Denver Zoo interview questions

I applied for many different Animal Care Specialist position ranging from part time to full time, birds to carnivores, and more. Having had experience as a General keeper working with all varieties of animals I was eager to continue my work with any subsets of species needed! Although I applied to around 10 different Animal Care Specialist roles, only 1 of my applications actually progressed to an interview. This came as a quick 15 minute phone screening and ultimately resulted in a rejection not moving forward to the in person interview. While I know each department has a different interview process, overall I think that the phone screening is a bit too impersonal and lacks real regard for applicants and getting to know what makes them unique. The questions were quite situation based and otherwise were quite standard. Really, the interview process struggles to address the potential work ethic and passion, two aspects which I find crucial in the field as they cannot be taught! Oftentimes I found that most roles already had an “ideal” applicant in mind. For example I applied for the Australasia Keeper position. Having been an Australia Keeper for 2 years I figured I was a shoe in. Turns out the team was looking for someone to fill a senior keeper role in the Asia department of Australasia which was not at all outlined in the position description. While I do think the process is quite sterile, I don’t doubt that they still are able to find great candidates in their own way. Definitely a trial and error process but a process that I have since used a redirection to undertake a different career path for now.