Where do I go from here?

[Two]

Hi everyone!
I'm fairly new to this site & I need help figuring out what I should do now in regards to shadowing or volunteering. I live in a very populated area & have already gone to about 20 different veterinary practices & asked to shadow there. I dressed professionally, had a cover letter, had a resume, and was very polite. I had one perfect offer for shadowing, but I was dropped because their clinic ended up not having the insurance to cover people who are not on their payroll. What should I do now? I'm running out of options. I have gone to 6 different towns/cities & have not been able to find anything. Am I doing something wrong? Should I just keep going until I find something, no matter how far away it is? Or should I just give up & start looking through the limited opportunities for volunteering in my area? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[mystic88]

Hey there! I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble landing a volunteering gig. I have had 3 people approach me wondering if they can volunteer at the clinic I shadowed at for the last 3 years, but as you have seen, its pretty hard to find a place that has enough room for volunteers. If you have advisors in your school I would ask them if they can refer you to a clinic, or ask your family to give you the contact information for their vets. Meanwhile, try volunteering at a humane society. You might become a more interesting candidate after having some more experience with animals! Best of luck to you!!!!!

 

[variegata]

Can you shadow as an observer only? When I shadowed, I wasn't allowed to touch any animals, but it was still great experience. I got to ask questions, watch procedures and I learned a lot. As I got more comfortable there, I cleaned stuff, got things for people when they needed them, folded laundry - basically did all I could to keep busy and keep learning. Once they knew me (and knew I wasn't going to do anything stupid), I was allowed to fly under the radar and do a bit more, too. I'd say go back to the place that was so promising and ask if you can go in for a few hours, observation-only. It'll be a good start.

 

[Two]

Mystic- I have already gone to my family's vets & I have not heard back from their offices. Also, I cannot volunteer with the Humane Society. I have no idea if this is just my HS, but they require you to work everyday for a 3-4 hour shift. I don't have that kind of time. I go to school & have a very demanding job.

Variegata- At this place I went to, I'm not even allowed to observe. Their policy says that no one can shadow, observe or volunteer. To be in the actual clinic, you have to be on the payroll, or you become a liability issue. They also had to get rid of their kennel volunteers since they weren't aware of this clause. I even bought the scrubs for them & everything >.<

 

[Trilt]

Harass. (nicely)

The final count on the amount of times I called my current clinic (and was told I'd be called back shortly) is hovering in the low teens. It was a month and a bit ordeal where they got a call back on every third business day. But I did finally start volunteering - so I would try some of the other clinics your handed resumes in. Call and be super-polite and say, "Hi, I'm *Trilt* and I recently turned in a resume and application for volunteering/shadowing/observing. I was just curious if there was any news on my application?"

If you live near your state's vet school, I've had amazing success just flat emailing a doctor in a department you're interested in and asking to shadow for a day or two. I saw some awesome cases in orthopedics yesterday. That isn't long-term or going to get you thousands of hours, but you can at least say you have rudimentary knowledge of a clinical setting. If you don't live near the school, just start nicely harassing any clinic that you know accepts volunteers.

 

[VeganSoprano]

How about applying for a part-time job? That will get you on the payroll for sure!

 

[crittergal]

I'd recc the same as Vegan. Try for an entry level job. Explain the situation to them openly (i.e. need shadow exp for vet school apps but no luck due to liability, blah blah) and offer to take the crummiest, lowest-man-on-the-totem-pole job they have to prove yourself. Offer to work for minimum wage cleaning cages, stalls, etc. Yeah, you'll end up doing some less than glamorous work, but you'll get the hours and experience for your app. Most clinics will take notice when you put yourself out there like that and move you up. It will give you a well rounded perspective too.

 

[der2002]

Two, you mentioned that weren't allowed to volunteer at your local humane society. What about other area animal shelters? The city animal shelters can usually use all the help they can get! You might have to attend some type of volunteer orientation, but it shouldn't be more than a few hours over the course of a weekend...

Also, where in FL are you located? Perhaps there are other FL SDNers who can make other suggestions?

good luck!

 

[Two]

Vegan/Critter- That's a great idea. Working at a vet's office would be way better than my current job. I work at an elementary school in their aftercare program. Being around animals all day is more fun than being with children all day.

der- I'm not aware of other animal shelters in my area. I live in the suburbs in South Florida, so there are not any city shelters nearby.

Floridians! Do you have any ideas!?

 

[gilch]

Maybe this is a silly suggestion and I'd guess that if it was plausible the "perfect clinic" would have suggested this: but is it possible for you to work on the payroll an absolute minimum of hours (I'm guessing they are not looking for more paid help?), like 1 hour or so a week or per 2 weeks? That is, you'd be on the payroll and official, but would be able to observe at other times. Like I said, I have no idea if this is doable or not, but it might be an idea. Good luck !

 

[der2002]

Being around animals all day is more fun than being with children all day.

haha, couldn't agree more!

as an aside, I would urge you to consider driving at least 30 minutes to a volunteer/animal work gig (see lots of other threads along this theme).

also, south florida has tons of other animal related opportunities: wildlife/turtles/horses etc. Can you find something in another field of interest?

 

[thedogisgreen]

have you tried asking if you can provide proof of your own insurance and assume liability yourself, sign some sort of form saying that they are not responsible for you?

 

[rileydog]

der- I'm not aware of other animal shelters in my area. I live in the suburbs in South Florida, so there are not any city shelters nearby.


I'm in sofla as well. it took me six months to find a volunteering experience with a vet (and I had a bs degree). Don't give up. I was only looking for vet ex, as I had a lot of "animal" ex. I would suggest the many private rescue groups for animal experience. Some also have a staff vet that you could maybe observe. I'm in south broward as sofla is a big place. pm if you are close to me, as I might have some more specific ideas.

 

[caligirl03]

does anyone have any ideas for around the area of modesto,stockton area in california because I have been looking for volunteer jobs around my area and I live about 30mins from modesto and i can't seem to find anything because of insurance policies its been really hard to find even one day of shadowing let alone all summer.

 

[der2002]

caligirl, have you tried to contact profs/vets through davis? Perhaps they know of colleagues closer to you?

this place is a bit of a drive from you, i'm sure, but it sounds hella cool:
http://www.devilsgulchranch.com/

 

[teatime]

caligirl, have you tried to contact profs/vets through davis? Perhaps they know of colleagues closer to you?

this place is a bit of a drive from you, i'm sure, but it sounds hella cool:
http://www.devilsgulchranch.com/

*Shudder*....

 

[der2002]

teatime: are you objecting to my use of northern california slang? I thought my affectionate nod to nocal colloquial culture (especially since I'm from socal myself) was quite charming actually.

 

[teatime]

hahaha... yes I am!

I'm from so-cal too, been living up in the bay for 3 years and still can't stand the use of the word...It just....bothers me.

 

[CorporateFatCat]

*Shudder*....

NORCAL!!!!! Hella represent. For the asker, I would also recommend trying to get a part-time position to establish yourself. Who knows where it will take you?