Employment Interview

[Tortue]

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Ok, so I do not have any type of animal experience and have been looking for an animal related job. I was interviewed by a vet and he told me to go to his clinic today to do some volunteer work, that is the next step in application process. I don't know what to expect and I want to have an idea to prepare myself, I REALLY want and need the job, but because I don't have clinical experience I don't feel confident...so if anyone has had a similar experience can you tell me what to expect...is that a good sign of getting the job?
thx 🙄

 

[projekt]

A lot of small vets can't afford to hire people without a period of volunteer work. It shouldn't be longer than a month, I'd say, otherwise you're just being exploited. In my case, it was 2 weeks.

After a couple of weeks volunteering, you should ask if the vet wants to hire you.


The most important things: Show up on time, ask what you can do next, enthusiastically do the dirty work, like cleaning kennels and scooping poop. Being able to file things correctly is also a big plus. You can imagine that vets hate their charts being put out of order by brainless help.

 

[Steelmagghia]

A lot of small vets can't afford to hire people without a period of volunteer work. It shouldn't be longer than a month, I'd say, otherwise you're just being exploited. In my case, it was 2 weeks.

After a couple of weeks volunteering, you should ask if the vet wants to hire you.


The most important things: Show up on time, ask what you can do next, enthusiastically do the dirty work, like cleaning kennels and scooping poop. Being able to file things correctly is also a big plus. You can imagine that vets hate their charts being put out of order by brainless help.

Good advice!
Also, be proactive and teach yourself some things. If you hear a word being thrown around and you don't know what it is, look it up at home. Learn your restraint techniques well, the better you can handle the animals, the better you can do other things.

 

[Tortue]

ok--I'll follow your advice, I hope is not going to be more than a couple of weeks bcz I need $$ too. But I really don't care as long as I get the job. They told me that they use gray t-shirts and black pants as they uniform and to come dressed like that too. Ohh man I REALLY want to be hired, I hope this is a good sign.

 

[VAgirl]

A lot of small vets can't afford to hire people without a period of volunteer work. It shouldn't be longer than a month, I'd say, otherwise you're just being exploited. In my case, it was 2 weeks.

A month??? That seems an insanely long "trial" period in my opinion. Now, I have no idea because I never had to do a trial period, I was hired straight out. But it seems reasonable to be to do maybe a few days. If they don't know after a few days whether or not you'll fit with their group and will benefit the hospital, then they're not going to know after a month, either. Has anyone else had to work for this long a period of time? Even a few weeks seems vaguely exploitative to me.

I mean, if you're on a paid trial period, that's one thing. I know people who've been on paid trial periods for up to 6 months. During that time they might not have had benefits and it was possible for them to be terminated at any time if things weren't working out. I think they may also have gotten a pay increase when they came off of the trial period. But an unpaid trial period of weeks to months seems...wrong to me.

 

[LVT2DVM]

Ok, so I do not have any type of animal experience and have been looking for an animal related job. I was interviewed by a vet and he told me to go to his clinic today to do some volunteer work, that is the next step in application process. I don't know what to expect and I want to have an idea to prepare myself, I REALLY want and need the job, but because I don't have clinical experience I don't feel confident...so if anyone has had a similar experience can you tell me what to expect...is that a good sign of getting the job?
thx 🙄

Did he specify whether this is a "working" interview or is he suggesting you volunteer until he has a postition available; There is a big difference. Working interviews are becoming more common but Ive never required one for an entry level veterinary assistant or kennel person. These are entry level positions that require training and I wouldnt expect someone with no previous experience to have any idea of what to do in a clinical setting. He could just be wanting you to interact with the staff, so they get an impression of whether they would want you as a co-worker. Be careful of the volunterism of that scenario. Typically if you are volunteering you sign a waiver, so the clinic is not liable if you are injured while there. If its a working interview, typically the person is paid and they are covered under the clinics workers comp. Alternatively a third option is you are there for observation, which involes NO animal handling or placing you into situations that may endanger you and usually only last 1-3 hours.
This is more specific than you probably wanted but as a hospital manager this type of stuff concerns me when supervisors take advantage of people trying to make a good impression. I dont have any idea of what this doctor expects of you....you could (and should) ask. Iif its merely a "meet and greet" for the staff, then just be yourself. Better they see you as you are then you get the job and its not the right fit. Ask lots of questions. (If you want ideas PM me) If it is just the next stage of the interview process then I would count that as a good sign, they wouldnt have you come in if they werent interested...IMO. I typically interview several applicants for one position and I only offer greeting interviews to applicants I am strongly considering. Otherwise it would be a waste of everyones time. Hopefully, this doc feels the same. Good luck and another hint: Pack a lunch to take with you.

 

[ri23]

I'm assuming if this is a portion in the interview process it is probably a working interview, which would only be a day or two. There was a thread about this pretty recently, but I don't recall the title.

 

[projekt]

A month??? That seems an insanely long "trial" period in my opinion. Now, I have no idea because I never had to do a trial period, I was hired straight out. But it seems reasonable to be to do maybe a few days.

I agree, a month is too long if you're full time. In my case I was doing two days a week and so two weeks was just fine. A month would have been fine, too, because altogether it would have only been about 6-8 days of work.

People should realize that vets aren't super rich, and they want to reduce the risk of hiring staff. They can also be unfair, so you should do whatever feels right and if it stops feeling right, quit or make it right.

 

[VAgirl]

People should realize that vets aren't super rich, and they want to reduce the risk of hiring staff.

True, but that shouldn't really be the problem of the poor, young potential staff members who also are trying to make ends meet.

