I Know I Want to Work With Animals. Now What?

"What to do? What to do?" Photo by Dmitry Rozhkov at Wikimedia Commons. 

Does this sound familiar: “I know I want to work with animals, but I don’t know if I want to be a vet. What should I be? How do I prepare for a career if I don’t even know what I want to do?”

If this is you, don’t panic. There are many professions that work with animals, and luckily, there is a lot of overlap when it comes to qualifications for those jobs. This means that there are certain steps that you can take to make you competitive for a range of jobs that work with animals and you don’t have to decide today exactly what that job will be.

Experience With Animals

To get a job that works with animals, you need to be good at working with animals. Seems pretty obvious, but it can be more difficult than you think. To get good at something, you need experience, and to get experience, you need a position, and to get a position, you need to be good at it… AARRGG!

The trick is to get your foot in the door: Train your pets to compete in obedience or agility competitions. Work in a pet store, groomers, or pet boarding kennel. Volunteer at a local animal shelter, animal rehabilitation center, veterinary clinic, or zoo. If you are considering colleges, ask about clubs, internships and other opportunities that they offer to get animal experience.

It is also important to keep a record of all your animal experiences; List all of the experiences by category or position and keep track of your hours. This will be invaluable information to put on applications in the future.

Experience With People

We often forget that many positions that work with animals also require a strong ability to work with people. Veterinary clinics work with pet owners; Zoos and aquariums teach the public; Animal trainers would be more accurately called “pet-owner-trainers”. As counterintuitive as it may seem, you can improve your marketability to animal jobs by improving your people skills.

First and foremost, don’t shy away from face-to-face contact. Yes, texting and emailing is faster and easier, but an actual conversation can have a much better outcome and helps develop your people skills without a conscientious effort. Beyond that, pay attention in English classes, read books, and seek out opportunities to interface with actual people. Jobs in retail and as receptionists are good for this. Look for opportunities in the field of education, perhaps as a tutor or assistant. Volunteer to interact with people in nursing homes, hospitals, or shelters. And again… keep track of your hours.

Education

Educate yourself for the job you want.
Photo by raider of gin at Wikimedia Commons.

There are jobs that work with animals for people with all levels of education, so you may want to pursue the level of education you need for the job(s) that you want.

Before you complete high school, you may be eligible to be a: volunteer (at an animal hospital, rehabilitation center, zoo, aquarium, or animal shelter), pet store employee, pet boarding employee

With a high school diploma, you may be additionally eligible to be a: veterinary assistant, veterinary receptionist, domestic animal care staff, domestic animal trainer, animal control worker or dog warden, animal farmer or breeder

With a specialized 2-year degree, you may be additionally eligible to be a: veterinary technician or veterinary technologist

With a 4-year degree, you may be additionally eligible to be a: zoo keeper or aquarist, educator, wildlife rehabilitator, wildlife animal trainer, assistant research biologist, animal care manager, animal cruelty investigator

With a DVM, you may be additionally eligible to be a: veterinarian (at a clinic, hospital, zoo, or university), research biologist

With a PhD, you may be additionally eligible to be a: research biologist


Are you already in an animal-related career? Share your tips in the comment section below! And for more advice for working with animals, go here.