How do I get more experience

[sunnyshine]

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WARNING (Long Post- Read at your own risk):
I really need more veterinary experience but, after over a month of searching, I have found no job. I only have 125 hours under a veterinarian and 400 hours combined at a zoo and at a research laboratory. I really feel that if I don't beef up my hours then my chances of getting in will be low. Anyone have any advice on how to get more hours? I have thought about volunteering but I am not sure of how I can get into a volunteer position when none are being advertised for right now in my area. Is it acceptable to cold call a vet clinic to be a volunteer? Also, if anyone wants to critique my stats be my guest because I can use all the advice I can get. Thanks so very much!

Cumulative GPA: 3.52
Last 45 Semester GPA: 3.79
B.S. earned - 140 credits hours (prereqs are done)
GRE: (460 verbal 610 Quant 4 Writing) (I know the GRE kinda sucks)
Science GPA: 3.40

I have a bunch of miscellaneous awards and honors societies and stuff as well.

Thanks!

 

[breenie]

Absolutely cold call! Getting experience is hard and exhausting, but you'll find something that is the right fit for you eventually. Call up every clinic you know of/can find, ask to volunteer/shadow, and be as sweet to the receptionists as you possibly can. Never give up! 🙂

 

[bonaparte]

Absolutely cold call! Getting experience is hard and exhausting, but you'll find something that is the right fit for you eventually. Call up every clinic you know of/can find, ask to volunteer/shadow, and be as sweet to the receptionists as you possibly can. Never give up! 🙂

I completely agree -- persistence is key! You want to be very nice, but very forward.

Good luck!

 

[jtom]

As the others have said, simply call or go into all vet clinics in your area. Keep in mind you will fail to get a call back almost every time, it is very difficult to obtain even a volunteer position, especially since we are in the summer now and people coming home from school have been taking up positions.

Volunteer positions are usually never advertised so do not look at the lack of advertisements as a sign there are none.

I was in the same boat as you a month ago but did find something.

 

[Marsala]

Rather than calling, I sent a cover letter stating that I was seeking a volunteer position, along with a copy of my resume. On the cover letter I wrote that I would call in a week to follow up on my letter. I got calls back from two clinics, and currently am still volunteering at one, so it does work! Good luck!

 

[scb44f]

I just wanted to throw it out there that if you live in a more rural area (especially if you live/go to school in a town where relatively few college students want to go to vet school), you might still be able to find some people to shadow/volunteer for this summer.

When I cold call, I say something along the lines of, "Hi, my name is scb44f. I'm applying to vet school this summer and am looking for more experience with (in my case, large animals). Is there anyone I can speak with about shadowing Dr. A for a couple of weeks this summer?" I only asked for a couple of weeks because that's all I can devote.

It worked last week when I called 3 clinics and was offered shadowing at 2 of them (keep in mind I go to an engineering school in a smaller town where very few college students want to be vets, so local vets are more willing to let me shadow, since they see a lot of middle/high schoolers).

Also, if you can afford it, don't be afraid to call clinics out of town. A 30 minute drive isn't too bad on the wallet if your car gets good gas mileage.

Anyway, good luck!!

 

[jtom]

I also agree that you should extend your range. I drive 45 minutes to my clinic and do not regret it at all. If the difference between getting hours is me driving longer, I will do that every time.

 

[Marsala]

3rding the range thing. I drive 30 minutes for the volunteer gig that I have.

 

[psilovethomas]

4thing the range- I drive an hour to my l.a. clinic (but i do live in the suburbs of d.c.!)

 

[Quackedup]

All great advice. I got shy(or lazy) about cold calling vet offices and contacted my state's veterinary association to see if maybe they had a listing of veterinarians who routinely encourage/allow volunteers or shadowing. Unfortunately Maine doesn't keep such a list, but maybe other states might?

 

[sunnyshine]

Thanks for all of the help, you all gave really wonderful advice. I was nervous about just cold calling a clinic because I thought it was rude. I mean the vets are probably busy - why would they want to give up their time? But from what I have read it seems like an acceptable practice. Also, I really like the range advice because I have only been looking within 25 mins of my residence. I live in Philly so I am going to expand my search into vet clinics in New Jersey. I think I will start out by calling clinics and then offering to email/fax my resume & cover letter to them.

 

[laitmanvet]

Thanks for all of the help, you all gave really wonderful advice. I was nervous about just cold calling a clinic because I thought it was rude. I mean the vets are probably busy - why would they want to give up their time? But from what I have read it seems like an acceptable practice. Also, I really like the range advice because I have only been looking within 25 mins of my residence. I live in Philly so I am going to expand my search into vet clinics in New Jersey. I think I will start out by calling clinics and then offering to email/fax my resume & cover letter to them.

As a Phila. resident, I can tell you that the UPenn Ryan Hospital has a volunteer program in the ER. Its all small animals. The session JUST started, so if you want to do this contact them quickly. I know its pretty full for the summer but no harm in asking about open space. Since the ER is open 24/7 they are looking for volunteers for all hrs. They want at least 8 hrs/wk from all volunteers and its well organized. I've heard the setting is really interesting and many people are successful in getting a vet recommendation.
Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[Hoxydude]

Definitely all good advice. I tried all of the vets in my area, going in person to drop off resumes and cold calling and no one would take me. I ended up going to the county shelter ( they run on volunteers so I didnt see why they would mind me being there) and ended up getting a great volunteer position. It was a diferent perspective than the other vet clinics I had worked at before. I loved it 🙂 So, if the clinics dont work try the shelters. Its a good way to get your foot in the door. Besides, most shelters work with a private practice vet to do some of the larger more extensive surgeries and the shelter can oftentimes help get you in with the private practice vet ( from my experience at least ).
Good luck!

