Course or volunteering abroad??

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Lindsay B — Sat, 21 May 2011 14:00:35 GMT

[quote user="Lindsay B"][quote user="Sal the 1st"]

Please say I have read that wrong and you havnt given up a job without something else gauranteed to go to?

[/quote] I have got temping work I can do so it's fine. I couldn't stay where I was any longer it was awful.

[/quote] Hi Sorry, also I couldn't dedicate any time to getting much work experience so wasn't getting any closer to my goals. I haven't really just thrown myself into unemployment, I know that would be stupid!! - I am in contact with various temping agencies and will be working - just part-time rather than full! Lindsay

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Lindsay B — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:43:16 GMT

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]

Please say I have read that wrong and you havnt given up a job without something else gauranteed to go to?

[/quote] I have got temping work I can do so it's fine. I couldn't stay where I was any longer it was awful.

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Sal the 1st — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:26:44 GMT

Please say I have read that wrong and you havnt given up a job without something else gauranteed to go to?

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Lindsay B — Sat, 21 May 2011 12:41:15 GMT

[quote user="Laura Palmer"]

I would strongly advise doing your a levels so you have a wide variety of qualificatins and options for the future if you get sick of veterinary nursing (average life of a vet nurse is 11 years). That way you have the option to go onto other degree routes, or if you do the nursing degree you can go into teaching/drug repping/research etc. That way in your holidays you can do some volunteering abroad which will be fun and productive.

The animal care diplomas are great but you are putting all your eggs in one basket. Something I really regret now!

[/quote] Hi Laura Thanks for your response! Sorry I wasn't very clear in my thread - I mean a 'level one' course rather than A level. I have current got A levels and a degree (albeit in English and Cultural Studies) ... but I thought that even though I have the qualifications to do the VN diploma - some relevant qualifications could look good on my CV. I've now made the scary jump of quitting my job to try and get more time to gain experience within vets or try and gain employment in one as a receptionist or assistant so am trying to make my cv look as good as possible. Thanks for your comment though - good to know that having my degree will still be useful to me in the future should I change my mind! Lindsay

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Anonymous — Sat, 21 May 2011 11:10:19 GMT

The animal care diplomas are great but you are putting all your eggs in one basket. Something I really regret now!

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Lindsay B — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:47:46 GMT

Yeah I've heard about people checking Facebook - mine is set to private and you can't even see me in my profile photo, just a silhouette. Yeah my boyfriend suggested a photo but I didn't think that was the way to go either! Cheers for the advice :)

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 18 May 2011 16:23:09 GMT

I'll happily look at a CV.....I may not feel the same as all employers but can give you my opinion. I'll warn you though - I don't like long CVs (max 2 sides A4) so can be a bit brutal with the editing if there is a lot of waffle.....lol!

Send it to

gillian@gillianmostyn.co.uk

A design is fine and can look good - just don't go over the top.

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Fuzzyduck — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:19:37 GMT

I think the facebook thing depends on your privicy settings, nobody other than my friends can see anything about me on facebook so potential employers cant do any snooping.

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Katie Mansfield — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:18:27 GMT

From my friend who works for JJBs - don't put your photo on your CV and don't post any pics of you drunk on Facebook - they check!!!!!

K x

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Lindsay B — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:14:39 GMT

Thanks, that was really helpful! It's great to hear from somebody who knows what they are looking for in CVs. No problem if you don't have any time - but I was wondering if you might let me have your opinion on my CV? If not then perhaps you could let me know one thing - if I were to make my CV stand out with a good design as well as content would that look over the top? I was thinking of making it look a little bit more interesting than the average plain CV. Thanks so much again for your advice. Lindsay

Re: Course or volunteering abroad??

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:27:48 GMT

Taken in isolation, it is too difficult to say really.

All I can give you an idea of is what I look for on a CV:

- employment history. Even if you have only worked weekends in a newsagents or mornings as a cleaner. Volunteering is all well and necessary but gives no idea of reliability, responsibility etc like employment does. I like to see that someone is able to hold down a job for a decent length of time. It also allows you to contact an employer for references.

- realism about the job. Saying 'I love animals' and 'I have 2 dogs, 4 cats, 5 rabbits and 23 guinea-pigs' does not show that you understand the veterinary profession. You don't have to own a BMW to repair them. Don't just volunteer - get involved in asking pertinent questions and write something relevant in your CV, not just bland phrases about loving all animals.

- qualifications - obviously this is relevant as far as going ahead onto the VN training but as long as you have the minimum requirements, any more is unceccessary. It is important to show you have the capacity to learn, it doesn't really matter what you studied. If you already have a good level of qualifications then more aren't needed. If you don't have any qualifications yet then I would recommend doing the animal care course.

- volunteering is always good experience but obviously is more fun than further qualifications or employment (even if it is a 'hard' job while you're there, you're still in control) Make sure your CV doesn't give the impression of flitting around doing the fun stuff without enough of the hard graft to even it out........

Hope this helps....sorry if it doesn't! I see at least one CV per week (and at some times of year per day) so yours does have to stand out!

Good luck