Many people want to work with animals, but aren’t sure what career options are out there for them. Or, you might already have your dream job in mind, but don’t know what steps you need to take to achieve it. Since we spend such a large portion of our lives at work, it’s important to enjoy the work you do. So, if you love animals and want to work with them, make sure you pursue this and find the right job for you. Read below for an overview of five careers working with animals that you might not have considered before.

Dog Handler

Your duties as a dog handler will vary depending on the service or organisation you work for. For example, work was an Army Dog Handler will differ significantly from work as a Security Dog Handler for a private security firm. But in general, a dog handler is someone who works with trained dogs for a specific purpose.

Some of the fields you could work in as a dog handler are:

• The Police (Drugs Detection Dogs, Explosive Detection Dogs)
• The Army (1^st Military Working Dogs Regiment)
• Royal Air Force
• HM Revenue and Customs
• Search and Rescue organisations (National Search and Rescue Dog Association/NSARDA)
• The Fire Service (Fire Investigation Dogs)
• Private security firms

How to get into the profession

Each field will have their own entry requirements, for example to be a police dog handler you will first need at least three years’ experience in the police force.

However, if you’re interested in becoming a security dog handler, a relevant qualification could put you at an advantage when applying for jobs in this field. For example, studying the Level 2 Animal Care and Welfare Assistant Apprenticeship with the Working Dog Handler pathway would earn you experience in the industry.

View our Dog Handler career profile here.

Countryside Ranger

If you’re passionate about protecting the world around you, then a countryside ranger could be the right career choice for you. Within this physically demanding role you would be responsible for maintaining and developing areas of land, as well as preventing damage to the countryside in areas open to the public.

On a day-to-day basis you could be:

• Educating the public on wildlife conservation by giving talks or through guided walks
• Planning and developing habitats to conserve plants and animals
• Taking part in community projects
• Planting trees, managing ponds
• Working with local landowners and businesses whose activities might impact the environment

How to get into the profession

Jobs within this industry tend to be competitive, so having a formal qualification in a relevant subject can help to strengthen your application. Those looking for their first qualification as a starting point towards a career in the countryside may want to consider the City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Countryside and Environment.

View our Countryside Ranger career profile here.

Assistance Dog Trainer

For those who want to help people but also love dogs, working as an Assistance Dog Trainer is a perfect combination of the two. Assistance Dog Trainers are responsible for training dogs that help disabled people maintain their independence.

On a regular day you could be involved with training dogs and owners together, working with volunteers who foster puppies and young dogs, training the dogs in basic and more advanced skills and matching dogs with owners.

Charities for assistance dogs include:

• Canine Partners
• Medical Detection Dogs
• Support Dogs
• Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
• Dogs for Good
• Guide Dogs
• Dog A.I.D

How to get into the profession

Entry requirements will vary depending on the organisation you are applying for the job with. However, as with most jobs working with animals gaining any relevant work experience or qualifications can add to your application. For example, you could stand out from other applicants by studying the Level 2 Animal Care and Welfare Assistant Apprenticeship with the Animal Handling and Interaction pathway.

View our Assistance Dog Trainer career profile here.

Horse Groom

If you have a love for horses, you may have already considered a career that involves working with them. A Horse Groom is responsible for the day-to-day care and maintenance of the horses – making sure they are healthy and in good condition.

As a horse groom you would be involved with:

• Mucking out stables
• Giving horses food and water
• Replacing bedding
• Cleaning and clipping horses’ coats
• Cleaning equipment

If you have your own horses you might have experience in doing a lot of these things already, which can help you to stand out when applying for jobs.

How to get into the profession

To become a horse groom, there typically aren’t any formal academic entry requirements. However, you can put yourself at an advantage by gaining experience working with horses through voluntary or paid work in a stable. What’s more, gaining a formal qualification such as the Level 2 Equine Groom Apprenticeship can also strengthen your application.

View our Horse Groom career profile here.

