Karen Zirkler is the CEO of Southern New England Landcare Limited in Armidale, northern NSW. She was one of 40 northern rural women who took part in the series of WOB virtual workshops organised by GlenRAC (Glen Innes Natural Resources Advisory Committee) in 2020.
Karen credits the online workshops with giving her the push to apply for the board role, which was advertised on the WOB Vacancies Board.
“I'd like to thank WOB, your team and the GLENRAC team for hosting such a great online course last year, which really was what gave me the guts to apply.”
“Much to my amazement, I recently learnt that there had been 180 applicants - about half of which were women. They whittled it down to 20 or so who had to submit written answers to additional questions. From there they interviewed nine for the four available positions.”
Karen joins three other members appointed by NSW Environment Minister, Matt Kean, to the Trust; Prof Niall Blair (past NSW Agriculture Minister), John Pearce (past NSW Treasury secretary) and Dr David Freudenberger from the Climate Change Institute at ANU.
TOP TIP – Start the process early
Her top tip is to start the process of applying early – don’t leave it to the last minute.
When she saw the vacancy on the WOB Vacancies Board, she carefully read the requirements and then started her application, leaving it a day or two between each edit to help her hone and craft her words to come up with better ways to say the same thing and make it shorter, tighter and very clear. She also connected with WOB Chair, Ruth Medd, for assistance and feedback on her application.
“The feedback was that they really liked my clearly articulated application, my practical grass roots experience, my significant rural connections and not least the fact that I am a woman who also happened to interview well!”
Congratulations Karen from all at WOB.
Need Assistance?
Attend our Build Your Board CV workshop - see our Events Calander for dates.
Purchase our Build your Board CV webcast from on On Demand Training range.
Attend our Women in Leadership Program (starting March 16 2021).
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