In 2013, Alie Ward’s life was falling apart. In quick succession, her relationship with her partner ended; her dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer; and she was feeling increasingly unhappy in her job.

Ward lived in Los Angeles at the time. To distract herself from her sadness, she liked to find and take pictures of her unconventional obsession (痴迷) : bugs. Sometimes, if she found a beetle or a bee that she particularly liked, she’d post it to social media. Those posts attracted the attention of a woman named Lil a Higgins, who worked as an entomologist at the local natural history museum. After seeing Ward’s pictures, Higgins reached out to her to see if she would want a tour of the museum’s insectary (昆虫饲养研究室).

“For most people in the middle of a really terrible year, question like ‘Do you want to come to see 40 cockroaches (蟑螂) in a fish tank’ is not what most people would say ‘absolutely’ to,” Ward said. “But this is my jam. There was nothing I wanted more than to see some scorpions (蝎子).”

When Higgins led her through the different exhibits in the museum, for the first time in ages, Ward felt herself light up. Higgins noticed her enthusiasm and suggested Ward volunteer at the museum for a few hours every week.

Despite her doubts, Ward decided to sign up. “It gave me this sense of purpose. It helped me reconnect with my love of science and nature that I really put on the back burner to chase those careers that were not really what I like,” said Ward.

Soon, Ward quit her job and started working in science media. She now is the host of a podcast called Ologies. Ward had Higgins on the show as her first guest. “She has caused such an increasing effect in my life. It was really because of her that I was able to reconnect with that part of myself, and do something that I really love,” said Ward.

Here’s advice on where to find job applications.

If you are interested in working for a particular company, visit their website. Career information is usually listed in the “Careers” or the “About Us”section of the site. Often, you will be able to apply for all company positions directly from the website

If you aren’t sure what company you want to work for, you can look for job applications on job boards and job search engines. These contain job listings for positions at many different companies. Sometimes you have to go to the company website to fill out a job application. At other times, you can apply directly on the search engine or job board.
In Person

Applying for a job in person is a little different than applying for employment online. It’s not as complicated, but you will need to be prepared to apply and interview on the spot. You have to make sure you dress professionally, and bring all the materials you need.

Below is a list of sample employment applications and click to find what you want.