Advice on how to find a job

Re: Advice on how to find a job

BengalcatRVN — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:32:31 GMT

When I was looking, I had to move in with an older family member when I finally got a job. I had to leave my 2 cats at my parents, but felt to do the job I wanted I had to make the sacrifice. I still can't drive, but my work was london based, with a ton of transport. Took a long time to get the job I wanted, had tons of experiance (which made one clinic invite me for an interview then turn me down at the start as they wanted a nvq 2-3 nurse but wanted to met me as I sounded interesting) working in kennels and for animal breeders/rescue places and vets. Even though a lot of my jobs weren't long term, it showed my dedication to animal care.

Re: Advice on how to find a job

Gemma Burden RVN — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:50:36 GMT

I can understand how you feel completely. I went to college after school and got an ND in animal care, then found no one wanted to employ me. Either I was over qualified, or they wanted someone with more experience, but no one seemed to want allow me to get experience. I had been out of college for 15 months and been for a lot of interviews before I got my training position.
I think it is important to try and do as much work as you can (I know thats not easy when unemplyment is high), just so it shows that you actually want to work. I had temp jobs in a garden centre and a caravan park, and I really think they did help me to get a job in the end. When we advertised for a trainee nurse position a couple of years ago, we ended up with over 150 applicants. The things that made us get people in for interviews was that they had showed an interest in working with animals (we had a few that were clearly applying for every job in the paper or had been told to apply by the job centre), and that they had been working. Although there might be nothing wrong with someone that has been out of work (and I realise this is a lot more common at the moment), it can be off putting to see that an applicate has either done nothing or not stayed anywhere for very long.
Keep sending out CV's - I resent mine every few months as I thought it would do no harm to show that i was still interested, and it payed off in the end. It would probably be worth getting as much work experience as you can as well, just to show that you really are keen. I have ot be honest and say that not having your own transport is something that might put practices off. We recently had an applicant that was great, but she lived miles from the practice and didnt drive. She said she would be happy to cycle back if she was needed to in the evenings, but realistically she was not going to be so keen after she had had to do it a few times. Whilst she was a good candidate, the worry was that she woudl either leave after a while as it was too far for her to keep cycling to and from the clinic, or that the other nurses would end up doing things for her because she was unable to get back to the practice. This would be even more of a disadvantage if you were applying to a practice that had an on call rota and you couldnt stay on site. As has been said, learning to drive would probably improve your chances a lot.

Re: Advice on how to find a job

louise170388 — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:49:56 GMT

Hi :)

Its the unfortunate situation of recently finishing your studies and not having much experience under your belt but everybody has to start somewhere! To get my first job after A-level I did exactly what you did, sent out loads of CVs and was lucky enough to get offered a trainee position just before I was due to start the nursing degree at Myerscough. Luckily I got straight into my nursing pretty much and got qualified and started locumming, now i get inundated with work. Its definitely worth getting your nursing NVQ or degree if thats what interests you but also get in touch with locum agencies, they don't just look for qualified staff so they may be able to help you out finding the right job :)

Louise

Re: Advice on how to find a job

Josephine — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:43:09 GMT

Hi!

I know how you feel I also had the same problem when I finished my National Diploma in Animal Management a few years ago. I did exactly what you were doing and I had several interviews etc but they always went for someone who had more experience.

Have you thought about doing the nursing degree? I decided to go to uni and I qualified in June. I was determined to be a RVN and I felt that this was the best way for me. It is expensive but there are loads of bursaries etc out there nowadays. I'm glad I did it - it is a lot of hard work, but totally worth it!

Have you tried vetclick.com, vetbuzz.com, job centre website (they always have SVNs jobs on there) or veterinary agency websites? They are good places to look as well as your local newspapers.

I would agree with the person who mentioned the car. Most places I had interviews for liked the fact that I could drive as it means I could do OOH shifts and travelling wouldn't be too much of a hassle. But that is totally up to you!

Good Luck and please let us know how you get on

Re: Advice on how to find a job

Fuzzyduck — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:50:48 GMT

As you are probably aware trainee nurse positions are like gold dust, auxillary positions are also very sought after and so competition is very very stiff.

Many people are so desperate they will volunteer to work for nothing just for the experience to add to their cvs as practices can be choosy about who they employ so a person with more experience is far more likely to get a job.

I was lucky myself in getting my trainee position, which was a number of years ago but i still sent out over 100 cvs to every practice within a realisitic distance. You are though very limited if you have no transport. One of our trainees has had to give up her position because she is also unable to drive and as our shifts start at 7am there is no bus or train for her to get at that time in the morning!

Other than keep sending out your cv to local practices there isnt an aweful lot more you can do, being able to drive would definitely increase your chances of getting a job as you could apply to more places further away, but owning a car is expensive, so i guess you have to work out whether its worth it in the long run.

Good luck!

Re: Advice on how to find a job

Katie Mansfield — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:37:40 GMT

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/forums/p/15332/121380.aspx#121380

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/forums/p/597/1236.aspx#1236

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/forums/p/15446/121760.aspx#121760

http://www.rvc.ac.uk/Undergraduate/FoundationNursing/Index.cfm

http://bvna.co.uk/