Will I ever get there?

RE: Will I ever get there?

Emily Grinnell — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:06:04 GMT

Have you thought about applying to a Vet nursing course that finds you a placement to train with?
I applied to the college of animal welfare to study for vet nursing and they will find you a vets to train at. You don't get paid though which is a massive downer on being a placement student, however once you have your foot in the door it is so much easier to apply for other SVN jobs. Once I had one years experience on the job as an SVN I applied for employed student nurse positions which luckily I managed to get.

I hope this helps :)

Re: Will I ever get there?

Lesley Perschky — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 10:23:47 GMT

I have been down exactly the same road, but have not given up. Had to alter my ambitions a bit and aim for the online Veterinary Care Assistant course first, which I will (hopefully) be starting soon. Glad you are working and wish you all the best for the future.

Re: Will I ever get there?

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:46:47 GMT

hi ellie

i also work in bristol, and t is hard to get into nursing. my advice would be to get a position as a care assistant and go from there. keep ringing/ writing to practices. something WILL turn up. i know lots of nurses who did different degrees before realising they wanted to nurse so you are not alone.

Re: Will I ever get there?

Heather Bacon — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:14:23 GMT

Yay well done! The pathology job will give you some good work experience and make you look a bit more appealing to practices, it will also be invaluable experience for when you start to train....lots of lab stuff to learn at college :)

Re: Will I ever get there?

ellieo91 — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:00:52 GMT

Well I have some good news, I got a job! Not in this field but it's in a veterinary pathology lab so kind of related I guess! And I can save up some money and keep looking for animal assistant/trainee positions.

I definitely agree with what you said about moving, I've seen a few jobs up north which I could've gone for but moving isn't really an option for me, my partner has just secured his perfect job which he loves working in IT at a law firm (after being unemployed for a year) and wouldn't want to leave, plus of course friends and family are living in the same city as me at the moment and would be hard to leave them. That's not to say I wouldn't be prepared to travel a hell of a long way though!!

[quote user="Katie Sanderson"]look on RCVs website for list of approved TP's and bombard them with CV's and a wicked covering letter[/quote]

Definitely will continue doing this! (I have started already). Most have said they don't have anything at all but one has offered work experience for a few days which I will definitely take! I guess I'll have to book holiday from my new job and do the work experience in my week off.

And now that I have a job I will have some money and will be able to travel to charities/dogs homes etc and volunteer so things are on the up Thanks for the advice and guidance everyone, I will follow all of your advice and won't give up!! x

Re: Will I ever get there?

azlana — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 16:50:28 GMT

I was in the same position went to uni and did a Chemical and pharmaceutical science degree (snore) and managed 3 year of a 4 year degree I hated it, Only thing I had going for me by then end was I was willing to move anywhere to do my vet nursing. I ended up in Brighton (other side of the country) and started on the FdSc Vet nursing as Plumpton college. Did a year and almost had to drop off the course as student loans were not going to pay for my placement year. devastated, luckily my TP offered me a training job and I was able to transfer over to the Diploma course.

What I am trying to get at is, if this job is for you and you really really want to do it perhaps looks to moving away (if possible I know not always an option for most) just hang in there and you will get your foot in the door. More and more practices are becoming TP's as its a lot easier now to train students. Call your local training college and see if they have any advice. also look on RCVs website for list of approved TP's and bombard them with CV's and a wicked covering letter. and work experience you can get from all charities to farm work to vets to catteries to kennels will look great towards your cv.

in the mean time what Sal says is true take anything you can get and save save save.... as SVN wages are not the highest and you will need all the spare cash to help you through your course.

hang in there

Re: Will I ever get there?

Heather Bacon — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 07:48:13 GMT

No problem :)

Would moving be an option? I moved from Somerset to London/Herts as there were more opportunities here.

Re: Will I ever get there?

ellieo91 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 00:40:11 GMT

Thanks so much for the reply Heather88, success stories like yours make me realise I can get there and motivate me to keep trying!! Well done on your success

Re: Will I ever get there?

Heather Bacon — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 23:10:26 GMT

Don't give up! Keep applying and you may get lucky! But definitely keep working until you can find a place!

I went to uni and trained as an equine dentist, didn't want to do it by the end of the degree. I felt like I had wasted my opportunity, time and am now in debt to the student loan company! I got shop work, and realised that vet nursing was what I wanted to do.....I was kicking myself that I had not realised this 3 years previously!

I started looking and got a job as a nursing assistant/kennel staff at a non-training practice. Luckily for me after 1 year of working there, they became a training practice! So don't give up!

My employers said that I stood out as I was slightly older and had a degree, and that I could prove that I could stick with something, no matter how hard it gets with all the exams and assignments etc. I sometimes wish I could go back in time and do this earlier and I would be qualified by now....uni has helped me to write decent assignments at least!

