What kind of edge can you get when you first start seeking a career with animals and have little or no animal experience?
I had to think back (way back) to when I just got out of high school when I was young and had only three or four years of experience.
The experience was an important piece but since it was volunteer, despite specialized training and studies with experts, I felt I needed a professional resume person to help me out.
Why? I volunteered but lacked paid positions under my belt.
The professional spent loads of time helping me to pull out what skills I had and what other things I had done to work toward my goal of an animal career.
The result was a professionally done resume that didn’t look to empty. Now I have to cut and choose what to include because I have too much experience!
That itself can be a problem–but is best left for another article.
When you begin seeking an animal career make sure to take a few steps to help you be successful in your job hunt:
- Take a personal inventory and list the qualities you believe are the strongest.
- Next list animal experiences under your belt followed by any courses you have taken to contribute to your goal of a career with animals.
- Ask friends, family, and employers for an evaluation of what strengths and weaknesses you have. Include those into your list and plan on working on those areas where you are weak.
- Plan on investing in a good professional resume since your resume is the first impression someone is going to get of you—to get a competitive edge make it a good one.
- Finally, each resume should also be specific to the animal job you are seeking.
This is a topic we can get into depth on later—but get started now so you can get an overview of what you might look like on paper.
You’ll see strengths and weaknesses pop out at you. Identifying what you need to add can help you refine your skills and give you an edge.
