work experience with animals aged 16

Kate_fixing_it

Hi there,

Hopefully someone can offer some advice. My daughter is 16 (17 in October) and wants to study Veterinary Science at Uni. She has the predicted GCSE grades (she picks them up next week) and has already been accepted for 4 A-levels.

However, she is struggling to find any work experience either paid or unpaid. She calls and emails constantly but the general reply is "we don't take under 18s because of insurance". She's been turned down by all the local animal charities until she turns 18.

We live in the Midlands and I have no issue with driving her to wherever she wants to go.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Kate x

iclayt

Could she ask to simply shadow and observe, rather than have any practical experience? I remember getting the same response when I wanted to get animal care experience at her age. 15 years later I still regret not going through with it all, as I felt so dejected by it, so I hope she gets somewhere with it if it's what she really wants to do.

DomRavioli

She will struggle with getting a long term placement, as she is under 18 and insurance can be a nightmare for under 18s, so most places just rule them out straight away.

Could she ask the college, or a local university, for some guidance?

Caroline_a

I agree with the work shadowing idea. I think it's unlikely that she will be able to get any sort of paid work, although one of my daughters used to work in a stables as a weekend job and another in a boarding kennels. However that was a while ago and I knew both stables and kennel owners.

Maybe try one of the large PaH stores that have grooming and vets in residence?

Kate_fixing_it

Thanks to all of you for your helpful responses.

She wants to go to Bristol so I've just downloaded their entrance criteria.

Brilliant suggestion on observing, she's calling all the vets across the city right now to ask. Thank you so much. The constant rejections have really got her down (she's been trying for over a year - I wish I had her persistence!)

I'm now scouring university websites for ideas while she attacks every number in the yellow pages. She's already signed up for biology and chemistry but is going to speak to both teachers when she picks up her results next week.

One of the criteria is interpersonal skills so she's also looking for a retail job a one or two evenings a week to boost those skills. We've also discussed deferring for a year to get experience and some savings - as you can see from my signature I can't afford to support her financially especially as I have three other children so we've discussed this too. Her maturity and dedication astounds me (although I'm obviously a bit biased ).

I'm so grateful for your suggestions.

Kate x

emsywoo123

Although I wanted to go into Vet Nursing (well ok originally a vet but HELLO A level results :rotfl:) at 13 I got a work experience placement for 2 weeks at my local vet practice.

I begged to be allowed to continue work experience on a Saturday, which they allowed me to do until I was 16, then paid me to do it, then took me on as a VN at 17.

I do agree the best route would be to ask to go via a "Work Experience" route, in the Veterinary world, this is also known as "Seeing Practice"

It is essential she gets this practical experience, but do not limit it to Veterinary Practice. Alpaca Farms, Smallholdings and other farm settings are excellent places to see practice and demonstrate something a little different.

Very best of luck to her (and you!) and do keep us updated

bap98189

Vet school is so competitive to get into that qualifications alone won't get you in. They will also be looking for a good number of hours of experience of shadowing a vet, and also of working with different types of animals. But the if she has only just completed her GCSE's then the good news is she has plenty of time to worry about getting that experience.

My brother successfully applied to vet school, and aside from spending time with local vets, he also spent time on a cattle farm, a riding stables, a falconry centre and an abattoir. In the cases of the farms, it was only a week or two, but that is vital as they want to see that you are capable of working with different types (and sizes) of animals. There is no point getting to vet school and then finding out you are petrified of blood, or of handling horses or cattle.

Rather than ringing animal charities, ring round local vets, farms, anywhere like that. They will be used to people asking to volunteer as lots of students do this sort of thing each year. My brother says they tend to get loads of schoolkids looking for an easy way to spend their work experience week, so they tend to bin letters, but if you can ring up and talk to someone and convince them that she is serious about becoming a vet then she will be taken far more seriously and hopefully find someone willing to let her follow them around on a Saturday or something. The smaller practices will often be far more amenable to this sort of thing than the larger ones. I'm guessing you live in a city, it may be worth calling practices in more rural locations.

Unless she knows someone who can give her the first foot in the door, then it's going to be tough trying to find that first opportunity, but tell her to keep trying. People in the animal world know each other and know vets. If she gets a foot in the door somewhere, then it may well lead to other opportunities.

emsywoo123

bap98189 - cross posted but the same message indeed :-)

Kate_fixing_it

Thank you all so much for taking the time and effort to reply.

We're on the outskirts of a Midlands city but my parents live in a rural area not too far away so we have options.

She is waiting on a call back from a stable yard and a vet. I've also booked us on 4 different uni open days over the next 8 weeks as I really want it to feel "real" for her.

Some fantastic ideas and I'm really grateful. I don't want to appear as a pushy mum but she's talked about this since she was three and our dog was put down!

I will pass on all this information. She's still emailing every address she can find and tomorrow we're going to visit some vets to ask in person - we've agreed I will wait in the car as she'll look more serious if she doesn't have her mother "supervising".

We've also downloaded the work experience form that Glasgow uni require prior to interview so she has a very clear view of what is expected from her.

Thank you again so much for your help. You've helped us both enormously and it's fantastic to see her so enthusiastic again. We're under no illusion of how difficult (and expensive) this is going to be but your kind words today have helped a young lady move towards fighting for her dream.

Kate x

GwylimT

I know the dogs trust in loughborough offer work experience/volunteering to 16 year olds so other branches might as well.

lemontart

try local animal sanctuarys as I know some take work experience such as brook farm animal sanctuary in raunds, northants