To make this relevant to the OP's situation, if you're doing your working interview and several days/a week/whatever you feel comfortable with has gone by and the doctor still isn't talking about paying you/making you a staff member, you should talk to him/her about it. I would start by mentioning that you're really enjoying working with the rest of the staff, think the clinic/hospital would be a great fit for you, you're eager to join the team officially, and that you'd like to know what the next step is in the process (i.e. when they're going to make you an offer and put you on the payroll). If he's vague about it or seems like it will still be a ways off, I think you should feel free to mention that you really need a timeline as you have financial obligations to consider and plan for. There should be no mystery or stringing along. If their is, I'd say something stinks and it's probably not a great situation.

But a lot of this is probably jumping the gun. Go in, work hard, enjoy, and hopefully in 1 day to a few days you'll have an official job offer. 🙂

 

[whyrightmeow]

Just to throw my two cents in... I volunteered in a kennel for 6 weeks (part-time) before I was hired. I do think they pushed as long as they could without paying me, but it was how I got my "in" and learned to restrain and gain experience so I could eventually get a good job.

My point being, most of us had to volunteer to get experience before we were hired. If this is really what you want to do, then stick it out.

 

[VAgirl]

Just to throw my two cents in... I volunteered in a kennel for 6 weeks (part-time) before I was hired. I do think they pushed as long as they could without paying me, but it was how I got my "in" and learned to restrain and gain experience so I could eventually get a good job.

My point being, most of us had to volunteer to get experience before we were hired. If this is really what you want to do, then stick it out.

I think it makes a world of difference, though, what the situation is. If you know you're signing up to volunteer in the hopes that they'll eventually hire you, that's one thing. If you go in to a job interview and are told that you just need to come in and do a little bit of volunteering to see how you fit in, etc. before they'll hire you, anything more than a few days/week is excessive. They know you're looking for paid employment and it is more like a bait and switch to get you to work for them unpaid for any significant length of time. It is only reasonable and fair to assume that people seeking paid employment are doing so not just for laughs but because they need a pay check (as well vet med experience, potentially).

 

[projekt]

I agree. If a VCA hospital or Banfield asked you to volunteer before you were hired, I would walk out the door, and maybe tell the attorney general that you think it's a bit shady.

My experience was a little closer to whyrightmeow's. I asked to volunteer and she hired me after two weeks. It's true that if the volunteering is part of an interview process, the time period should be shorter.

Good thinking!

 

[Tortue]

Thank you all for your ideas and inputs. Well, they told me that it would last a few hours and that it was the next step in the interview process. So, my feeling is that they want to see how I interact with the staff and the animals. I am really excited about it😛

 

[Tortue]

ohh they called and changed it for tomorrow

 

[wi girl]

Just another perspective: the emergency clinic at which I was just hired (to start in May) usually has people come in an shadow for two days (paid), to see what the pace of the clinic and such are. After the few days, the paperwork is made official. Its not so much a working interview (we would already have the job) but rather to make sure we feel comfortable in that situation. I've shadowed there for experience before for applications, so I get to waive this though (and as I want to do emergency med, I certainly hope I can handle the pace!)

As an additional sidenote: I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS JOB! Its with the emerg clinic, so I get to do a bit of that, but they just hired a boarded surgeon, so I'm going to be on his staff -- and they're going to let me scrub in a ton on some really cool procedures -- the clinic is trying to move into a emergency/specialty direction, and increase the number of specialty surgeries. YAY!

I hope your experience Tortue will be as great as I know mine will be! Keep us all updated!!

 

[Pouches Rock]

The vet I worked for required an unspecified amount of time volunteering before she would hire you as a paid employee. It generally ranged from two weeks to a month. The purpose of the volunteering period was to weed out those that weren't cut out for the work or didn't fit in with the clinics atmosphere. We are in a town that has a vet school and she is constantly indundated with people who want vet experience hours.

As I have worked through school I have usually had two jobs or had overlap between changing jobs so I was not put in a difficult place financially by this system of hiring. I have seen several people sink or swim in the two weeks of volunteering with no trend in regards to their interview or amount of other animal experience. The vet also said she didn't want to waste time filling out paperwork for taxes if the person wasn't going to work out😀.

 

[HopefulAg]

Well I was hired straight out because the vet went to the same college I do currently and she knew I was going Pre-vet.

But we do get a LOT of people who go "Oh I want to volunteer" and they do so for a day or two and we never see them again. Those are the people who they're trying to weed out with these volunteering gigs. They want people who are dedicated, can handle the work load, and not just there to play with the puppies.

 

[Tortue]

Ok, so I went for my volunteer day and I helped with cleaning around the clinic, exam rooms, crates, got to watch exams...it was very interesting. Well, they called me today and offered me the job!!! 👍 I am soooo happppyyyyyy!!!

 

[projekt]

Cheers!

 

[twelvetigers]

Wo hoo, good job! Better than I've done so far! Haha.

 

[weirdhobo]

Lucky! Congrats!
My luck isn't so great...

A place where I am going to volunteer once again (had to stop because of sports) has terrible hours (closes at 5pm and no weekends) but is probably the only vet hospital I can go to atm.

 

[LVT2DVM]

Way to go Tortue! Now comes the hard work...and the fun. Keep us posted on what interesting things you learn. What are your major job duties going to be? I got some good news today about a job Im interested in as well. Here's to good things for both of us. (cheers)

 

[david594]

I feel kinda like a sellout because I currently do 25 hours a week at an amazing general practice + repro clinic but I really needed more hours...

So after a 4 minute long interview I going to be working as a tech 2nd shift weekends in the ER of a 24 hour VCA hospital. Should be exciting.

Had sent them a resume, got a call back a week later to come in for an interview. Then a few minutes into the interview they offered me the job.

 

[Tortue]

Thanks!! I'll keep you posted about my "adventures" hehehe🙄