ETA: I don't think my degree subject helped....we are a small animal practice and by boss hates horses :P

Good luck :)

Re: Will I ever get there?

Sal the 1st — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:21:54 GMT

yep still vet nursing for my sins ( I guess I must have been really really bad in past life)

Re: Will I ever get there?

ellieo91 — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 10:25:30 GMT

Thanks so much for the replies!

[quote user="catherinedean"]Keep trying!! You could also try local rescue centres to see if they need volunteers to look after the animals -will show how keen you are and also solve the problem of a gap on your cv! :)[/quote]

Good idea and I will try to do this - problem is getting there but hopefully I will find a job soon, get some money and then can finish my driving lessons, then be able to drive to places and volunteer on evenings/weekends! We (my family) do foster dogs for local animal rescues and the RSPCA already (except for the last puppy ended up staying forever so we now have 3 big dogs which was never the plan...oops )

[quote user="Rachael_24"]Would you consider going back to University and training via the degree route?[/quote]

To be honest I don't think I could do this - having been to uni already I'm already in a load of debt and think I need to work now As I said, I wish I could've realised this was the career for me before I wasted my time on the wrong degree!!

Sal the 1st - Thanks for the advice! I totally agree with what you said about the university system. So many people I went to uni with are feeling lost now that we've finished. Are you a veterinry nurse now? I have a job interview on Monday at a vet pathologists as an admin (so loosely linked to the area I guess). It looks a great place to work and I will continue to look for animal assistant/trainee vet nurse jobs but it doesn't seem hugely likely! But maybe it will happen, I will keep trying!

Thanks everyone for the advice and for cheering me up, really appreciate people taking time to give their advice and opinions when I felt so ignored by everyone (applied for so many jobs and got no reply at all, not even a short rejection!) Feeling much better now

Re: Will I ever get there?

Sal the 1st — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 02:14:06 GMT

[quote user="ellieo91"]

Hi,

I made a mistake with the course I chose at university as I am so sure now that I want to be a veterinary nurse and I know I would be great at it too. Why couldn't I have realised this 4 years ago?

[/quote]

you and thousands of others.( and I am guilty of that too - I went to teacher training college for 6mths, shadowed a battle weary teacher for a little while in one of the roughest schools in Lincoln and then made the decision that if I was going to spend the rest of my life working with animals I would prefer the 4 legged variety to the two legged ones because they have a lot less attitude and are a damn sight easier to understand. There are so many at university who really dont know what they want and dont know what they are going to do when uni finishes - but unfortunately in the time it takes them to work out that they have made a mistake and work out what they really want to do they have blown their chance at uni re funding in the future - and its not always their fault. Yes there are those that go to uni because they cant think of anything else they would rather do but then there are a lot more that have been failed by the careers service.

[quote user="ellieo91"]

Is there any point holding out for a job in this field, or should I just give up and go back into retail?

[/quote]

just my opinion but no - dont hold out for a veterinary job - for now take what you can get, start earning and get some money put by in the bank because when that veterinary job does come along you can be certain to be needing all the spare cash you can lay your hands on - and if I am honest if I was employing somebody I would rather they did have ANY employment listed on their CV than not (because to me it shows that somebody is willing to turn their hand to anything to get ahead and not sit back till the job they want comes along.

I have taken whatever is going in the past when I have been between jobs fish filleting, biscuit factory, stitching knickers for M+S, packing fish fingers, tatie picking, cloakroom attendant, bar work - boring as hell and back breaking sometimes but it paid the bills

Re: Will I ever get there?

Rachael_24 — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 20:39:52 GMT

Don't give up! Although student positions are difficult to come by there appears to be a national shortage of qualified VNs so at least it's easy to find work down the road! Would you consider going back to University and training via the degree route?

Re: Will I ever get there?

catherinedean — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:00:51 GMT

Keep trying!! You could also try local rescue centres to see if they need volunteers to look after the animals -will show how keen you are and also solve the problem of a gap on your cv! :)

Re: Will I ever get there?

ellieo91 — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:44:18 GMT

Thanks so much, think I just needed to hear that it is actually possible to make it! Sorry if my post sounded a bit depressing! I'm so sure this is what I want to do that I won't give up, it might take a while but I'll make it eventually Congratulations on doing so well as well, hopefully I can do the same!

Re: Will I ever get there?

Teh Fluffeh — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:28:15 GMT

I have a success story for you. I did a film degree, then did associated jobs which I hated and got stuck in retail hell for a few years. I managed to get work experience at a vets and then a kennel assistant job while I kept applying for student jobs. I passed my exams first time around (practical took 2 goes) and qualified at the age of 30. Not everyone has an easy ride getting into nursing, but it's worth persisting if it's what you really want to do.