Work at Singapore Zoo?

I sent an email to Singapore Zoo last week asking if I could apply for a job related research and conservation there and it took a couple of days before I got a reply from them. My email was forwarded to a lady who is a research and conservation officer there, and she replied by asking me to send her my CV. Already just having that invitation to send my CV got me so excited, coz' it meant I actually have a chance to get a job there. I was practically jumping up and down with glee for a while, I calmed down and got to work on my cover letter and resume. Does anyone know how much work it is to write a really good resume and cover letter? I looked through a bunch of websites that give tips on how to write good resumes and CV's, and all of them said I have to make them more personalized and highlight my qualities and achievements that are relevant to what a prospective employer would want. Can't just write one CV and one resume and send it out to bunch of different companies, especially not for a science person like me. Every biotech company have different agendas, and so does every environmental conservation organization. So I'd have to do research on every company I want to apply for, find out what they want and doctor my resume and CV so that I sound like exactly the person they need. Bleh. Finding a job is really a job in itself.

But anyway, I spent quite a bit of time working on my CV and resume, making sure I sounded professional and there were no grammer mistakes and typos, and wondering what I should highlight about myself and what I shouldn't. I just send in my CV and resume yesterday, along with my Monash academic transcript. Now I just have to sit and wait for a reply.

In the meantime, I also have to think about how to break the news to my parents if I do get asked in for an interview. They're expecting me to be applying for some jobs in big time biotech companies and my dad is always telling me to go discover something big like a cure for cancer or a way to increase hair growth or something like that, so that I can patent it and make big money. But every time I even think about applying to a job to such companies, I think "Ugh". Stuck in a lab for the rest of my life. And if I ever discover anything useful, my boss would probably take my idea and reap all the profits for himself. Not an uncommon story I hear in such companies. Same thing happened to Rosalind Franklin when she discovered the helix structure of DNA, and then Watson and Crick stole the glory from her and got the nobel prize for it. Anyway, my folks are the type to think working in a zoo will never bring in the big bucks. And maybe it won't . But I know it's something that I will love doing, as if I enjoy my job and do it really well, I will move up the career ladder. And Singapore Zoo is a pretty darn good zoo, which even has it's own t.v. show (or so I hear from my friend. :D). They've won like a gazillion awards, and their zoo is really nice and nowhere run down with starving animals, which is what I hear is going on in Malaysia's Zoo. Poor animals. Of course, Malaysia Zoo definitely needs more help than Singapore Zoo, but I'm pretty sure the pay there would be crap compared to Singapore Zoo, and then I'd really get into trouble with my folks. So I'm thinking best to get some work experience at Singapore first, then if one day I decide to come back to Malaysia and help bring its zoo out of the muck and the mire, I'll have more resources and experience to do it. And more money, which would make my folks happy. Now I just need to convince them to let me go for this job. Arrrggh! I want this job!!! God help me!!!