Relocating, and finding work.

[MommaFox]

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SO and I have made a commitment to move to Gainesville at the end of this year. He will be attending Santa Fe, and I am transferring to UF.

We live in our own place together right now and have been for a year now. I guess what I am trying to ask is how do you just up and move across a state? I know alot of you have moved even further but I have never ever lived out of my city before. We plan on having our dogs stay with my parents for a few days while we move everything.

Another nagging question is how I will find work. Gainseville is a college town and everyone wants to work in vet clinics, so I do not foresee that happening for me. SO is an ASE certified car mechanic so I'm fairly certain he will be able to find work. Advice? If I work in something un-veterinary related while completing undergrad will it look bad?

And at last....where to live? SO and I were planning on taking a trip up there for a day or two once it gets closer to that time to scout out places. The thought of arranging a living situation while I am halfway across a state is daunting.

And advice is appreciated. 😳

 

[EngrSC]

Another nagging question is how I will find work. Gainseville is a college town and everyone wants to work in vet clinics, so I do not foresee that happening for me. SO is an ASE certified car mechanic so I'm fairly certain he will be able to find work. Advice? If I work in something un-veterinary related while completing undergrad will it look bad?

I've never moved out of my city before either (except when I was in 8th grade and we moved about 2 hours away but that was with my family). The hospital I work at has been trying to hire 1-2 people for the last couple months and 90% of the resumes are crap. We get so many people looking to work with us that have 0 animal or veterinary experience except for their own pets. I'm assuming you have a little experience since you're pre-vet so play that up on your resume 👍

 

[cowgirla]

SO and I have made a commitment to move to Gainesville at the end of this year. He will be attending Santa Fe, and I am transferring to UF.

We live in our own place together right now and have been for a year now. I guess what I am trying to ask is how do you just up and move across a state? I know alot of you have moved even further but I have never ever lived out of my city before. We plan on having our dogs stay with my parents for a few days while we move everything.

Another nagging question is how I will find work. Gainseville is a college town and everyone wants to work in vet clinics, so I do not foresee that happening for me. SO is an ASE certified car mechanic so I'm fairly certain he will be able to find work. Advice? If I work in something un-veterinary related while completing undergrad will it look bad?

And at last....where to live? SO and I were planning on taking a trip up there for a day or two once it gets closer to that time to scout out places. The thought of arranging a living situation while I am halfway across a state is daunting.

And advice is appreciated. 😳

Take it one step at a time 🙂

I flew to OK for a weekend and looked at dozens of houses/apartments, and found my house on the second day. I've been here 3 years so it's worked out pretty well. I told the landlord I wanted it, flew home, and we signed all the docs via fax/snail mail, and she mailed me a key.
Start by scouring all the ads in the area and set up appointments. Then plan on spending a bit of time driving around looking for signs out front once you get there, and those to the list. In a college town, a lot of places are looking now for tenants to rent starting in July/Aug, so bear that in mind.

There are tons of moving checklists on the net to help you remember all the nitty gritty little details- changing addresses, turning on utilities, blah blah blah.

As soon as you know your move-in date, start sending out your resumes. Follow up by phone or in person once you are in the area. And if you have to work something non-vet for a while, I doubt anyone will have a problem with that. You can always start with a few hours a week at a shelter to keep those hours up while the vet job hunt continues.

 

[MommaFox]

I've never moved out of my city before either (except when I was in 8th grade and we moved about 2 hours away but that was with my family). The hospital I work at has been trying to hire 1-2 people for the last couple months and 90% of the resumes are crap. We get so many people looking to work with us that have 0 animal or veterinary experience except for their own pets. I'm assuming you have a little experience since you're pre-vet so play that up on your resume 👍

Yes I have 1 year exp in private practice and 1 year exp in shelter med. I really hope that this is the case in Gville.

