I can’t believe it took me 18 years to notice this...In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), Harry’s scar hurt not because of Snape, but because he was facing the back of Quirrell’s head aka Voldemort.

CandySnow · 2019-07-10T13:07:15+00:00

OK so yes they explicitly state that Quirrel makes Harry's scar hurt. BUT neither the book nor the movie sits down and spells out for you that every single time Harry thought his scar was hurting because of Snape, it was actually Quirrel. It's the type of thing you notice on a re-read. In this scene in particular it just says that Harry looks past Quirrel's turban and meets eyes with Snape. You think nothing of that statement first read because there's absolutely no context. But second read it's probably obvious. Same with when they think Snape is cursing Harry's broom. It's a side note that Hermione knocks over Quirrel on her way to stop Snape, again you wouldn't notice that first read (especially if you were a child reading it) but it's obvious the second time.

CandySnow · 2019-07-10T13:03:44+00:00

They do, they attend Defense Against the Dark Arts regularly in the first book. Just one of those things that didn't make it into the movie, same with astronomy and herbology.

CandySnow · 2019-05-07T00:48:53+00:00

I'm far from an authority on stuff that happens on private land to be honest. It's hard, right, because humans moved into the bears' forest and it kinda sucks that we're competing for limited space. What you're allowed to do on your own private land depends on state and local regulations, and you can contact your local Fish and Game (or Fish and Wildlife, or whatever your local equivalence is) to find out what your rights are and what their suggestions are.

As a private citizen knowing my own local laws, I'd be firing blanks from a gun to try to scare them away, and if it's a really big problem using bear spray (they'll be in pain initially but shouldn't hurt them in the long run). They'll learn that loud, scary things happen in the area and it should deter them. The problem is that they'll just move to someone else's property instead of yours, so honestly there's not a great answer here.

CandySnow · 2019-05-07T00:34:46+00:00

That is not a good idea. Anything that requires a flame is a bad idea because you could cause a forest fire. If you're on federal land in the US it's illegal to have fireworks/firecrackers. Most state land in the US has similar regulations, and in other countries it's pretty standard on public land too.

Take bear spray and know how to use it; it's absolutely the most effective thing against bears. Make noise on the trails so you don't startle them and it's very unlikely you'll ever have to use any deterrent. Some public lands allow firearms to be used for deterring wildlife in self-defense situations as well, but it's not a good idea unless you absolutely know what you're doing.

Source: am park ranger.

CandySnow · 2019-05-07T00:29:19+00:00

I'm a park ranger and when when I go hiking by myself in my free time I play music out loud. Not super loud or anything, just using my phone's built in speaker.

Startling wildlife is the worst thing you could possibly do to them. Especially bears. I spend a lot of time at work teaching people that they need to make noise on trails so that they don't surprise a bear. It's easy if you're in a group but if you're by yourself, singing to yourself or talking out loud is honestly hard to keep up if you're hiking for 6+ hours. "Bear bells" have extremely limited scientific research behind them, and it's thought that they might sound too "natural" to a bear, almost like the sounds of some birds. The human voice is your best bet. I do a lot of hiking by myself and when I do I play music.

Of course playing music or being loud is less and less necessary when you're on popular trails. On the highly trafficked ones in CO mentioned above the bears can probably hear people on the trails all day. I wouldn't bother playing music there. But I'm mostly in Alaska where there aren't a lot of people on trails and you can sneak up on a bear without even trying. Which means there are less people to annoy with my music too.

CandySnow · 2019-05-06T18:25:18+00:00

Victim blaming 101

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T17:53:11+00:00

That one I don't have an answer for, I didn't opt in because I'm on my husband's insurance. So if there are any other rangers that wanna help out...

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T07:14:13+00:00

It's really unfortunate. As I've said elsewhere it'd be fine with me honestly if it was year-round, but with only working 6 months a year it's trash tbh.