RSPCA Inspector

Working as an RSPCA Inspector is challenging, but rewarding. The job involves investigating cruelty and neglect complaints, as well as rescuing animals, providing medical treatment and giving advice to owners.

Since the job can be both physically and emotionally draining, some things you’ll want to consider before applying are:

• Strong people skills are vital
• You need to be physically fit and a strong swimmer
• You should be able to cope with stressful and emotional situations because the job can be psychologically demanding
• Working unsociable hours will be required

How to get into the profession

The RSPCA has set entry requirements that can be found here. Training for the role will be completed internally with the RSPCA and includes a 16 week residential training programme. To be accepted onto the programme you will need experience working with animals, so achieving a relevant qualification such as the Level 2 Animal Care and Welfare Assistant Apprenticeship, or having work experience in the industry can strengthen your application.

View our RSPCA Inspector career profile here.

What’s more – our annual Careers with Animals Day event is coming up on the 28 March at our centre in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. So, if you’d like to find out more about what careers working with animals are out there, be sure to come along and speak to the experts.

Whether you’ve recently landed a big promotion to Head Veterinary Nurse, have been in the position for years, or are aiming to move into such a role in the future; you have probably asked yourself at some point: what makes a good Head Veterinary Nurse?

To answer that question, we need to look at what Head Nurses do and what skills you may need to succeed in the role…

What do Head Nurses do?

Head Veterinary Nurses lead and provide support to veterinary nursing and veterinary care teams in practice, in order to manage day-to-day workflow efficiently.

Day-to-day, this may cover many areas in team management, for example recruitment, selection, development, absence reporting and monitoring in line with practice policies. You may also be involved with stock control and managing income and expenditure to ensure the practice is using resources cost-effectively. The role is perfect for those looking to have a bigger influence over practice life; whether that be over developing staff, customer service or clinical practice.

It’s a difficult balance to be a head nurse: you need to be caring, motivating and approachable to your staff, but you also need to be firm and authoritative when needed. The role requires good management and leadership skills. The job also involves a lot of physical work and dealing with individual personalities can sometimes be challenging, therefore you must have excellent interpersonal skills and be able to support your team with patience, confidence and care.

Now we know what it means to be a Head Veterinary Nurse, take a look at what you might need to do to be a good one…

What makes a good Head Veterinary Nurse?

Prioritise Industry Knowledge and Technical Skills

Professionally, to be a good Head Nurse you will need to possess good theoretical knowledge and excellent clinical skills, which can be used to support and develop more junior members of the team.

What’s more – you will need to be committed to keeping your skills up-to-date and open to ongoing education. It’s important to acknowledge that nobody stops learning and that you should never pass up the opportunity to learn something new.

Be Approachable, Respectful and Friendly

Showing respect and understanding for colleagues and their concerns is essential to building trust, which will ensure that your team feel able to come to you to discuss problems. Make it clear that you’re there for your team and that you will do your best for them so long as they do their best for you.

Regularly check in on your team on a one-to-one basis to make sure they’re happy with their role and address any concerns they may have about their work. And, of course; a little ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ always goes a long way in the world of work!

Put Compassion, Empathy and Humility First

Sometimes your team members will experience troubles in their personal lives which will show in their performance, and you must be supportive in your response to this.

You should always approach uncomfortable situations with kindness. No one really knows what’s going on in other people’s lives. It’s not your job to fix your nurses’ problems, but it is your job to be a sympathetic ear and push them in the direction of professional help if needed.

If a nurse is having a hard time, ask them what they need to do in order to feel better. This puts the responsibility on them and helps them develop better self-care skills.

