Putting veterinary experience in your Resume/Back up careers

[aggieang]

Hey y'all! I'm curious to see if anyone of you have ever put your veterinary shadow experience on a resume (especially those who didn't get into vet school).

I applied this year and didn't get accepted 🙁 I've thought about going back and getting a master's degree (or retaking some undergrad courses) but I don't want to rush into doing that. Plus I want to have some money so I wouldn't have to rely fully on student loans for school and living expenses. So now I'm in the process of trying to find a full time job.

So anyway, I was never technically hired at the vet clinic I have "worked" at. In fact, I came in to shadow the mixed animal practice but they ended up letting me do some hands on stuff, such as take x-rays, handle animals, vaccinate the feral cats, assist with surgeries, and some other small tasks (nail trims, cleaning ears. etc). But since this wasn't an official job or volunteer opportunity I'm not sure if I should put it under my work experience... If I don't then I will only have my 3 years of child care experience at my current job, my 2 years of child care experience at my old job, my two years of volunteer experience at a zoo, and I guess my job at Arby's I had during my senior year of high school....And I don't know if those sound that great when trying to find a job in the animal industry...

Have any of y'all put your hands on shadowing experience on your resume? And if you have how did you go about it?

Also I could use some ideas of what careers I should go into. I got a degree in Animal Science-Science. I would love to do something with sheep and goats or even cattle. But I would prefer a job where I could have some sort of interaction with animals (so I really don't want to do meat inspection). Also I think a job that deals with animal welfare would be great but I don't know how to go about that :/

So what are/or were you back up careers if you didn't get into vet school?

I don't want to really limit myself too much but I would like to stay in Texas since my family is here and plus last spring I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and I love my oncologist! lol Well I actually have two but both of them are awesome so I don't want to lose them!

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[pp9]

Hey y'all! I'm curious to see if anyone of you have ever put your veterinary shadow experience on a resume (especially those who didn't get into vet school).

I applied this year and didn't get accepted 🙁 I've thought about going back and getting a master's degree (or retaking some undergrad courses) but I don't want to rush into doing that. Plus I want to have some money so I wouldn't have to rely fully on student loans for school and living expenses. So now I'm in the process of trying to find a full time job.

So anyway, I was never technically hired at the vet clinic I have "worked" at. In fact, I came in to shadow the mixed animal practice but they ended up letting me do some hands on stuff, such as take x-rays, handle animals, vaccinate the feral cats, assist with surgeries, and some other small tasks (nail trims, cleaning ears. etc). But since this wasn't an official job or volunteer opportunity I'm not sure if I should put it under my work experience... If I don't then I will only have my 3 years of child care experience at my current job, my 2 years of child care experience at my old job, my two years of volunteer experience at a zoo, and I guess my job at Arby's I had during my senior year of high school....And I don't know if those sound that great when trying to find a job in the animal industry...

Have any of y'all put your hands on shadowing experience on your resume? And if you have how did you go about it?

Also I could use some ideas of what careers I should go into. I got a degree in Animal Science-Science. I would love to do something with sheep and goats or even cattle. But I would prefer a job where I could have some sort of interaction with animals (so I really don't want to do meat inspection). Also I think a job that deals with animal welfare would be great but I don't know how to go about that :/

So what are/or were you back up careers if you didn't get into vet school?

I don't want to really limit myself too much but I would like to stay in Texas since my family is here and plus last spring I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and I love my oncologist! lol Well I actually have two but both of them are awesome so I don't want to lose them!

Do you intend to reapply? The answer to that question might guide the advice we give, especially for careers.

I think you should absolutely include that experience. Most resume formats have a space for your 'position' within the workplace...that's where you would divulge that you were a "Shadow." I'm sure there's a more resume-friendly term for that, but I'm drawing a blank. That is some great experience you have and it would be doing you a disservice to hide it!

Zoos are a great place for animal welfare careers, but not a lot have caught onto that yet. Some zoos have 'welfare committees,' but they are usually made up of already existing employees. If you like welfare, do you think you'd be interested in behavior as well? A lot of zoos conduct behavior research (admittedly, most of it is done by keepers).

 

[jmo1012]

Do you intend to reapply? The answer to that question might guide the advice we give, especially for careers.

I think you should absolutely include that experience. Most resume formats have a space for your 'position' within the workplace...that's where you would divulge that you were a "Shadow." I'm sure there's a more resume-friendly term for that, but I'm drawing a blank. That is some great experience you have and it would be doing you a disservice to hide it!

