Vet field resume help

[Brittney]

I am in desperate need of a job or volunteer work just to get out of the house. I go to school Monday-Thursday from 8am-1pm, so I have plenty of time. Does anyone know of any great volunteer opportunities out there? I tried the Arizona Humane Society, but they are currently only accepting volunteers for foster, which I can't do because of my dogs. I also need some more "work experience" to put in my resume.

Which now to my resume. Does anyone know how to really make a resume pop and stand out? I'm in the vet field and it's even hard to find a job in that area now. My work experience is slim and really only lists my paid internship and the work I did on my grandfather's farm. My education lists 3 schools one of which being my high school. A large chunk of my resume is just my skills and knowledge of the field.

Does anyone work/used to work in the vet field that can help me?

What do they look for?
How should you dress for an interview to a vet clinic?
Which of my skills obtained through school and on-site learning should I list in my resume? (Which are important, and which could they care less about)
What sort of things did they ask in your interview?

Anything else that would help me is much needed!

Thanks

 

[alli713]

I found this site that has volunteer opportunities, not sure how close it is to you though, but they do also list other rescues and things on the left side of the page, so perhaps you could check those links too
http://www.commonpaws.org/index.php/get-involved

Looks like there's also volunteer opportunities at the Phoenix Zoo
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/working/volunteer/become_a_volunteer.aspx

Hope that helps. I know for the work I did, which was zoo/aquarium what mattered most on the resume is your experience. So, if I were you, I'd try and get as much experience as you can, which volunteering is probably going to be your best bet right now.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Dress nicely...just like you would if you were applying at any business.

List all of your main skills or main duties at previous work places. For example: helped in surgery room, filed client folders, drew blood, sent out blood tests, took x-rays, filed x-ray log

We usually look for someone with a friendly face that is not afraid of animals. They also have to be dressed nicely and show confidence. We don't accept resumes from people that come in with friends or relatives because that doesn't show confidence. We also don't accept anything from anyone who has not dressed smartly (business casual).

 

[Stackie]

Ask around at vet clinics in your area to see if they could use any extra help. Every 2 weeks I go with a local large animal vet to a cattle farm and other farms to help perform check ups on the animals, deliver calves, etc. I also help a local vet with the spay/neuter clinic that he has every few months.

I'm pretty lucky to have him let me do this, they're very open to helping students gain experience and appreciate the extra help.

Next summer I'm applying for an internship at the Indianapolis Zoo..they're great if you want to gain some exotic experience.

 

[Spoof]

What do they look for?
The one I applied to was looking for what RDZC described.

How should you dress for an interview to a vet clinic?
Clean and business casual, though I wore newer looking jeans and a plain clean T-shirt. Good thing I did...
Which of my skills obtained through school and on-site learning should I list in my resume? (Which are important, and which could they care less about)
It's better to not list it if you don't remember it, at your age they're not expecting much and know that they have to train you. You don't want to show up and have them say "well, I see you know how to develop x-rays, why don't you demonstrate?" Yes, that happens.
What sort of things did they ask in your interview?
This is where a small clinic will differ from a large one. They didn't ask me much, they assigned me to a Dr. and I proceeded to help him give shots, do x-rays, mop, clean kennels develop the x-rays ... etc. All day. After an 8 hour day they called me back four days (and later I learned four applicants) later and hired me. I found out it was only due to the fact that I didn't talk as much as the others and because of that felt I was more interested and learned faster.

I had no previous animal experience on my resume, though I did grow up on a farm and assist with livestock, this was a small animal clinic. )

If you make a good first impression it almost doesn't matter what your resume says for an entry level position.