[allexyz]

right, here goes.
Hi everyone. I'm currently in year 12, and will hopefully be applying for vet med entry in 2013. Thing is, I am really struggling to find farm work- well in fact I have literally none. I live in south london, and over the past month/2 months have been emailing various farms- in total I have emailed 22 dairy farms/ childrens farms, and all have either rejected me/ignored me. I have followed a fair few up with phone calls, still rejections.
So, my question- does anyone know of any farms in the south london or surrey area that offer work experience?
I know that farm work is pretty damn necessary, and the constant rejections/ignorance is really getting me down- I know so many applicants have grown up on farms. So far, in terms of work experience I have
-> 6 years helping out saturday mornings at riding stables
-> Riding for the disabled after school once a week
-> 2 weeks small animal practice, another week booked at another SA practice
-> 1 week booked at kennels

I was just wondering if the unis would take into account the fact that I live in such a bad area for farms, and would look at my other work experience instead? I know I dont have a lot compared to others, but I have literally no contacts, and have emailed a ton of places, ranging from reptile centres to bird sanctuaries to zoos, all rejected

Sorry for the the rambling, I would really appreciate advice on what to do.

[dizzeedollee]

I also live in London so I was in kind of the same situation as you. As a rule, I would say calling is more effective than emailing because it's easier to ignore an email than a phone call. Having said that though most farmers are really busy throughout the day so phoning at lunch time is probably best. Have the farms being saying why they're rejecting you? Some farmers may be a little wary of people asking for work experience because recently there have been extreme animal activists secretly filming at pig farms and well, understandably farmers don't really want people secretly filming them. If this is happening offer to send them a reference from your school or a vet to say you are interested in being a vet and are not a time waster, etc.

The vet schools definitely take into account the fact that you live in London. Obviously if you live in London and have no contacts they wouldn't expect you to have 9273 weeks of farming experience but they look upon you more favourably if you've made the effort to go and find farming experience.

Are you willing to travel and stay in b & b's/accommodation? Because there are few working farms in that area and many of them won't be large and/or very difficult to get to by public transport. I have some farming contacts but the closest are in Essex and Middlesex kind of areas, the rest are quite far.

I would suggest calling agricultural colleges, they have on site farms that the students use but they also take on work experience students. However, most are probably full up six months in advance but it's still worth trying

[allexyz]

@dizzeedollee

Thank-you for your advice, nice to know there's others out their who were/are in the same situation as me. Most rejected me because of lack of time to train/watch over me, which is fair enough I guess as I know they're busy, a few rejected me because they are full with students which is again fair enough.
Thats good advice about phoning at lunch, will definately give that a go. I'm also willing to travel/stay in a b&b, so maybe that is the best way forward for me

Thanks for your comment, really helpful

[KatiexZoe]

Hi,
I was also, in the same situation as you. I'm looking to be a Vet Med applicant for 2014, and live in a pretty remote area in terms of farms! However, i did manage to find a placement for next week by asking relatives who live in more rural areas if they knew anybody who had a local farm where they lived. This way, I could stay with my family and try to get some farm experience; and has proved successful!

This may be a possibility, or ask around at your local butchers as they will been in contact with local farmers (for obvious reasons) and may be able to refer you to a farmer.


Hope this helps
Kate x

[allexyz]

@ KatiexZoe

Hi, thanks for your reply, thats really good advice actually. Two days ago two farms replied (talk about it all happening at once!) and so I have a week at both over the summer I still need lambing placements for next spring though, will definately get in contact with the butchers, thanks for the tip

[KatiexZoe]

(Original post by allexyz)
@ KatiexZoe

Hi, thanks for your reply, thats really good advice actually. Two days ago two farms replied (talk about it all happening at once!) and so I have a week at both over the summer I still need lambing placements for next spring though, will definately get in contact with the butchers, thanks for the tip

No problem! Congratulations on your success with placements And likewise, I need to find some lambing experience too so you're not alone there lol.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[ch0c0h01ic]

(Original post by allexyz)
I was just wondering if the unis would take into account the fact that I live in such a bad area for farms, and would look at my other work experience instead? I know I dont have a lot compared to others, but I have literally no contacts, and have emailed a ton of places, ranging from reptile centres to bird sanctuaries to zoos, all rejected

There are community/city based farms dotted around the capital, Woodlands Farm Trust being one of them in the South. Failing that you could stay with friends/relatives or your family could rent a cottage somewhere for a holiday while you get a couple of weeks work experience. Agricultural colleges are also a good bet because they have cheap (sometimes free) on site accommodation.

Getting experience is a challenge for everybody and it doesn't stop once you've got into a vet school. Persevering and showing initiative (and getting the necessary experience) is what the vet schools are looking for, not excuses.

[allexyz]

(Original post by ch0c0h01ic)
Persevering and showing initiative (and getting the necessary experience) is what the vet schools are looking for, not excuses.

I completely agree- I was not making excuses, I was just asking whether the vet schools would at least give some consideration to location as clearly not everyone has equal access to places. The number of places I've contacted are proof of my perserverance, and now I have a city farm and a dairy farm placement for the summer. I'll definitely look into woodlands farm trust, thanks for the recommendation.