Job advice please

Re: Job advice please

Braden Collins — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:01:38 GMT

Something we are implementing in our clinic is weekly "Personal Development Meetings". It may be worth asking the boss for a weekly meeting to talk about your development as a vet and any issues that come along. If they agree, make sure you do some work to get ready for it. Try to come up with a list of things you feel are going well, things that are not going well, and a plan on how to improve those things. If you can approach the boss with solutions to your problem rather than jsut the problem itself they are much more likely to help you out.

These meetings will give you a non-confrontational way to bring up issues you may have with not doing enough work, but also gives you a great chance to learn from your boss and improve your skills as a vet.

Re: Job advice please

Elisabeth Knappett — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:20:09 GMT

I would ditto everything that Meera said. Excellent answer! Leaving after 3 weeks is too soon, especially with the up and down emotions that come with the first job, I know I felt like walking within the first month of most of the jobs I've been at, but stuck it out and gained fab experience and excellent times everywhere. Would it be possible to assign you to a couple of routine visits - for example, vaccines or dental work, alongside the 'regular' vet to help you to meet the clients and get to know them before you'll be out there on your own as well as keeping your hands on the patients?! Bonus to both you and the practice as the regular clients will know you before you are the 'responsible' vet . Definitely need to talk with the bosses - new grad vet work is not just scut work, although it mainly is! Good luck and keep us updated.

Re: Job advice please

An On MRCVS — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:16:53 GMT

Thank you all so much for the advice. I needed a healthy dose of perspective and silver lining!

Meera M, your reply is great, thank you for taking the time to be so comprehensive and thanks for the reminder that there's a learning opportunity in everything, you're right of course! I'm the nurse on call every second week so I'm getting to experience being on call without the hardship of having to make treatment decisions!

Re: Job advice please

MeeraM — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:13:15 GMT

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you're not as happy as you think you could be in your new job situation. It's your first job and from what you've said it's clear that you're not feeling the love for it right now. However....

Plus points first.

1) You have a job. I don't know the exact percentage of unemployed new vet grads, but I expect it's undesirably high at present. So being employed is a bonus :)

2) It's an equine job (which is what you wanted long-term), and over the last year or so, these have been a little thin on the ground/sought after. An ex-boss of mine had nearly 100 applicants for an equine position advertised 18 months ago!!

3) It's early days (3 weeks in).

4) Job description for the first 4 months were outlined at interview to include nursing duties as well as new grad roles.

5) You've not been thrown in at the deep end (which is a blessing) - much better to start off with duties you can easily cope with than be faced with numerous stressful situations, especially if you haven't got confidence via the shed-load. Believe me, too much drama too early will turn you grey!!

6) You WILL be learning; take note of the images you are burning onto CD, get familiar with normal and pathological findings. If you are holding horses for X-rays, take note of positioning of plates and the x-ray machine for various views so that one day you can do this with ease and get good shots of joints first-time, without having to take multiple useless ones. Even if you're not actively involved in case discussions - listen to what is being said. It will stand you in good stead for later, when you can confidently recognise subtle pathologies and discuss diagnosis/treatment options with clients. Sterilisation of surgical instruments - opportunity to familiarise yourself with what instruments are required for particular procedures (I know I was terrible at knowing the names of various surgical implements, maybe this doesn't apply to you...but if it does, here is your learning opportunity!). Faecal egg-counts - easy to learn how to do, take time to speciate eggs, record information as to when to treat and with what drugs to treat with. Ask to put in IV catheters and gain practice doing this slickly. If that is an intern role - watch and learn. Bandaging - another underestimated art, here is your opportunity to learn how to do this well. Stock inventory - there will be drugs you may not have come across in practice, good for pharmacology revision to find out what they do, when to use them and at what doses. You will probably be holding horses for GA - good practice for when you anaesthetise a horse yourself as you learn how to hold and position the animal, when to assist descent, watch what speed to inject what drugs at and all without the primary responsibility for that animal! Really, use the role you play as one to take note of mistakes (so you don't make the same ones yourself) and how you would approach a similar case in the future.

Minus points.

1) Enthusiasm isn't being maintained. I know it's hard, especially when you want to do more, but the more you show enthusiasm for the tasks you are currently allowed to carry out and then actively try to get involved in any hospital case you can, the more everyone else will see just how strong your desire to learn is, and further opportunities should come your way. If it all falls flat and despite oodles of enthusiasm and interest, nothing happens and at the end of 4 months they take the unlikely decision to not keep you, then they can't say when prompted for a reference that you aren't cheerful, keen and prepared to get stuck in! Which will stand you in good stead for the future :)

2) Fear of being stuck with menial tasks. If everything carries on in the same vein to the 6-week point, ask for an appraisal to gauge the practice's opinion of you and where they feel you could show improvement that would encourage them to increase your hands-on opportunities, and discuss what jobs you can be expected to take on over the 4-month period.