 

[gone2dogs]

I just thought I'd say that thanks to this thread I talked myself into doing some cold calls to get some more large animal experience... and it appears to have worked! And it only took one call.

Granted I am going to drive over an hour to get there, but this sounds like a great clinic with lots of equine surgery, food animal stuff, and small ruminants. I am not exactly sure what all I will be doing/seeing, but the woman who helped me set this up said that they would give me a tour my first morning and then sort of go from there. So far I have 3 days set up in a week or so, so I'm really excited! And relieved that the cold calling wasn't so bad. But then maybe I got lucky because the first place I called seemed so open to the idea (and seemed to have had people shadow plenty of times before...).

So anyway, just thought I'd post this to encourage others to go for it!

And now I am just kicking myself for not asking what to wear... any thoughts on that? I guess I could call back, but now I feel silly!

 

[Angelo84]

I just thought I'd say that thanks to this thread I talked myself into doing some cold calls to get some more large animal experience... and it appears to have worked! And it only took one call.

Granted I am going to drive over an hour to get there, but this sounds like a great clinic with lots of equine surgery, food animal stuff, and small ruminants. I am not exactly sure what all I will be doing/seeing, but the woman who helped me set this up said that they would give me a tour my first morning and then sort of go from there. So far I have 3 days set up in a week or so, so I'm really excited! And relieved that the cold calling wasn't so bad. But then maybe I got lucky because the first place I called seemed so open to the idea (and seemed to have had people shadow plenty of times before...).

So anyway, just thought I'd post this to encourage others to go for it!

And now I am just kicking myself for not asking what to wear... any thoughts on that? I guess I could call back, but now I feel silly!

For large animal I usually went with khaki's and a decent top. And brought scrubs with me. Also make sure you bring lunch/snacks. Don't go very fancy or in jeans.

Have fun!

ETA: shoes--I used old riding boots (short not tall boots) but hiking boots or similar would work too. Just not sneakers and not dress shoes.

 

[HopefulAg]

I didn't read the whole thread, so this may have been said already, just surfed it and this grabbed my eye.

Volunteer positions are usually never advertised so do not look at the lack of advertisements as a sign there are none.

We use volunteer and shadowing pretty interchangeably here (I mean they're pretty much the same thing), but vet clinics don't see it that same way.

Technically a for-profit clinic cannot have volunteers. Plus, volunteers are a liability, so don't address it that way. Ask them if you can shadow instead.

 

[gone2dogs]

For large animal I usually went with khaki's and a decent top. And brought scrubs with me. Also make sure you bring lunch/snacks. Don't go very fancy or in jeans.

Have fun!

ETA: shoes--I used old riding boots (short not tall boots) but hiking boots or similar would work too. Just not sneakers and not dress shoes.

Sounds good... thanks! This clinic sees animals on site (mostly horses I think, but they have facilities for others too) and also has ambulatory service, so I'm hoping to get to see some of both. I know I am really probably going to be a small animal vet, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed the time I spent with an equine vet... it was really interesting and fun to go to the different farms and barns!

 

[sunnyshine]

I didn't start calling any clinics to volunteer yet because a small glimmer of hope has shot through my clouds of despair. I have been offered a job interview for this Monday at a vet hospital in NJ. It is a nice hike from my house in Philly but it will be well worth it if I can get a paid job at a clinic. I am supposed to interview with them and then tour the hospital. 🙂

 

[WildlifeSaver]

All your volunteerism doesn't necessary have to be vet med related🙂.
Look at this site or think about things you like too. You want your gig to be something you value too then something you can just throw on your resume!

But, yes keep on trying to gain experience and shelters are a good starter for vet hours. Good luck and never give up! call all of your vets and still ask about volunteering because believe it or not, not every vet clinic will turn you down for liability issues.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

 

[goldengal]

I currently volunteer at a therapeutic riding center for children with disabilities. Although I admittedly am not really a horse person, working around these gentle creatures have really improved my confidence around them. Plus, I love working with the kids. It is so amazing to witness how a nonverbal, aggressive autistic child can change his behavior as well as his demeanor as soon as he starts to ride. I have seen kids who are completely withdrawn become more involved and "present" when interacting with the horses. I know this may sound rather corny, but it amazes me how horses can really understand these kids and adjust their behavior accordingly.

I am not sure if this is an option for you or not, but I applied for a kennel assistant and worked my way up to tech. I understand you are in a time crunch, but as soon as I started working they did not mind if I watched surgical procedures (of course on my own time), or even assist other technicians when they were short staffed.

 

[fishbones]

I just wanted to butt in and say wow goldengal, the therapeutic riding center sounds really cool! I did not even know these sort of things existed. Thanks for sharing.

Sunnyshine--good luck with the job interview. I hope you get in :]

 

[heylodeb]

I just wanted to butt in and say wow goldengal, the therapeutic riding center sounds really cool! I did not even know these sort of things existed. Thanks for sharing.

Sunnyshine--good luck with the job interview. I hope you get in :]

I'm a certified NARHA riding instructor and worked in Tx Riding for 8 years. It quite honestly changed my life and taught me almost more than my students learned..... check out "NARHA.org" for accredited programs that are near you. (NARHA accredited sites have passed a rigorous testing which gives you a better chance that the services and staff will be of better quality and most importantly: SAFE!)

MANY centers are desperate for volunteers!