How to ask a veterinarian if you can shadow/volunteer for them?

[Aniaml Lover 634]

Hi, so I am currently a freshman at the University of Findlay and I am in the pre-vet program here and was wondering if anyone could tell me how to get your foot in the door to shadow/volunteer with a veterinarian?
And should you turn in your resume to someone at the front desk or should you email someone at that animal clinic? And also, what should you tell them if you do turn in a hard copy to them face to face?
And to create a resume, the only experience I ever had was volunteering at an animal shelter for a short amount of time when I was younger. But, then I also have experience with hands on experience with horses and the livestock animals at my school and I already learned how to give exams and give vaccines. And in my last 2 years of high school, I went to a career technical center and worked with animals there too.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LetItSnow]

Hi, so I am currently a freshman at the University of Findlay and I am in the pre-vet program here and was wondering if anyone could tell me how to get your foot in the door to shadow/volunteer with a veterinarian?
And should you turn in your resume to someone at the front desk or should you email someone at that animal clinic? And also, what should you tell them if you do turn in a hard copy to them face to face?

Here's the bottom line: Don't worry about "the right way" to approach a clinic. Just do what feels best, and be outgoing and personable, honest and forthright. That's all anyone wants. I personally would call and say "Hi! My name is So-n-so. I am in a pre-vet program at Findlay, and I am looking for opportunities to shadow or volunteer with a veterinarian. Could I talk to someone about that?" and then let them guide you to the right person (might be a vet, might be a practice manager). Or they might just say 'no'. We don't take any pre-vets at my practice, for example, because of safety concerns. But many places are happy to host pre-vets.

If you have a place you REALLY want to be at, an in-person visit might be best. Problem is, you don't know when a good time is and you might show up and they're like "we're slammed. go 'way." So I personally feel like a phone call is best to initiate contact. Not a fan of email - it's a little too impersonal for my tastes - but there's nothing wrong with it.

I really think people overthink this stuff. Just contact them somehow. Be courteous, professional, and affable. Do that and it will eventually work out. And if some place is being rude back to you .... yay! You found out in advance you don't want to be there.

Other than "Ohio," I don't know where Findlay is, so I don't know what kind of opportunities you have there.

You can find a lot more advice/tips by using the Search function in the upper right. It's a common topic. Best of luck!

P.S. You perform exams, or you do an exam, but you don't give an exam. You give an animal food.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I basically ended up at a wonderful clinic (and as a result have a lifelong mentor and friend) by the most unconventional/accidental means possible, so the way “you should” do things is not always how they pan out in real life.

That said, I think just showing up with a resume can be hit or miss in a busy GP clinic, so I agree with LIS that calling ahead might be best. You can ask if they ever allow pre-vets to shadow and then if they want a resume you can take one. Definitely emphasize that you are a pre-vet and that you want to get experience shadowing and exploring the profession. I know Findlay has a lot of pre-vet students, so you might also consider looking for some place to shadow in your hometown where it might be less saturated if you have trouble finding a place where you are going to school.

 

[allieh8607]

I basically ended up at a wonderful clinic (and as a result have a lifelong mentor and friend) by the most unconventional/accidental means possible, so the way “you should” do things is not always how they pan out in real life.

That said, I think just showing up with a resume can be hit or miss in a busy GP clinic, so I agree with LIS that calling ahead might be best. You can ask if they ever allow pre-vets to shadow and then if they want a resume you can take one. Definitely emphasize that you are a pre-vet and that you want to get experience shadowing and exploring the profession. I know Findlay has a lot of pre-vet students, so you might also consider looking for some place to shadow in your hometown where it might be less saturated if you have trouble finding a place where you are going to school.

This lol I went to Findlay for undergrad too and the few clinics in Findlay were soooo saturated with hungry pre-vets and hard to get your foot into it wasn't even funny. It can't hurt to still try though. Instead, I focused on getting quality vet experience during my breaks and summers and while I was at Findlay if I needed an animal fix I would look for "animal experience" that wasn't necessarily supervised by a vet i.e. volunteering at the humane society, extra barn duty, whatever.

