Conservation Officer Trainee Positions are posted for hire on an as needed basis. Positions are usually posted for application for 3-4 weeks through South Dakota BHR.

Applicants/resumes are reviewed by a hiring board made up of current Conservation Officers. Once selections are made, applicants are contacted to start the interview process. The first step in process consists of a phone interview, followed by a personal interview if selected to move on in the process. During personal interviews, applicants are also tested on wildlife/habitat ID along with some limited written questions.

Following the interview process, those selected for hire are given a conditional offer of employment. The conditions of that offer as based on passing a thorough background investigation, polygraph examination, psychological evaluation, medical physical and drug screening. Conditional offers are also contingent on passing both the standard state law enforcement academy (if needed) and internal wildlife officer training (WTO) program.

All non-certified officers are required to attend and complete the South Dakota 13-week law enforcement academy.

Upon successful completion of the law enforcement academy, Conservation Officer Trainees are then required to complete 16 weeks of field training. During that time, trainees work alongside various Wildlife Training Officers to gain hands on training to better prepare them for their careers as Conservation Officers.

All Conservation Officer Trainees are hired knowing they could potentially end up in any vacant duty station in the state. However, vacant duty stations are typically known at the time of hire and trainees may start researching and expressing interest in vacant duty stations upon completion of the 13-week state law enforcement academy. All trainees are given equal opportunity to compete (interview) for vacant duty stations and are assigned their duty station upon successful completion of the 16-week WTO program.

All current officers, to include trainees while going through the training process, can apply and compete (interview) for duty stations that become vacant. If a duty station remains vacant after being announced for transfer, it then remains vacant for incoming trainees to consider while going through the training process.