YOUNG animal lovers could land themselves with a dream job at the Studley Grange Craft Village and Butterfly World who are on the lookout for an apprentice animal keeper.

The visitor attraction, near Royal Wootton Bassett, wants to expand its ever-growing team as it prepares to further develop both their zoo and farm park, increasing their visitor numbers, whilst still delivering high levels of animal welfare and educational tours.

The lucky applicant could start in the new role come the New Year as the advert went live via Wiltshire College’s website at the end of last week.

General manager at Studley Grange, Jackie Guscott, said they are anticipating high numbers to take an interest in the ‘dream job’ role.

“We like to employ apprentices as much as we can because we are very keen on promoting education and supporting young people to move forward in their careers,” she said.

“We try to offer students work experience placements as well to help them on their way.

“We realise animal care is a very difficult job to get into and a lot of the time you need experience to get a job.

“The brilliant thing about an apprenticeship is if you get that experience and get paid at the same time, you will come out of it with experience, a reference and a qualification.

“We have very strong links with both Swindon College and Wiltshire College and it is important to encourage students to apply for this apprenticeship because it is a great opportunity.

“It is a dream job for a lot of people.”

The apprentice animal keeper will be in charge of daily feed and cleaning out of animals and reptiles as well as interacting with the public and will work alongside Studley Grange’s experienced team of keepers allowing them to gain on-the-job experience while getting paid.

The lucky candidate would be required to work five days over a seven day rota, across 24 months, and could also become a permanent full time member of staff on successful completion of their apprenticeship. Studley Grange say the apprentice would be able to work on site four days a weeks while completing their studies at college on one day a week.

Jackie added that with the plans to broaden their animal range to the public, there is no better time to join the team.

She added: “There is a huge variety of animals the apprentice would be working with and we are moving forward to develop them further.

“As far as the zoo area is going, we are looking to develop our enclosure primates and we are hoping to work with Monkey World in achieving that.

“We have had many apprentices before but mainly in the shop and I don’t think we have ever had an animal care apprentice before but plenty of people helping out on work experience.

“We are looking for someone who is keen to learn, someone who is reliable and enthusiastic. We aren’t looking for anyone with pre-experience but we want someone who wants a real career in animal care.

“It is very hard for young people to get their foot in the door at a workplace and there is not a lot of opportunities there for people to build a career in.”

For more information about the role and how to apply visit www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk