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Is Work Experience compulsory?

I'm currently in year 11 thinking about studying veterinary science at uni.. but I hear work experience in year 11 at a veterinary surgery is compulsory? Is this true? I've applied for work experience at a hospital through my school, but does this mean I need to apply for another week by myself? Thanks.

Reply 1

xxnikkixx

There isnt a time when you have to any type of work experience. The unis just say how much they want you to have....it would be a good idea to start getting all the work experience together you can because some unis want up2 10 weeks experience! Get varied experience in all fields possible and look at the websites of the diff unis to see what they specify!

Reply 2

blondey

a specific placement done at a specific time is not compulsery, but there is a certain amount of work experience that is expected of you when you apply. so the sooner you start gettin it the better

Reply 3

lucyrobyn

you should really enjoy your workexperience. . if you dont enjoy your time at the vets, or your time at farms etc. then perhaps you dont really want to be a vet. its a highly stressful job and it takes a lot of dedication. i look forward to my 1day of experience a week. its the only day that i jump out of bed excited. if you feel as though it is compulsory, and u are 'forced' to do it, then perhaps its time for a rethink.

just see how your first week of experience goes before you arrange loads of stuff.

If you do love it, i would suggest u try to meet liverpools work experience requirements, its just an aim as they ask for the most wrk exp, and if you get all of that then youve definately got enough! you can get in with less, but the more the better (aslong as it doesnt affect your grades ofcourse!)

Reply 4

RainbowGurl

i'm in year 11 too! I have already done a bit of work experience but i've met plenty of people who haven't started yet.

My friend went to uni last year and she didnt realise that she wanted to be a vet until year 13, so had to cram all the work experience in at the last moment which i wouldnt advise as it dropped her grades.

Work experience may not always be wonderfully exciting, but its all about learning and there will always be aspects of the job thatyou find worse than others. Like i really really enjoy being at the vets practice, being at the boarding kennels and stables, but cleaning up pig placenta etc wasnt exactly nice. but its all part of the experience!

I would aim for 10 weeks too, but get a mixture. For example, abbatoir, vets (large and small animal), stables, kennels and cattery, farm work. And if you wanted to be a little more adventurous a zoo, sealife centre, laboratory or wildlife centre.

Hope this helps x :biggrin:

Reply 5

didi997

Thanks for the advice guys :smile:

I don't feel 'forced' into taking up work experience at the vet. I'd really like to, but seeing as my work experience placement through my school has already been confirmed at a hospital, it would mean I would need to get it elsewhere, or by myself. I am more than happy to do some. I'd probably go for some in the summer holidays then, after my exams.

Thanks again for the help, really appreciate it :wink:

Reply 6

Mad Prospective Vet

Hey - just to let you know you don't "have" to do whatever work experience the school set up for you(no matter what they tell you)...whatever you do don't let them guilt-trip or bully you into doing the hospital stuff unless you really want to do it...it's time you could use to do work experience at a vets ..but if your undecided about medicine/veterinary i guess it would be a good starting block to let you experience it and then compare the two!
Best of luck! :smile:

Reply 7

eurasianfeline

different vet schools have different work experience requirements. check their sites. so far i think liverpool has the most required - 10 weeks total (clinic, farm, stables etc). Most are 6 weeks. Although the more the better obviously.

I crammed all mine in one summer. :p:

Reply 8

)(--becca--)(

Basically what you want is a couple of weeks vet, dairy, lambing and stables. I think your meant to have experience at two different practices. It looks really good if you can get a regular placement like once a week at your local vets, stables, kennels ect: cos it shows commitment. Also try to go back to the same place twice on separate occasions cos it shows you were helpful enough the first time to be allowed back! Having said that, try really hard to vary your experience as much as you can, in particular farm because your meant to be gaining knowledge of the UK farming system aswell as the animal handling aspect. For example, I only had 2 weeks lambing when I applied but I'd done one week one easter and split it across two farms then done the same the following easter. So I varied my lambing exp at the same time as going back to the same places.

I didn't start my "hardcore" work exp till the holidays after my GCSEs either although being a horsemad child you could say I started at the age of 9, blissfully unaware! lol

Reply 9

ch0c0h01ic

Vet school is highly oversubscribed, they can afford to be selective, that is why they command high grades and some places, work experience. Having good grades and lots of work experience puts you ahead of most other applicants who don't have the grades and don't have the experience. The university is more likely to interview someone with work experience and good grades, over someone with good grades but no work experience.

And, as said earlier, work experience makes sure you really want to be a vet, it gives you stuff to talk about in your interview which you can comfortably do, rather than harder academic questions. It shows commitment, the vet course costs the university a lot of money to run, they don't want people pulling out because it costs them money, they want people who can stick the course. And it does help you when you get in when handling the animals.

Reply 10

DartsOfPleasure

You've got plenty of time to get your minimum of 6 weeks of work experience - I started mine in late year 12 (May). When I worked at my local vet clinic, they offered me a paid Saturday job, so there is no harm in asking if they required any help. Even one evening a week would be brilliant

Good luck :biggrin:

Reply 11

TW = LEGEND

hey guys im a bit confused at the minute as to what unis to apply to!currently i have 4 weeks experience and have dairy experience lined up over the summer plus i hope to get a few more weeks to bring me up to 8 weeks hopefully!i dont think i would have enough time to get the 10 weeks to meet liverpools suggestion of 10 weeks although i was hoping to apply to liverpool along with glasgow,edinburgh and bristol!but i was wondering if i dont get the 10 weeks would i be wasting my time applying to liverpool? do they reject for not having 10 weeks? or would i still have a reasonable chance of gettting an interview or offer with 8 weeks provided the rest of my application was strong? i want to know this because i will apply to a different uni(prob rvc) if there is no chance of me getting in without the 8 weeks!hope someone can help as im sooo confused as to what to do!thanks

Reply 12

Phaza

Get as many weeks as you can. If it's a week or two short, aim to arrange some more during the next few holidays and mention it in your personal statement so they are aware. They (hopefully) shouldn't turn you down.

Reply 13

RainbowGurl

you could ring the admissions tutors and ask about your chances if you applied with 8 weeks.

Other parts of your application may be better than others, such as your personal statement and what you learnt while you were doing work experience.

its ok for people to say 'i have 10 weeks of work experience' but when you ask what they learnt they have blank faces. Who do you think the uni's wil go for? 8 weeks but knowledgable or 10 weeks having learnt very little. I have come across alot of people who've said this to me too, and i was advised to take a logbook with me and write down notes about things ive learnt and also before you go think of a couple of qs to ask them.

mini-lecture over! lol

x :smile:

Reply 14

)(--becca--)(

Maybe try to squeeze 2 weeks of kennels or stables in in your long holidays? Plan experience for next year - lambing in easter and vets + dairy in summer are a good idea and write that its organised in your personal statement. Make sure you organise it before you write it because in the questionnaire they ask for addresses of places. I don't know if they actually ring and check - none of my contacts mentioned it - but best be safe. You have to be able to say you've organised it rather just that your going to do it - they don't like that.

Reply 15

TW = LEGEND

yeh thanks for all the advice people!its been a great help!im sure now i will apply to liverpool and i will try get as much work exp. over the summer as possible!plus i genuinely expect have good grades and good personal statement so i should have a strong all round application which will give me a good chance of gettting an interview and an offer im lucky! :smile:

ps good luck everyone with the exams!