Make Sure Everyone is Heard

As head nurse, you need to have the respect and ear of all the stakeholders: the other nurses, the vets, partners, receptionists – and so on. It can be a stressful task to create the right balance, but very rewarding when you get it right. Here are some of the ways you can make sure everybody gets their say…

• It’s worth regularly checking in with vets, nurses and receptionists and asking them how they think the practice is doing generally. Some colleagues may have great ideas for things like tweaks to the rota or new protocols for customer service; and it makes staff feel more appreciated if they get the opportunity to contribute ideas.
• Recognise that some members of your team may be quieter than others, but that their input is just as important and they need to feel that they’re being heard too. You could perhaps have a quick chat in a more informal setting and ask them what they think about certain topics.
• Run regular meetings where there is the opportunity for small niggles to be addressed and sorted out in the open. This prevents issues from stewing and being talked about behind closed doors, and stops colleagues feeling like their issues aren’t being taken seriously.
• Appraisals are a good opportunity to understand more about your nurses’ strengths, weaknesses and career aims from their own perspective. Taking an interest in this will help your team members feel they are being listened to and that you care about their personal wellbeing and professional goals.

Fairness is Key

If one nurse in the team has always been your best friend, at work your loyalties should be left behind. Stick to practice policy when it comes to taking holiday, overtime (and everything in-between) for ALL team members. You don’t want your nurses to feel that some people are treated more harshly than others, as this will foster resentment and lack of openness in your team.

Lead by Example

It’s important to lead by example and be everything you would like your staff to be. You cannot enforce lateness if you are always late, or keep a strict dress code if you continuously break it. So keep your expectations high, and your standards higher.

You’re also not above the dirty work just because you’re in a managerial role. A good rule is don’t ask someone to do something if you wouldn’t be prepared to do it yourself.

Become Your Team’s Biggest Cheerleader

Once you become responsible for a nursing team with many strengths and talents, it’s your job to make sure they know that! There are a number of ways you can champion your team and make sure they feel happy and supported in practice…

• Get to know your team members and what makes them tick, find out what interests and motivates them and build on that in relation to training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
• Identify your team members’ strengths and make sure they know about them! Make it clear that they have a lot to offer in a particular area, and encourage them to share their skills and knowledge with other members of the team.
• When it comes to developing team members, it is better to be positive and focus on strengths, and be fair and practical when it comes to weaknesses rather than just criticising them – allow team members to reflect on what they may need to improve on and help themselves.
• Encourage them to contribute their ideas and concerns about practice life and what they think could be done to make positive change at work.
• Arrange time together outside of work to cement the team, reward everyone for their efforts in practice, and build better relationships.

Embrace Not Knowing all the Answers

Being responsible for teams is no easy task and is no role to sign up for lightly. You’re not always going to have all the answers or know exactly what to do; so don’t pretend you do!

Seek advice from senior management if you’re stuck. Ask for advice, ask for opinions, and don’t be afraid to ask the team for their thoughts on solving problems that affect them. That doesn’t mean they get to vote on your decisions; it only means that you take advantage of previous experiences. It’s possible they had a similar problem before and they can tell you what didn’t work.

Be Kind to Yourself – Delegation and Monitoring are Your Friends

You can’t be everywhere at once and you can’t take on absolutely every task in practice. Be kind to yourself and delegate and monitor where you can. This way, you learn more about what your team’s strengths are, and can better delegate work based on what your team members enjoy doing and are good at.

It’s also worth being strict with setting time aside for the extra work that comes your way as a head nurse – you can’t do all your nursing duties and the extra paperwork at once, and trying to do so will only end in unmanageable workloads.

Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!

As a Head Nurse, you need to be able to innovate when problems arise, be comfortable with change and be able to lead on making changes where they’re needed.

It’s a huge temptation to get in the driving seat and start rearranging things to a master plan immediately, but before you do that, it pays to take a few days to really listen to the practice, get used to what is ‘normal’ before you start making changes. You may know the practice really well as a nurse, but as a boss, the perspective can be different – how they treat you, how you treat them, the new bits of your job, and dealing with changes in your old job.

Get feedback, ideas and concerns from the staff, in practice meetings and appraisals; and find out what their biggest and most urgent problem is – you can then look at introducing gradual changes from there if needed.

