Vet Shadowing Experience on Vet Assistant Resume?

[pomeranian]

I am applying for a vet assistant position this week, and I'd prefer to keep my resume to a 1 page max. I've written a draft of my resume, and I have a lot of animal experience I'm listing on there, so I don't have leftover room to include my shadowing experience at vet clinics.

I'm wondering if I should take out some of my animal experience listed to include some of my shadowing experience?
I'm not sure if my animal experience or shadowing experience would be seen as more valuable - my animal experience includes the following (sorry it's long!): volunteering at a spay and neuter clinic (discharging patients, monitoring recovery, administering post-surgery pain relievers, monitoring patient recovery, autoclaving surgical instruments, laundry, etc.), cat rescue home (socializing feral cats in preparation for adoption as well as feeding/cleaning/administering meds/fecal sampling/temping/weighing), animal shelter (walking dogs), horse ranch (feeding/grooming/developing communication skills with horses), CA Science Center (reptiles/amphibians/arthropod husbandry), and various research labs (globin removal and cDNA library prep on marmot RNA samples, RNA and DNA extractions from dolphin skin/blubber samples, literature reviews on otter and dolphin research as well as rat/mice bone graft model research, crocodile intestine and rattlesnake dissections, post-op and orthropedic surgery prep for rats/mice)

My shadowing experience includes shadowing at a small animal/exotics private practice, spay/neuter clinic, a mobile clinic, an exotics vet at the CA Science Center, an animal dermatology clinic, and a VCA vet surgeon - none of them have a significant amount of hours, like less than 100 each.

My question of whether or not to include shadowing experience mainly stems from the fact that it's not really any hands-on work; it's just mere observation and asking the vets questions, so I don't have much to write as a description in my resume - which brings me to another question - if I were to include shadowing in a resume, how would I phrase it? Since it is still in a clinical setting, I could also see it as being more valued by an employer at a vet clinic reviewing my app than my non-clinical animal experience, which is why I'm confused.

Also, is it necessary to include an "objective" statement at the top of my resume? I have one in my draft but I'm wondering if I should take it out to make more room...

Sorry for the long post, but I would really appreciate any feedback! Thanks 🙂!

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[allygator13]

Just my two cents, but I don't have an objective statement at the beginning of my resume, and I've gotten tons of interviews and a great job with mine. About the animal/shadowing experience, I would say to include what you think is the most applicable to the position you are applying for. I also think I'd go with your gut and say the include the most hands-on stuff rather than merely observational unless there was something specific that happened during shadowing that you feel would help you land this job.

 

[WillowLeaf]

I had a very short section called "Additional Experience" or something, and listed "volunteered at ___ hospital for ___ hours. Observed at ___ hospital for ___ hours." in a bulleted, two-column format. Along with a couple other things like shorter volunteer jobs. My previous employment and a couple more long-term, big-commitment volunteer things were listed in the regular "Experience" section and got a short description.

Since you have quite a few shadowing experiences, it might be shorter to list "Shadowed at ___, ___, ___... and __ for a total of __ hours." There's no need for a description of shadowing, IMO, but it could be worth it to have a short mention like that to show that you're familiar with what a vet clinic is like.

Not sure about the objective statement. Are you including a cover letter as well? If so, an objective statement might not be necessary because your cover letter could state that you're pre-vet (some clinics see that as a really good thing) and want to work in the vet field.

 

[EngrSC]

I've always included a cover letter and didn't feel the need to list an objective on the resume. And I agree with allygator13's advice - include what's applicable to the position you're applying for.

I've seen some resumes that have come through the vet hospital where I work and I think having a well-written cover letter sets an applicant apart. But definitely have someone proofread it and don't make it too long or too detailed 😉

 

[WillowLeaf]

This probably doesn't apply to you, pomeranian, but in case anyone reads this thread who has no paid vet experience but quite a bit of volunteer/shadowing/other experience... Look into the different types of resumes. Functional resumes (or some mix of a chronological and functional resume) can look a lot better if you don't have a long employment history section.

 

[Minnerbelle]

You can also really shorten descriptions of jobs/volunteer things, esp if they aren't relevant. Your research thing can be something like "performed molecular biology assays, literature reviews, reptile dissections, and care of rodents undergoing surgery." And a lot of your animal experiences can be shortened to "performed animal husbandry duties and administered medications" or something like that. Only expand and enhance things that you want to stand out that is relevant to the position. If while shadowing you learned to restrain animals, autoclave things, etc... Put it on there. If not, just a shadowed x number of hours from y to z date will suffice.

 

[Minnerbelle]

And I agree about having a good cover letter that shows great enthusiasm and attitude. It goes a long long way

 

[dovelover]

This probably doesn't apply to you, pomeranian, but in case anyone reads this thread who has no paid vet experience but quite a bit of volunteer/shadowing/other experience... Look into the different types of resumes. Functional resumes (or some mix of a chronological and functional resume) can look a lot better if you don't have a long employment history section.

My pre-vet school resume was set up with sections for eduction, animal experience, employment experience (I'd never had any paid animal jobs at the time), and other volunteer experience. It allowed me to highlight my animal experiences a bit better.

I had a very short section called "Additional Experience" or something, and listed "volunteered at ___ hospital for ___ hours. Observed at ___ hospital for ___ hours." in a bulleted, two-column format. Along with a couple other things like shorter volunteer jobs. My previous employment and a couple more long-term, big-commitment volunteer things were listed in the regular "Experience" section and got a short description.

I think this is a good approach, particularly when you have something that doesn't really need an explanation (it's obvious what it is, and you haven't done anything particularly noteworthy, ie shadowing). Pick and choose which experiences you want to highlight for this particular job and describe them in a bit more detail. The rest you can probably just list. The research stuff is probably something you don't need to go into in as much depth for this job, since they're going to be more interested in your husbandry, animal handling, and communication/general work skills. While it's significant that you have this experience, they're not going to care at the resume stage what specific biological assays you did and the fact that you did them on marmots and dolphin blubber, or that you did some literature reviews (I'd mention the surgery prep though). Shadowing experience is relevant to the job your applying for since it likely gave you a feel for how a vet clinic runs, but it's also somewhat self explanatory unless there are specific skills you learned while shadowing. If there are any (like someone mentioned learning how to run an autoclave, etc.), make sure you mention them.