A few questions about acquiring a shadowing position...

[Mexi]

I recently started correspondence with a large animal vet about the possibility of shadowing next summer. I've known her and her husband, also a large animal vet, for a few years now. I know them both on a professional level (they are the vets we used at the farm where I worked), and also on a casual/friend level - at horse shows, looking after their dog, dinner/drinks among the smallish horse community at a local pub.

The husband of the team is whom I would be shadowing, and I know he's taken students as shadowing in the past. His wife welcomed my message and said she was sure we could make something work, and instructed me to send a resume and cover letter to her husband.

My first question is... in the cover letter, do I stay strictly professional, as if he were any vet I were contacting, or do I add a personal touch as I do know him (ie, I've always respected you as a vet (which I do), etc)? I'm not sure what's more appropriate as it would seem very weird to me to address him as a total stranger, but I do want to keep it professional. Also, since I've never writtem a cover letter for this purpose, what are some key things you touch on? (I'm about to peruse the board via search for this, also)

And one more thing - for the resume, do I send my "out of vet med/animal" resume which I would use for a typical job (this includes horse work experience and touches on - briefly - other animal volunteer experience)... or, do I construct a new one for this purpose? Annnnd in that case, what exactly would I include/omit?

Sorry for the million questions!

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[scb44f]

You're not shadowing to get to know them as friends, you're shadowing to understand the profession, so if I was in your position, I'd remain professional. I know it seems awkward, but they asked for a cover letter so I'd give them the best I had to offer.

As for the resume, I always tweaked mine to reflect any recent veterinary/animal experience as well as a couple of other jobs/volunteer experiences, just to show other qualities that may not come through by listing vet/animal experience only. By doing this, I was able to have an objective (i.e. to obtain more large animal veterinary experience with Dr. XYZ blah blah blah) and then I was able to relate why I wanted that experience (because I had only minimal exposure and wanted to explore the field). All of my vet experience was shadowing, so I didn't write a whole lot about any of it, other than who I worked with, the number of hours, the type of clinic (mixed, small, etc.), and I sometimes included a brief list of things I'd been able to see.

 

[Mexi]

Thanks for the feedback!

Do you know where I could find an example of a resume that's built for this sort of thing? From threads I've been reading and what you just stated, it seems they are quite different than what I'm accustomed to, and I'm a bit unsure where to start.

 

[LetItSnow]

My first question is... in the cover letter, do I stay strictly professional? [...]
And one more thing - do I construct a new [resume] for this purpose?

The easy question first: Yes, you construct a new resume. You can modify your old one; it doesn't have to be completely new. You just want to make certain that it emphasizes the skills and experiences that would be important to them. From the sounds of things, your normal would would actually be quite close; but generally speaking you try and tailor a resume to each and every place you send it (as best as possible - if you're blasting out 200 of them it's not so doable). I wouldn't worry too much about format (per your second post). Just make sure it contains contact information, employment history, and relevant experience history in a neat, professional manner.

Regarding the cover letter, I disagree slightly with scb44f (but not too much). You do need to be very professional, so don't get overly colloquial. But at the same time, I think it would be weird to them, too, if it read like you had never met them. Probably I'd try and work in just a few phrases to at least recognize the familiarity you have with them. Things like "continue to build our relationship," or explaining that your desire to shadow there is based on your past experience with them, etc. It doesn't have to be much; just enough not to sound weird.

Enjoy the shadowing!

 

[scb44f]

Regarding the cover letter, I disagree slightly with scb44f (but not too much). You do need to be very professional, so don't get overly colloquial. But at the same time, I think it would be weird to them, too, if it read like you had never met them. Probably I'd try and work in just a few phrases to at least recognize the familiarity you have with them. Things like "continue to build our relationship," or explaining that your desire to shadow there is based on your past experience with them, etc. It doesn't have to much; just enough not to sound weird.

Agreed here. That's not unprofessional to me. I just meant, you'll probably want to avoid getting too informal. Something like LIS mentioned would likely be perfect from the sounds of your relationship with them.

 

[LetItSnow]

Agreed here. That's not unprofessional to me.

Sorry, scb44f, I just misunderstood.

 

[Mexi]

Thanks for the input. It sounds I was on the same page as both of you in regards to the cover letter... definitely not lacking the formality (even the FB message I sent to his wife, while friendly, was written carefully and with a professional flair given the intent of inquiry), but also not completely ignoring the fact that we are familiar with one another. I would think it would be bizarre to address him as a stranger, and I also think I have a bit of an advantage over other potential candidates given that I do have a (positive) personal relationship with them, and I wouldn't want to dismiss that.

 

[scb44f]

Sorry, scb44f, I just misunderstood.

It's fine I didn't really explain my position very well.