 

[felinelvr44]

I've worked in a non-vet med job 5 days a week and do 1 day a week at a SA clinic. They still let me into vet school 😀

I have no real advice for you but as someone going through a similar impending move (with a husband who will be looking for work as well), I agree that it is scary! The living situation thing freaked me out a lot so we decided to drive up there for a day to look at places. This was in March for apartments available in August. I definitely jumped the gun on that, we could have taken our time looking for a place but I wanted the stress off my shoulders. I'm not used to renting in a college town so I was really surprised that people were posting apartments that would be available in the summer... We saw 5 places in one day and put a deposit down for the last one. I feel *so* much better at least knowing where we'll be living.

 

[kakurubird]

craigslist can be your friend. seriously.

i assume you're looking to rent? especially in a college town, landlords should be used to dealing with potential renters coming from out of town and okay dealing with you via phone/email/fax/snail mail. definitely set up a weekend to go visit and actually see places in person though if you have the time. i know people who have gotten places blindly online and have it work out, but it's always nicer to be able to see it in person.

 

[MommaFox]

craigslist can be your friend. seriously.

i assume you're looking to rent? especially in a college town, landlords should be used to dealing with potential renters coming from out of town and okay dealing with you via phone/email/fax/snail mail. definitely set up a weekend to go visit and actually see places in person though if you have the time. i know people who have gotten places blindly online and have it work out, but it's always nicer to be able to see it in person.

Yeah I have been craigslist lurking at houses for rent. SO and I will live in a shack if it means that the dogs will have a back yard.We have some friends who live up there so we were going to set up a weekend trip to see whats what.

Anyone have a suggestion of when I should go up there and seriously start hunting for places? I am a planner so as early as possible but I dont want landlords to be frustrated with me since I will be moving between fall and spring semester.

 

[pandaclaus]

The first time I moved, I moved into an apartment complex. Since then, I've used Craigslist to find my places and it has been absolutely great. I definitely recommend the weekend adventure to scope out new places. I spent spring break my senior year of undergrad looking at apartments in my new city.

If you happen to have $$ to spare, talking to a realtor could also be helpful. They're good about finding available places in an area you like or giving you listings for appropriate places based on your requirements (close to campus, in a safe neighborhood, has parking, is close to fun things to do, etc). The realtor fee is often one month's rent and sometimes the landlord covers this or covers half of it.

I also started working part time in a clinic about a year before applying to vet school and previously worked in something completely unrelated. As long as you show your passion for veterinary medicine and that you continue to put time towards furthering your veterinary experience (shadowing, volunteering, etc), you should be fine.

 

[Emiloo4]

Don't NOT apply to vet places in Gainesville just because everyone tries to work there. There are places opening up spots because people are leaving for vet school soon, the UF small animal hospital hires, there are TONS of practices. You can find a place if you're persistent. There are also tons of car repair places. As far as moving, just drive the two hours one weekend and check some places out. There are TONS of housing options. Are you looking to buy or rent?
Gainesville-rent.com is how I found my apartment from NY. You just gotta get down to doin it 😉.
I packed up my three animals and all my stuff and just did it. It's a 2 hour move, it's not as bad as you think. 🙂

 

[MommaFox]

I was waiting for your input Emiloo! Lol.

We want to rent a house. I've done apartment living before and I just don't want to again. Our dogs need a yard. Ill deff check out that site.

I suppose I will just turn my resume in to everyone once I get there, or maybe even a week or so before the move. You're right, its worth a shot.

I know its just a 3ish hour away move but I am still so overwhelmed! Ah! When do you think I should seriously start looking at places if I'm moving at the end of the year?

 

[CanHardlyWait]

I've moved across the country a couple of times, for no real reason except fun, to cities that I had never even visited before moving there. We just moved a couple of states away, this time for vet school. A couple of tips learned over the years, some the hard way.

If you are looking for housing someone you've never been, or are unfamiliar with:
Avoid renting in the city that you're moving to + a directional term. Example: Charleston, SC is beautiful, a great place to live. North Charleston, SC is a crime ridden **** hole. Same held true in Palms Springs, CA, it's lovely. North Palm Springs, horrible.
Go through a rental company or realtor. That way you can verify their existence before you send them money and feel confident that the property actually exists.

