1. Volunteer or look for internships. The academic route is only one way in, the job is hard and you need the right attitude, you can't be there to play with animals. Show you can be trusted to do work, ask questions, listen to your instructions, manage your time well, try to get involved and be enthusiastic.

Outside of that, visit zoos, observe their enclosures, think of the practicalities. Google up some articles and get some books, especially this one - http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199693528.do

1. There is no real 'average day', one of the best parts of the job is the variety. You will always be encountering new problems, be they presented by the animals or your limited resources, and a lot of the time they need to be dealt with there and then.

A day usually starts with food prep, then morning feeds and picking up enclosures. After that it typically deviates between more feed prep, cleaning, preparing enrichment, cleaning, maintaining enclosures, and also cleaning.

1. The moments you get with the animals. Getting to know their families, seeing births, seeing sick animals get better, watching them using the enrichment you make for them... The moments are brief compared to the work-load as a whole, but they are what makes it worth it.

2. Seeing animals die or unwell is never nice, but if you're professional, you can deal with it. Working outdoors is obviously not that easy in the winter either, but that isn't exclusive to zoo keeping. Unfortunately, the worst part is often the visitors...

3. I love seeing parents with kids who talk to them about the animals, read through the signs with them and try and instill a respect in them. That's why we are here, education doesn't have to be facts and figures, it can be an appreciation, changing social attitudes.

I won't be too negative, but I have issues with the visitors that come for a good day out and don't really seem to care about the animals... trying to feed them etc.