Not Wild About Your Job? Florida FWC is Hiring

Looking to make the outdoors your office?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is hiring in Pasco and across the state.

Applicants must be at least 19 years old, have a high school diploma and “should have a love for protecting the outdoors,” a press release stated.

A State of Florida employment application and an FWC supplemental application must be completed online by April 30.

New recruits are put through a six-month academy at the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Center in Tallahassee.

The FWC currently has about 700 officers who patrol more than 34 million acres of public and private lands, 12,000 miles of streams, rivers and canals and 7,700 lakes larger than 10 acres, according to the release.

“Fish and wildlife law enforcement officers have an incredible job,” Officer Philip Griffith, the FWC’s Northwest Region law enforcement recruiter, said in the release. “When they complete the academy, they are fully certified state law enforcement officers and primarily spend their time protecting the state’s fish and wildlife resources and people.”

Law enforcement officers who are already certified and then hired by the FWC attend a shorter, specialized academy that focuses mostly on state fish and wildlife laws, Griffith said.

All applicants must pass a background check and be willing to relocate, the release stated.

“One thing we stress is those who are selected must be in good physical health. The academy is physically demanding, and they need to be in good shape to do the job,” Griffith said. “They never know what they will have to do or respond to on a daily basis.”

Starting pay for FWC officers is $32,836.18 annually according to the release.

For more information, contact Griffith at 850-232-9969, or visit the FWC website.