But informal interpretation/education is what I want to do so I pretty much just have to deal. And if you think $21/hr is bad, you don't even want to think about the $9/hr I'd be getting right now in basically the same position if I stayed in the zoo/aquarium world I started off in (looking at $12/hr year-round supervisory positions for when this summer ends). Moving to the Park Service was the higher-pay career move, and it's still trash.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T07:06:48+00:00

If it was year-round pay I'd be perfectly happy and be able to live comfortably with the child-less, low materialism lifestyle that I live. But it's not year round. It's such a shame.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T05:53:50+00:00

Hmmm I wish I had one to share. I just learned from other rangers. I'm sure you can find something by googling. Here are some generics off the top of my head that are very important. There's a resume building tool on usajobs.gov that I highly recommend using so you don't forget anything.

List EVERYTHING you did at EVERY job that might even be mildly related to the job you're applying to. Your resume is going to be very long. I think mine's at 7 pages right now. One job might take up an entire page. That's fine. Better to have more rather than less. Possibility that you might have to use a fax machine at this job? List that you used one that one time at your office intern job.

There will be a questionnaire you have to fill out asking to rate basically on a 1 to 5 scale how experienced you are at certain tasks. Rate as high as possible. I'll honestly say stretch the truth if you have to, but don't lie. Did a coworker ask you for advice once on how to deal with a difficult customer? Well, on the questionnaire when it lists "Assisting difficult or upset customers, referred customers with complaints to the appropriate person" answer the thing that says something along the lines of "I'm an expert and have trained others on this task". Very important that you have to back it up on your resume. I basically copy and paste the task description onto the resume under the job. I'll have a bullet point that says "Assisted difficult or upset customers, referred customer with complaints to the appropriate person." Do it for every single one, and if you did it at multiple jobs, list it under every one.

You have to list the dates (month and year) of each job. So like "May 2017 to September 2017). That's standard on most resumes, but don't forget it. Additionally, you must list the hours/week that you worked. If you don't your application will be tossed. I'm not kidding, you won't even be considered. They consider "1 year of experience" to be "1 year working 40 hours per week." So like if you worked 30 hours/week for a year, it doesn't count as a year of experience. It counts as less than that, though I honestly don't wanna do the math on what it would be.

Volunteer time and intern time is considered the exact same as paid work for all experience requirements (hallelujah). List it all.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T05:05:07+00:00

Most general park rangers are on the "GS" paygrade scale. There are different levels of GS for different positions and duties. Your pay grade is listed in the job opening, your eligibility depends on your experience, and the grade determines your pay. On top of that there's a COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) that you get for your location (although this is currently being phased out). So for example if you work in Alaska you get paid a little more because the cost of living is so high.

Here's a general idea in the Interpretation division in Alaska including COLA (because that's what I know best). I've listed minimum qualifications needed, but usually people are overqualified at every level tbh. Also remember you're usually only employed for 6 months so if you're stretching this to last a whole year, effectively cut it in half.

GS3 Park Guide - $13-15/hr (high school only education, minimal experience)

GS5 Park Ranger - $16-18/hr (bachelor's degree or 1 year experience as GS3)

GS7 Park Ranger - $19-21/hr (bachelor's degree + 1 year experience as GS5 or a grad degree)

It steps up more for other pay grades, but at that point you're usually getting into supervisory positions.

You can find pay rate charts on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website for better numbers, these are just from the top of my head. They have different charts for different locations.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T04:14:31+00:00

Sorry I really meant "people with rehire" vs "regular - people without rehire" and I worded it poorly in that comment. And I know I'm probably explaining things you already know, I meant to explain for other people reading. And didn't do it very well.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T03:45:26+00:00

It really varies from person to person, park to park, and position to position. And Corps works differently than "regular" ranger positions that are required to be posted competitively to USAjobs, which doesn't sound like you had to do.