Be prepared to pay extra expenses for utilities, some companies have weird policies. Like where I live now is unincorporated county, so for water everyone without a local utility account history has to pay a couple hundred bucks in cash, in person before they can get their H2O turned on.

When looking for work: Hit the pavement. Take your resume and dress up and go to places everyday. My husband and I have never wanted for work, we always had jobs within a week of moving to a place. Even with the last move to Blacksburg, my husband, a carpenter (so not the best economy/profession to find work in these days) had a job in less than a week.

Label your boxes well. That way when you have driven for days and finally made it to your new place, unloaded your bed and TV, you can also find your shower curtain, coffee maker, mugs, whatever it is that you can't live without. When you move across town it is much easier to remember what you put where in the truck. This is less true for long distances.

Enjoy the trip! Stop at funny road side attractions, or navigate using the Cracker Barrel Map of the US. Road trips are awesome-especially ones that land you in a brand new life!!!
Good luck and have a great time😀

 

[WelshCob]

If you are willing to work nights, weekends and holidays the emergency clinic is fabulous but be prepared to work your butt off. You will learn a whole lot about vet med, client relations and everything you could want from this place.

 

[dyachei]

Before you move we should meet for lunch or something. Also, if you're ok with corporate med, I think they are hiring there.

 

[Emiloo4]

I was waiting for your input Emiloo! Lol.

We want to rent a house. I've done apartment living before and I just don't want to again. Our dogs need a yard. Ill deff check out that site.

I suppose I will just turn my resume in to everyone once I get there, or maybe even a week or so before the move. You're right, its worth a shot.

I know its just a 3ish hour away move but I am still so overwhelmed! Ah! When do you think I should seriously start looking at places if I'm moving at the end of the year?

You can start looking whenever, but keep in mind if you find a place you really like, it may not be available by the time you need it. For now, I would start looking at the AREAS you want to live in, rather than specific places since it may be a little far away for that (especially when it comes to houses). The North side has a lot of undergrad students (not a bad thing, just throwing that out there). It also depends on how far away from things/ close to things you want to be. If you want to be near Sante Fe, you can look more toward that area, etc.
And moving doesn't take skill... just put your stuff in well labeled boxes, stick them in the back of your truck or Uhaul, and drive. 🙂
Packing and unpacking are the annoying parts, the rest isn't so bad. Think of it as a fun adventure for the two of you. 😀
I wouldn't say it's too early to start checking things out online at least, but unfortunately what you see available now, may be taken come the end of the year. Also check out Gville craigslist. Although it CAN be sketchy, lots and lots of friends and classmates have been very successful at finding things on there. Especially houses! I actually found my roommate on craigslist. We always tell people "we met online" 😉

 

[Emiloo4]

If you are looking for housing someone you've never been, or are unfamiliar with:
Avoid renting in the city that you're moving to + a directional term. Example: Charleston, SC is beautiful, a great place to live. North Charleston, SC is a crime ridden **** hole. Same held true in Palms Springs, CA, it's lovely. North Palm Springs, horrible.
Go through a rental company or realtor. That way you can verify their existence before you send them money and feel confident that the property actually exists.

While this is usually the case and great advice, Gainesville doesn't really follow this.The Southeast side has been known to have a little bit of crime in certain neighborhoods, but for the most part, it's not a big enough city such as the places you listed, to have the outskirt crime areas. Welsh has lived here longer than me, so she may be able to attest to that a little more, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you have a question about a specific area, feel free to ask one of us and we can tell you more.

 

[felinelvr44]

As for moving/packing... last time I moved I color coded my boxes with cheap electrical tape. Boxes that should end up in the bedroom got a stripe of blue, boxes that should end up in the kitchen got a stripe of yellow, living room was red, office was green, etc. For some reason it made it much easier than writing the actual words on each box 🙂

 

[MommaFox]

Before you move we should meet for lunch or something. Also, if you're ok with corporate med, I think they are hiring there.

Deff!

 

[MommaFox]

While this is usually the case and great advice, Gainesville doesn't really follow this.The Southeast side has been known to have a little bit of crime in certain neighborhoods, but for the most part, it's not a big enough city such as the places you listed, to have the outskirt crime areas. Welsh has lived here longer than me, so she may be able to attest to that a little more, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you have a question about a specific area, feel free to ask one of us and we can tell you more.

