How Long Is Too Long?

[ReadyBeVet]

Hi! My parents and grandparents had been using our vet for 25 years. I would go with my mom when our cats had appointments as my schedule allowed as a child. When I went off to college, I knew that Vet Med was the path I would follow. During the summer of 2003 after my freshman year of college, I had a paid position at the vet's office doing a myriad of things. He retired in 2004 or 2005, being in his early 70's. I haven't seen him really since the summer that I worked at the clinic. It is now 2009, and I am wondering if it has been too long to ask for a recommendation. I feel rather uncomfortable calling him after such a long time. I have another person in mind to ask instead. I already have another vet that I currently work for so it is not a matter of having a vet reference. Your thoughts?

Thanks!

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[Poochlover11]

Hi! My parents and grandparents had been using our vet for 25 years. I would go with my mom when our cats had appointments as my schedule allowed as a child. When I went off to college, I knew that Vet Med was the path I would follow. During the summer of 2003 after my freshman year of college, I had a paid position at the vet's office doing a myriad of things. He retired in 2004 or 2005, being in his early 70's. I haven't seen him really since the summer that I worked at the clinic. It is now 2009, and I am wondering if it has been too long to ask for a recommendation. I feel rather uncomfortable calling him after such a long time. I have another person in mind to ask instead. I already have another vet that I currently work for so it is not a matter of having a vet reference. Your thoughts?

Thanks!

That is quite a bit of time. Have you had any contact since then? I suppose you could give him a call-mention who you are-and see if he would feel comfortable giving you a reference (if he knows you well enough, but it sounds like he knows you as client as well as an employee).

It doesn't sound like it is necessary to use him as a reference so if you really don't feel comfortable and haven't talked to him for six years, maybe you should just go with the vet you currently work with.

 

[bunnity]

I think you should use the current vet; if nothing else they know the current "you" and you're probably more mature or whatever now that you're six years older.

The only reason you would need or want to contact the retired vet is if you're applying to Cornell, because they only consider experiences that come along with a reference / recommendation. In that case, if you had a lot of hours there or want to demonstrate a long-term commitment to vet med, it might be worth calling him up. He would probably be able to write a better letter if you two met up and talked and you gave him a resume, since he hasn't seen you in a while.