I remember my first spring break, driving around with my mom and a stack full of resumes to literally every clinic within a 10 mile radius. I got one bite. One clinic was willing to take me under their wing and thank god, because they went on to be the place with the doctors that wrote me my letters of recommendation. Back then though, I was pretty shy (who am I kidding, I still am lol) and I settled for just dropping my resume off with the front desk staff. Don't do this! Make contact. Honestly I would go right for asking for the practice manager and chances are they'll know how to handle it. If they're busy, either come back another time or ask for them to call you. I would have a cover letter as well that states your intentions. If they are busy and the practice manager sees a random resume on their desk, it could get overlooked because they aren't necessarily hiring.

One way to make it less scary for the clinic to commit to you is to set up just a single shadow opportunity, or maybe a few, rather than a whole semester or a whole summer. That way, you can meet everyone and see how the day goes to really know if you want to spend a lot more time there. And the clinic isn't committing a whole summer to someone who might be cray (which I doubt you are). It's going to be so clinic dependent though. I know as a new grad, having someone shadow me at this point in time would probably make me nervous. But the more seasoned vets should be aware that things like this are part of the profession. I personally can't wait to give back to the profession and let someone shadow me after what horrible luck I had when I was trying to do the same. Good luck!

If you really want a place in Findlay and you're struggling, one of my sorority sisters is a vet at VCA Findlay and I might be able to message her to see if she takes pre-vet shadows. We're more acquaintances now, but if you're desperate let me know.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Also persistence. I got my first vet assistant job in a town with a vet school (so saturated with pre-vets) just because I was the only one who bothered to call back and check on my resume/status and tell the vet I'm still interested (it was a position listed online, not a cold call). A lot of people just drive around and drop 50 resumes off and everyone knows that. It makes a difference to attempt to connect/make yourself stand out by continuing to communicate. Don't be annoying, but don't expect to get an opportunity simply by dropping a resume off. Works for some, not for all.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

This lol I went to Findlay for undergrad too and the few clinics in Findlay were soooo saturated with hungry pre-vets and hard to get your foot into it wasn't even funny. It can't hurt to still try though. Instead, I focused on getting quality vet experience during my breaks and summers and while I was at Findlay if I needed an animal fix I would look for "animal experience" that wasn't necessarily supervised by a vet i.e. volunteering at the humane society, extra barn duty, whatever.

I remember my first spring break, driving around with my mom and a stack full of resumes to literally every clinic within a 10 mile radius. I got one bite. One clinic was willing to take me under their wing and thank god, because they went on to be the place with the doctors that wrote me my letters of recommendation. Back then though, I was pretty shy (who am I kidding, I still am lol) and I settled for just dropping my resume off with the front desk staff. Don't do this! Make contact. Honestly I would go right for asking for the practice manager and chances are they'll know how to handle it. If they're busy, either come back another time or ask for them to call you. I would have a cover letter as well that states your intentions. If they are busy and the practice manager sees a random resume on their desk, it could get overlooked because they aren't necessarily hiring.

One way to make it less scary for the clinic to commit to you is to set up just a single shadow opportunity, or maybe a few, rather than a whole semester or a whole summer. That way, you can meet everyone and see how the day goes to really know if you want to spend a lot more time there. And the clinic isn't committing a whole summer to someone who might be cray (which I doubt you are). It's going to be so clinic dependent though. I know as a new grad, having someone shadow me at this point in time would probably make me nervous. But the more seasoned vets should be aware that things like this are part of the profession. I personally can't wait to give back to the profession and let someone shadow me after what horrible luck I had when I was trying to do the same. Good luck!

If you really want a place in Findlay and you're struggling, one of my sorority sisters is a vet at VCA Findlay and I might be able to message her to see if she takes pre-vet shadows. We're more acquaintances now, but if you're desperate let me know.

I didn’t go to Findlay for undergrad but there’s lot of Findlay kids in my class so it was an educated guess lol. I did go to an undergrad with a good prevet program and it was pretty saturated, though I never really tried to get a job at school since I had a good situation back home. Anyway, yes persistence for sure. Harder, but definitely not impossible!

 

[agzs2015]

Hi!! I'm currently a student at Findlay as well (a junior). The only experience I've gotten here is out at the barn (handling classes and barn duty sophomore year)... The rest of my experience was over summers/ winter break at the clinic in my hometown. Just give some clinics a call and ask! Or, you can always talk to your advisor and they may have some recommendations for you.
Also, the career services in Old Main is a great place to go to help work on your resume
Feel free to message me with any questions!