Work experience help!

I am in year 11 now and just getting an idea as to what exactly the universities require in terms of work experience and I just have a few questions if any one knows.

Firstly, do you know from what 'time frame' they consider the work experience you do, so for example I did 2 weeks work experience through school in different vet practices in year 10, so would this be considered when applying for vet school (obviously alongside all the other work experience)? Also, do they value work experience at city farms too ?

I have done 2 weeks in year 10 in a vets practice(one week at a different practice), I have been volunteering at a city farm for almost 3 years now and I also volunteer at a pet shop. I have a placement at a vet practice lined up this summer and the following summer as well as a placement at a laboratory the following summer, and possibly a zoo placement. I am hoping to find some other placements in different environments too e.g stables and kennels etc.. but I'm finding it really difficult to find placements on large farms e.g for dairy or lambing. Is this a big issue? And if I undertook everything above is that sufficient enough for applying to university?

Reply 1

Little Tail Chaser

RVC have a time frame of 18 months, but I put down some older work (from yr 10 onwards) and got asked about it at interview so they still look at older stuff. You have to put down the dates so they can see whats recent enough. Liv sort wex into recent and past on their form (the former being within the past three years) and seem to count the two sections seperately.

As for city farms, I'd argue that 'proper' farms are more important but city farms are still worth going to for sure :smile:

I volunteered at one for two years prior to applying. They're good because they often have a wide variety of animals so you get experience with all of them. My city farm was the only pigs/poultry work I could get. They're also good for interacting with customers etc, which I found boosted my confidence and obviously being able to speak to loads of people is something vets have to do. So yeah, they definitely count it.

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

MD73

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

RVC have a time frame of 18 months, but I put down some older work (from yr 10 onwards) ...

Thank you! That's understandable, I'm trying to find placements in a variety of environments, but 'proper' farms are especially difficult living in London! I would be willing to stay on or nearby a farm if it is far away I just can't find any that have space or would be willing to take a 16 year old on ! Thanks for your help and good luck with everything :biggrin:

Reply 3

Little Tail Chaser

I can relate, I'm a Londoner too :tongue:

. I actually managed to do dairy work without travelling but for lambing, stables an d LA vets I had to stay away. Drop me a PM if you need some contacts. I'm lambing right now (National Sheep Association is awesome for organising lambing, all the placements mention whether accom is available), but I'll try to get back to you when I have better internet :tongue:

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 4

SilverstarDJ

Original post by MD73

Thank you! That's understandable, I'm trying to find placements in a variety of environments, but 'proper' farms are especially difficult living in London! I would be willing to stay on or nearby a farm if it is far away I just can't find any that have space or would be willing to take a 16 year old on ! Thanks for your help and good luck with everything :biggrin:

I have been put up by farmers before (and got picked up / dropped off to a local train station) so definitely ask farmers if they have somewhere you can stay - it may be just a case for ringing around a lot (I called around 50 farms before I found a lambing place I could go to whilst at vet school... so just keep calling and if they can't help then ask if they have any other contacts which might do as they will have a lot of contacts within the farming community). I've also stayed with family friends in other parts of the UK to get work exp - is this something you could do too? Friends of mine have also gone down the camping / B&B route too in order to get to places. There are lots of options for you!

Reply 5

MD73

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

I can relate, I'm a Londoner too :tongue:

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That would be great whenever you have time! The main ones I am struggling to find are the LA vets and lambing/dairy as so many of them reserve the placements for veterinary students, but if you have any contacts I would be very grateful! I have checked out the NSA and emailed them and a few other farms so just waiting for a response now :biggrin:

Reply 6

MD73

Original post by SilverstarDJ