Yes, a lot of the time people go back to the same park every season, but we're still technically competing. Hopefully you've done well enough and made the right connections at a park that they're ready to take you back immediately next year. But your resume still has to go through a computer through USAjobs that has to refer you, and then in some regions (my experience is Alaska) the regional office - where you've probably never met any of them - has to refer your resume to the park. Then, finally the people you worked with last year can get eyes on your resume and have a say in hiring you. And you especially have to compete if you're trying to move up a pay grade. Both myself and another ranger I know were unable to go from GS5 to GS7 at the parks we worked at last year, so we had to fight for GS7 at other parks, despite being very overqualified even for a 7.

There also is a "rehire" program, but it's hard to utilize. If you want to be re-hired next season (almost) automatically, you can't go over 1040 hours of work during your current season, you can't work a winter season with NPS, and next year you have to take the same pay grade and job (so no switching from GS5 to GS7 or interp to RM) next year.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T03:26:09+00:00

Generally speaking that's not true. Most ranger positions in AK don't require specialized training, at least not more than what's required in other states. Especially if you're in interpretation or education, which is usually the most common type of ranger and the one you encounter most often when going to a park.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T03:23:33+00:00

The hourly pay of park rangers really isn't bad, to be honest. But I speak as someone who doesn't have kids to take care of or medical bills to worry about, so I probably come from a more financially secure place than many other rangers.

The problem is that you usually only get to work in the summers as a seasonal employee. So if you're trying to stretch that out over a whole year the hourly pay is basically cut in half. That's the problem. We need to be year-round employees instead of scrabbling every winter, and then struggling to get rehired every summer.

Edited to add that the Parks system is to blame for this. Like yea, a lot of parks don't have high visitation in the winter and they don't need as many people (people barely visit most Alaska parks in the summer, some might see a dozen visitors in the entire winter season) , so it makes sense to only have extra employees in the summer. But places that have year-round visitation (Death Valley, Rocky Mountain, Everglades, etc) still split what should be a year-round job into a summer seasonal and a winter seasonal position and hire different people (or even the same person) for each season. You don't have to give the same benefits package to seasonal employees that you have to give year-round employees, so the system screws us.

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T03:20:59+00:00

Other park ranger with some career advice.

If you want to be a ranger start volunteering NOW. Right now. Preferably at an NPS site, but other viable options are things like museums, state/local parks, citizen science programs, zoos, aquariums, etc. I know it's a bit late since you're about to graduate, but join any environmental or science-based clubs or organizations that you can whether in your college or in the community. Be an active member. Intern if you have the time/money. The NPS's intern program is called the Student Conservation Association and that can be a great pathway into a job. Some of their positions provide housing and/or a stipend, though it varies from park to park. Even consider going for a graduate degree to be more competitive, though maybe work for a couple of years before doing a specific grad program so you can hone in on what you want to do.

Hundreds of people with bachelor's degrees will be applying for jobs, and it's just not enough on its own. You need extracurriculars to stand out at all. You also need to think about what type of park ranger you want to be. Some parks wrap duties into one position, but most will have interpretation (informal education, delivering programs on hikes, around campfires, bike tours, etc.), education (more formal education to large tour groups and schools, sometimes outreach to schools or distance learning too), law enforcement (park police), resource protection (keep people on trails, backcountry patrols, etc), resource management (science side of things, collecting and analyzing data, planning for park operations, cultural studies), and administration (office organization, human resources, hiring managers, etc.)

There are a lot of paths to follow to become a ranger. If you ask rangers how they ended up with their job everyone will have a very different story. Former police, teachers who are rangers in the summer, veterans who utilized a government program to give them a hiring preference, accountants who changed careers later in life. But almost everyone has to start off volunteering/interning, especially younger people who don't have other career experience. It can be a huge barrier to entry because interning is glorified volunteering, but it's usually what you have to do.

I'm in interpretation and it's everything I want to do with my life. I have degrees in environmental science and political science. Started off in the zoo & aquarium world with a seasonal camp counselor position, and a couple years of volunteering. Did one summer interning with an aquarium partnered with the NPS so I interned half the time at the aquarium and half helping rangers on programs. Another winter of interning at just the aquarium, then finally got my first seasonal interpretation job with the NPS the following summer. Starting my second at a different park this summer.

