Network, network, network —if people don’t know you are looking to move, they are not going to let you know what’s coming up. Work on your CV — keep it updated and relevant. Check job sites daily and apply as soon as you can. Do your research before applying — and don’t accept a position if it isn’t what you actually want. Take a long-term view, and ask yourself if the job you are thinking of applying for will help get you to where you want to be in five to 10 years’ time. I vividly remember having a conversation with a retired gamekeeper in the early 1980s, when I was on a Government-sponsored Youth Training Scheme, about gamekeeping and its future. He was pretty adamant that things had changed for the worse, that there was little or no future in gamekeeping, and I would have been better choosing a different career.