I'm looking at northwest gainesville. Somewhere between UF and Santa Fe.

 

[WelshCob]

Yeah there's are some places that you really shouldn't live in Gainesville, that is mainly the east side of town. I lived there for two years and got my scooter stolen and has a drug raid as well as a double murder suicide like two blocks from me. Needless to say I moved. The far west side is super nice and very pricy with places like Haile Plantation. The SW portion is is where the university is and the NW portion houses Santa Fe and the general population of Gainesville. The historic duck pound neighborhood is just over the boarder of east and west and is a generally nice area with converted historic house that are now small apartments.

 

[MommaFox]

Yeah there's are some places that you really shouldn't live in Gainesville, that is mainly the east side of town. I lived there for two years and got my scooter stolen and has a drug raid as well as a double murder suicide like two blocks from me. Needless to say I moved. The far west side is super nice and very pricy with places like Haile Plantation. The SW portion is is where the university is and the NW portion houses Santa Fe and the general population of Gainesville. The historic duck pound neighborhood is just over the boarder of east and west and is a generally nice area with converted historic house that are now small apartments.

Trying to stay away from crazy pricey but also dont wanna live in the ghetto. Lol. I have noticed quite a few trailers for rent that are sitting on a few acres. IDK about living in a double wide but the land sounds nice.

 

[WelshCob]

There are quite a few outskirt towns that are a quick drive into town on main roads if you are looking for a house with a yard and some privacy. Newberry is beautiful as is Archer both are older towns west of gville, Alachua is to the north and Micanopy to the south. My horse is in Micanopy the drive is rather short. Id look around but im going to give you advice I give everyone avoid the big huge apartment complexes.

 

[MommaFox]

There are quite a few outskirt towns that are a quick drive into town on main roads if you are looking for a house with a yard and some privacy. Newberry is beautiful as is Archer both are older towns west of gville, Alachua is to the north and Micanopy to the south. My horse is in Micanopy the drive is rather short. Id look around but im going to give you advice I give everyone avoid the big huge apartment complexes.

Advice double noted. I lived in apt for 3 years before the place I'm at now. Was AWFUL. I couldn't do it again.

 

[485501]

My moving advice: Once you know where you're living, look up where the nearest grocery store, restaurant you know you'll like eating at (a chain or somewhere you ate while househunting), drugstore, and 24-hour pharmacy are. Write down their addresses (and phone number for the pharmacy) and hours on a piece of paper, and then keep that paper WITH YOU and NOT in a box while you drive there. Seriously. It really sucks to be moving in, slip and fall/drop something on yourself/walk into a doorframe really hard, realize all the big band-aids and ibuprofen are in a box that's still under a bunch of boxes in the truck, and have to wonder where the nearest drugstore is and how to get there and are they open right now? Ditto with "OMG we are so hungry and sick of eating energy bars if we don't get to a restaurant right now we are going to start fighting/crying/throwing things."

I've moved a bunch of times, and I gotta say, doing this has only come in handy a few times but those times it was a HUGE relief.

Also: it doesn't matter how much/little stuff you have, packing and unpacking take twice as long as you think. At least.

 

[kakurubird]

My moving advice: Once you know where you're living, look up where the nearest grocery store, restaurant you know you'll like eating at (a chain or somewhere you ate while househunting), drugstore, and 24-hour pharmacy are. Write down their addresses (and phone number for the pharmacy) and hours on a piece of paper, and then keep that paper WITH YOU and NOT in a box while you drive there. Seriously. It really sucks to be moving in, slip and fall/drop something on yourself/walk into a doorframe really hard, realize all the big band-aids and ibuprofen are in a box that's still under a bunch of boxes in the truck, and have to wonder where the nearest drugstore is and how to get there and are they open right now? Ditto with "OMG we are so hungry and sick of eating energy bars if we don't get to a restaurant right now we are going to start fighting/crying/throwing things."

or at least a smart phone AND THE CHARGER.

seriously. don't be dumb and pack your charger in the bottom of a bag that ends up somehow under like five others and then realize it when you get there and your cell phone is dead. not that I would know anything about that experience...