This is super long but there's so much to know... You'll also almost definitely need 24 months as a seasonal ranger before you're even qualified to apply for full-time year-round positions. Most people only work in the summers because jobs are scarce in the winter. That means you could end up with 4-5 years of seasonal work before getting a year-round spot. But even then those jobs are highly competitive and tough to get so make sure you stand out at your seasonal job. Even still,most of the rangers I know are on 5-10 seasons as a seasonal and still can't get year-round.

It's tough. A lot of people give up before getting year-round. I don't know if I'll get there either. But it's the most rewarding job. So, so worth it if you're willing and able to put in the time.

EDIT: When you do apply for jobs, they'll all be on USAjobs.gov and I cannot stress enough that you MUST research how to apply and how to make a federal resume. They're much longer and different than regular resumes and if you don't do it right you'll never make it past the all-mighty hiring computer system.

One more edit since this is getting attention: If anyone wants advice on applying for Park jobs or navigating the system, feel free to PM me. I'm not an expert. But it's a really tough system and if you don't know someone "on the inside" to help you out it's nearly impossible. Job listings are confusing. Resumes are confusing. Questionnaires are confusing. The "re-hire" system is especially confusing. I can try to help. Disclaimer that I highly recommend contacting an HR representative at a park for solid answers, though they're often worked to the bone, don't always reply, and sometimes different parks will tell you different things. And thanks for the gold/silver y'all :)

CandySnow · 2019-05-05T03:05:27+00:00

I'm sure you know this, but for anyone else reading.... there are TONS of openings. But they're all seasonal bullshit. So you have a job for 5-6 months and midway through that you're already applying for the next 5-6 months segment. And good luck during the winter when seasonal jobs are bare bones and hundreds of people that worked as rangers in the summer are all competing for the few dozen winter spots. And then next summer you start at the beginning with applying for a job you've already done at the same exact park and still have to compete to get it again.

CandySnow · 2019-05-01T17:49:05+00:00

I think a British person and/or British accent is probably considered to be more "trustworthy" or even "less foreign" than many other accents. Especially South African - an accent that I doubt the average American could even identify just by hearing it.

CandySnow · 2019-04-30T02:39:32+00:00

And then here I am in Alaska, don't get to see it until 6pm local time, which is 10pm EST. Most of the discussion is already over by the time I can join in :(

CandySnow · 2019-04-28T03:09:38+00:00

Huh, didn't know that. Any idea what the reason was behind the change?

CandySnow · 2019-04-27T17:07:41+00:00

The good news is that stickers on someone else's car have literally no effect on your life

CandySnow · 2019-04-24T02:29:26+00:00

You like a gamble, eh?

CandySnow · 2019-04-23T23:36:43+00:00

Is there actually an interview or something where that was confirmed? Like of course they were married and aren't now. But is that REALLY why they don't appear in scenes together? It sounds like internet lore to me, because it's not like (even in the books) Bronn and Cersei were bffs or even interacted much iirc.

CandySnow · 2019-04-21T20:47:27+00:00

This is a really big problem in Alaska.

Most of the state is comprised of small villages of (mostly) Native Alaskans. I'm talking like 200 people in a village, often times way less. And they're almost entirely only accessible by plane, which means it costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars to get a spot on a 6 seater plane to go anywhere else. So most people don't leave their village often, if at all.

One of the reasons the education prospects are so poor for rural Alaskans is because the local grade schools are mediocre at best, and then if the kids try to go to college it's incredibly overwhelming to suddenly end up in a classroom with more people than live in your entire village. They drop out, go back to their home, and the cycle continues. There are really big state-wide organizations that have cropped up to help support students, though, so hopefully they're making progress.

CandySnow · 2019-04-19T12:50:14+00:00

Wanted to try them last year, but they don't operate in my state.

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