. It could be being a youth worker at the zoo, or sitting at the checkout in the local supermarket. All experience shows initiative, and here Louise believes that it's actually not that important whether it's working with animals or not.
“It's important that your CV doesn't stand still. You have to go out and feel and say, 'do I want this?'. You won't get very far anywhere if you're a blank slate who hasn't shown some form of initiative with some work. Then it doesn't matter whether it's working with animals or not. You show that you've been out and been part of a workplace. You can play many keys, you just can't stand still.”
And if there's one thing Louise hasn't done, it's stood still. A trained zookeeper, with experience from both physiotherapy training and a vocational education degree, she has had a wide range of experiences and that has led her to where she is today – as HR manager and head zookeeper at Aalborg Zoo. Here she does what she is passionate about – working with animals.
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