 

[485501]

or at least a smart phone AND THE CHARGER.

seriously. don't be dumb and pack your charger in the bottom of a bag that ends up somehow under like five others and then realize it when you get there and your cell phone is dead. not that I would know anything about that experience...

Yeah, neither do I...at all.... Nor should one remember the laptop and its charger but neither a wireless router nor ethernet cables...Not that I would know anything about that either....

 

[dvmdreamer]

We get so many people looking to work with us that have 0 animal or veterinary experience except for their own pets. I'm assuming you have a little experience since you're pre-vet so play that up on your resume 👍

Does anyone have advice on how to play up shadowing experience without making it obvious that you will be a short-term hire?

 

[WelshCob]

Does anyone have advice on how to play up shadowing experience without making it obvious that you will be a short-term hire?

It depends on how short term your short term is. Given the high turn over at vet clinics in cities with vet schools it becomes taxing to staff clinic and it does take a significant amount of time and money to train technicians. The clinic I work as is going through a severe staffing shortage. Given the nature of emergency medicine it's hard to train because most things that come through our doors require immediate attention. I don't have time to teach intubation on an agonal animal nor can I deal with your clumsy IVC placement technique. Currently they will be losing me, and two other full time technicians at the end of the summer that encompasses exactly 1/2 of our current fully trained senior staff. We're desperate and we are only looking to seriously hire full time, fully trained technicians. Nature of the beast.

 

[dvmdreamer]

Currently they will be losing me, and two other full time technicians at the end of the summer that encompasses exactly 1/2 of our current fully trained senior staff. We're desperate and we are only looking to seriously hire full time, fully trained technicians. Nature of the beast.

Yeah, I've been involved in staffing for previous jobs, and that's always an issue no matter what the job is. I would be looking for something from May until I (hopefully) got into vet school next year, so about 16 months max. However, I am waitlisted three places this year, so its possible it could only be until August (3 months). And if I don't get in next year, I would leave immediately upon finding out to find a research position (9 months). So I guess that's where I'm puzzled- how to find a decent paying job where I can get more veterinary hours. I have 300 hours of shadowing in which I did do intubations and ran fluids and assisted with radiographs and surgery that I think would set me apart from totaly newbies, but I'm not fully trained. And if I bring that up then I have to bring up why I was shadowing... which as the HR person, would flag me as a waste of time to invest training in.

That's why I was wondering if anyone had a successful approach to offer.

 

[WelshCob]

How I found a job after a significant amount of shadowing. I was always upfront about why i chose to shadow instead of holding down a job. I simply told them that I was in school and with my schedule it was very hard for me to commit to specific shifts and shadowing allowed me to have a flexible schedule to gain experience while I was attending school.

I've a very visual learner, I had some shadowing experience that let me be hands on but some that wanted me to just stand there and watch. I told my interviewers that I learned really well by watching and was ready to put what I learned shadowing to work and begin the hands on aspect of it. I had zero issues learning how to draw blood or run tests, or place catheters after I only watched a couple of times.

That is how I got my position.

Then next bit of advice would to go into it like you aren't going to leave, go in it like you plan to stay that 16 months. Things happen and lives change if you have to leave earlier then by all means do so, but you don't have to disclose that to your employers.

 

[kakurubird]

Then next bit of advice would to go into it like you aren't going to leave, go in it like you plan to stay that 16 months. Things happen and lives change if you have to leave earlier then by all means do so, but you don't have to disclose that to your employers.

👍 Say 16 months and be upfront about your plans. If you have doctors that are good, supportive people (hopefully!), they will be a great resource for you--let them know your plans so they can help. I've had some great conversations about school/post-school with some of our vets that definitely wouldn't have happened if they didn't know my plans. (It's also a lot of fun when they can get all excited with you.)
And if you leave earlier than expected, things happen, just be a good person about it and give an appropriate amount of notice.