I think if you leave after the 3-week mark, you won't have given it enough time/effort to work and then you'd have to either write it off your CV or explain why you weren't prepared to stick it out for longer to future employers. It can be frustrating not to be gaining experience at the rate you want, but it's early days yet and there's lots to be gained long-term for staying put at least a little while longer. Plus, I expect you're working in equine practice without having to take part in OOH - every cloud has a silver lining!! You have the rest of your life to have horrid 2am foaling/colic/horse-stuck-in-ditch calls to look forward to - and that time will undoubtedly come sooner than you think ;)

HTH

Re: Job advice please

bob lehner — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 09:12:23 GMT

p.p.s. I should have also added - PSS Para 1.3 - ' Core Standards - The practice must provide written job descriptions for all VSs, VNs and other support staff'.

Re: Job advice please

Michael Woodhouse — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 02:40:44 GMT

[quote user="Mark Holmes"]I would echo[/quote]

And you did!

Re: Job advice please

Mark Holmes — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:58:39 GMT

I would echo what others have said, stick with it just now and when the opporyunity get time to discuss things with those that matter. If necessary ask for a road map to outline how your responsibilities are expected to increase and over what time scale.

Re: Job advice please

bob lehner — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:03:59 GMT

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]I am baffled as to why the practice owner hired me when he could have hired a groom to do what I do now! [/quote]

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]I have been there 3 weeks now[/quote]

Well, I'd say three weeks is far too soon to be getting overly concerned about things - the usual and more serious complaint is new grads being chucked in at the deep end with no support.

As you say - why would they employ an MRCVS to do a groom's job ? My guess is that they want to let you settle in and generally assess your enthusiasm/basic skills etc. before letting you loose - valuable racehorses and dealing with their trainers/owners are an area where are a new grad could be a serious liability.

Make an appointment, or find an appropriate moment to speak to one of the bosses and just politely ask what their plans are for your on-going role in the practice.

As always - communication, communication, communication...!

(p.s. . - Just for those critics of PSS - 'Para 1.9 Core Standards - 'The practice must have in place an annual performance review system for all clinical staff to monitor and plan development. This would include PDP for new grads' - and of course, in accord with the C of PC, all practices should be now be maintaining minimum standards at a level equivalent to PSS Core Standards.

Re: Job advice please

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:56:24 GMT

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]At my interview I was told that I would be fulfilling the roles of vet nurse and new graduate vet for an initial period of 4 months with a review at the end.[/quote][quote user="An On MRCVS"]The problem is, I now find myself, 3 weeks into the job, doing less than I did as a vet student. I give some IM injections and PO treatments to the in-patients and that is the extent of my daily interaction with animals. The rest of the time I clean floors and surfaces, muck out and feed horses, sterilize instruments, burn x-rays onto CD's, take stock inventory and study.[/quote]

I find this seriously weird.

Go to the boss and do some plain speaking. If the outcome is not satisfactory (it might be) then leave now before you start to get roots down in the area.

If at subsequent interviews you are asked why you left, give the facts as you have outlined them above.

Re: Job advice please

Neal Palk — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:41:23 GMT

As above - first and foremost approach the Boss and explain how you can and would like to do more. His/her response will go a long way to telling you what the next move should be...........

Re: Job advice please

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 12:59:35 GMT

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]A practice owner once told me that it takes 2 years for a new graduate to build up enough skills and knowledge to start paying for themselves.[/quote]

That is, frankly, not true! Given the chance, even a new grad is useful and financially profitable. Sometimes more than someone exerienced, as their wage is smaller!

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]My questions are twofold (a) am I just expecting too much from a first job[/quote]

No. Any practice who takes on a new grad has a responsibility to help them become a confident and experienced veterinary surgeon.

[quote user="An On MRCVS"](b) should I stay or should I go? [/quote]

That depends on how useful the current position is to you, in the long term. If it is a useful post to have on your CV, and you can learn lots by what is happening around you,then it may be worth sticking around. However, if you are losing confidence then it may be best to call it quit.

Firstly, have you spoken to your boss about this situation? You never know - they may be oblivious to your stress and worries. Don't jump ship until you've given the practice a chance to remedy the situation- they may surprise you!