Zoos are a great place for animal welfare careers, but not a lot have caught onto that yet. Some zoos have 'welfare committees,' but they are usually made up of already existing employees. If you like welfare, do you think you'd be interested in behavior as well? A lot of zoos conduct behavior research (admittedly, most of it is done by keepers).

i always called it an "externship"

 

[Jess Monster]

It may not have been "official" work in the sense that you were an employee or paid, but it was still experience that you should represent on your resume. "Work Experience" is not confined to paid employment or volunteering (unless otherwise stated on an actual application). In grad school I've had some experiences, including my practicum, which were unpaid but were important and meaningful learning experiences in my field.

As far as jobs go, apply to everything that piques your interest. Don't limit yourself. You might really want to work hands on with animals but, depending on your area, those opportunities might not be readily available. If you can afford to move around within Texas, look outside your community and see what jobs are available. I imagine there are many animal jobs within the state - ranches, laboratories (private and university), vet clinics, animal shelters, zoos, etc.

Just blanket the place with resumes and see what sticks.

FWIW, I have a degree in animal sciences too and I just applied for a job with a publishing company that prints high school biology textbooks. That was not a field I would have normally pursued but after reading the job post I got really excited. It's not directly related to animals but it's interesting and utilizes my education in ways I hadn't thought about before.

 

[thecatastrophist]

All of my veterinary experience goes under a "professional experience" category on my cv. Since you're an undergrad you'll want to stick to a resume of course. I'll go with middle ground advice. It's a good idea to include it, but since resumes should normally be one page only (two max) what you choose to include may be tailored somewhat to the job you apply.

If it's an animal-based job at a zoo or vet office (or any other) you should absolutely include it. Even if you don't you may have room to. As people go on in their career the resume often drops older, less valuable or relevant positions for newer ones. New grads might not have space issues and you can instead devote your resume into bringing skills learned at seemingly disparate jobs together. Your school's career services office can help with that.

As for jobs, zoos might be a good place to look. According to an academic advisor friend who used to do zookeeping, many zoos value hoof stock experience because many zoo husbandry practices are based off that. Your degree might come in handy.

I've still got an interview, but my plans are to try for a full time position teaching at a community college or academic advising, where I have experience if I ultimately don't get in. If I can't get that I'm probably going to try and work in industry somewhere. I'll use my spare time for extra experience and apply again.

Unfortunately I can't strictly afford to apply forever so after the third or fourth cycle I'll probably just go for an advanced degree in environmental policy and move on with a full alternate career. The hope is that I'll be accepted before then. 🙂 Good luck to you too!

 

[Country_roads]

Getting (beef quality assurance) BQA certified would be a big step forward in pursuing something in beef welfare. Obviously there's PQA for pork too. Welfare is much more developed in the pork industry, but it's really starting to catch on in dairy and beef as well.

Try applying to feed lots as a ranch hand. Sure it's just typical feeding and stuff, but you're in the field with the animals. Most companies will look positively at someone who is BQA certified because welfare & behavior is becoming so prominent.

Edit: Also, you could pursue a Master's in Animal Welfare. It would most likely be a 2+ year, thesis program so you'd have to commit. Probably technically a Physiology MS with Welfare focus (what I'm doing) or something similar.

 

[battie]

Have any of y'all put your hands on shadowing experience on your resume? And if you have how did you go about it?

Also I could use some ideas of what careers I should go into. I got a degree in Animal Science-Science. I would love to do something with sheep and goats or even cattle. But I would prefer a job where I could have some sort of interaction with animals (so I really don't want to do meat inspection). Also I think a job that deals with animal welfare would be great but I don't know how to go about that :/

So what are/or were you back up careers if you didn't get into vet school?

I don't want to really limit myself too much but I would like to stay in Texas since my family is here and plus last spring I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and I love my oncologist! lol Well I actually have two but both of them are awesome so I don't want to lose them!

1) I put my shadowing experiences on my resume. If you're looking for work at other clinics, it will show that you have experience in the field and may give you a leg up, but it depends on each clinic.

2) I was going to suggest you could work with your state on animal inspections in general. I know here in Colorado, the state is divided up into four quadrants, each of which is handled by one "state inspector" that inspects everyone from ranchers to breeders. But there is not a lot of hands on with animals in that part of the job. It is mostly going to sites for their yearly inspections or if they have a complaint against them and making sure that the regulations for the state are being upheld in those areas. However, I am also going to caution you on who you chose to work with. I would not recommend working for groups such as PETA, the HSUS, etc. Animal welfare is secondary to their main goals and if you chose to reapply to vet school, it may put you in some tight spots on the discussion of "animal rights vs animal welfare". I don't know what your personal opinions or experiences are, but if you do a general "animal rights vs animal welfare" search on this forum, the general consensus is that animal rights groups are not well liked (for some legitimate and non-legitimate reasons, though my personal opinion leans more towards the former). But definitely look into some government jobs. It doesn't hurt.

3) My back up plans are either zookeeper (thanks in part of talking with @pinkpuppy9) or high school biology teacher.