Leadership HELP

[DogLover824]

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I have received several application reviews from schools i did not get into last application cycyle and a common theme was that i did not have a lot of leadership experience... any suggestions on how to increase my leadership skills?

 

[LVT2DVM]

Are you working in a vet hospital? Do you have someone who is charge of the kennel workers? This would be a good way to get your feet wet in a leadership capacity. Offer to keep charge of the schedule or coordinate training sessions. Another way is to take a subject that your really interested in (ie monthly newsletter, weightloss program, behavior program, puppy classes, dental month, ect..) and offer to be in charge of coordinating activities and promotion of these services for the clinic. Depends on working in a hospital though..dont know what your background is.

 

[critterfixer]

Have you coached a little kids' sports team? Led or co-led a Girl Scout Troop? Taught Sunday School? These are all things you can put on your application that show leadership experience. A few of the things I put on mine:

Coached soccer
Mentored low income women
Developed a religious education program at a UU fellowship
Started a Roots and Shoots club
Led a Daisy GS Troop
Taught illiterate adults to read

You can find all kinds of ways to develop leadership skills that have nothing to do with work or veterinary medicine. Find a cause or an organization that needs help, volunteer, and voila, you have leadership skills, provided you are in charge of some aspect of the program. It's very easy to get thrown into a leadership role as a volunteer.

 

[lailanni]

Getting leadership experience can be easy to do on a college campus -- plenty of club activities there and it's not difficult to become a club officer when you get really involved with your favorite club.

College campuses usually have many outreach kind of programs - you can volunteer to tutor, mentor, and work with community projects.

Somethings I did-
Mentored a 3rd grade girl, BigSister type of program
Team Captain for Relay for Life (can do similar with other fundraisers)
Camp counselor
Taught a class about Bunny Basics (we do it every Easter season)
President of honor society (VP the previous year)

Any job you've had where you've trained another employee can be considered leadership/supervison.

And don't be afraid to just start something on your own. I was reading that one student at school decided to start a fund/supply raising effort for the China earthquake survivors. She got the interest of a few other clubs and faculty members and it's been doing very well!

 

[Wolf Vet]

Wow, you guys all have quite the plethera of leadership experiences!😱

I feel very humbled, as my list is far less impressive. But I agree with the advice, these are great ways to gain the exp. (And since I will most likely be reapplying this year, I will probably be doing the same😳)

 

[Truth74]

I completely agree with the club angle.
Have you tried looking through commitees for your local city council? Have you checked with your school to see if they have leadership programs affiliated with them? They may have a leadership certificate program. Or, you could volunteer as a girl/boy scout leader[Like critterfixer said]. If you spent some time in scouts, that would be considered leadership training as well.

I was in scouts, many moons ago. Both boy and girl (long story). I was a girl scout leader ( daisy, brownie, and junior). I went through BSLT (led cub and boy scouts), law enforcement explorers (yes, I can show you where to park), outdoor adventure explorers (explorer vice president of my boy scout council), and I was on an ad hoc committee for my city.

I also went on Illinoisleadership trips (which help to build confidence in a team, and motivation strategies).

In the workplace, you can show that you work well in a team, and know what needs to be done. Good work is recognized, and you move up to those leadership positions. You could put in your employment descriptions where you started out and where you ended up. It would show that you grew and have a concept of a group dynamic. Another way would be to show what responsibilities were given to you over time. I know the boxes are small, but you could fit a little of that in.

I know I didn't put half of this information into last years VMCAS.

The opportunities for leadership are out there.

Good Luck 😀

 

[DogLover824]

thanx everyone for the help i'm gonna start asking around and thinking about my past acivities

 

[DVMorBust]

I don't know how well this applies to vet school apps, but my friend who's applying to med school received some interesting advice.

Leadership in a job/work/club environment is only one type - and sometimes it's not even the most valued.

*If you're a leader because there exists a power differential between you and those that you lead, they're not necessarily following you because of your leadership skills. You need to prove that you were a GOOD leader in these situations*

Think about smaller, less official leadership - did you start a study-group for a difficult class? (just one example). Start there and work your way out - I bet you have a lot more than you think you do.