If you’re a Head Veterinary Nurse, or are looking to move into the role, have you considered attending our Head Nurse Congress? The event features lectures from expert industry speakers, as well as networking opportunities with both exhibitors and fellow head nurses – all while gaining CPD. View the full event details here.

 “The most satisfying part of my job is dealing with difficult/critical cases as a team and succeeding to see the animal go home. There is something special about excellent teamwork.” – Stacey Brook on Life as a Head Veterinary Nurse Read more

With Black Friday fast approaching, we’re pleased to announce that we will be offering a massive site-wide 30% discount across all CPD courses^* when booked online on the 29 November 2019.

In order to take advantage of this offer, all you’ll need to do is enter the discount code ‘BLKFRI19’ at the online checkout. Although the offer will only be available for one day, there’s no limit to how many times the discount can be used throughout the 29 November 2019. What’s more – the discount code can even be applied to early bird courses, meaning you can attend one of our full day courses (full price £265) for less than £90! So why not treat yourself to career development this Black Friday?

At The College of Animal Welfare, we run CPD courses at our centres based in Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire), Tingley (Leeds), Barnet (North London) and South Gyle (Edinburgh). Our short courses, which are offered as either full day or half day courses, cover subjects ranging from ‘Running and Developing Successful Puppy Socialisation Events’ and ‘Dog Handling’ to ‘Nursing Small Furies’ and ‘Essentials of Emergency and Critical Care’. In addition, we now also offer a variety of business CPD courses, these include ‘Handling Difficult People and Situations’, ‘GDPR – What You Need To Know & Why’ and ‘Effective Meeting Skills’.

To view our current CPD courses in preparation for Black Friday, visit our website at  https://cpd.caw.ac.uk

^*Excludes online learning courses

^*Terms and Conditions

• The discount code can only be used on Friday 29 November 2019
• This discount code can only be applied when booking a course online at https://cpd.caw.ac.uk, using the promo code BLKFRI19 at the checkout at time of booking
• Excludes online learning courses
• Any courses booked using this promotion must be paid for in full at the time of booking
• There is no limit to the amount of times the discount code can be used, or how many courses the discount code can be applied to throughout the day
• We reserve the right to end this discount at any point at our discretion
• Course requirements apply
• This discount will run until midnight on the 29 November 2019
• The Black Friday discount cannot be used in conjunction with placement vouchers

In light of October being Dyslexia Awareness Month, staff at all five of our centres joined in by wearing green as a way of bringing our focus to raising awareness of Dyslexia and the additional challenges faced by those living with Dyslexia.

Lecturers also took part by completing two exercises with their students to help further their understanding of Dyslexia and some of the challenges faced by Dyslexic learners. They were first asked to show their classes a video which featured a visual representation of how it feels to read if you have Dyslexia. The second task was for learners to read some text out loud to the group, although in the text they were given, some of the words were visually very difficult to recognise or understand. The aim of this was to show the students the difficulty and anxiety Dyslexic learners can feel when reading aloud.

Emma, Veterinary Nursing Lecturer at our centre in North London, said: “Two words – LOVED IT! The video helped those who aren’t Dyslexic empathise with Dyslexic students/colleagues”.

The pictures of staff members from our Huntingdon, Wigan, North London and Edinburgh centres all wearing green can be seen below.

Most, if not all, of us will be aware of what democracy is in the political sense. But how much have you heard about workplace democracy?

What is workplace democracy?

Workplace democracy is when democratic methods are implemented in the workplace. This can involve anything from voting and surveys, to debates and suggestion boxes. How you apply this all depends on the size and type of organisation you’re working in – it’s about finding a way that works for your company.

How can I implement this in practice?

Working in a veterinary practice can be challenging. A combination of long, unsociable hours and being on your feet most of the day can really wear you out. So if you’re looking for ways to improve workplace culture and morale in your practice, take a look at some of the simple steps you can take to shift to a more democratic workplace. Or, if you don’t think it would be an easy change, try introducing one method at a time.

Encourage input from everyone

One democratic method you can bring into your practice is encouraging everyone to share their input. For this to be effective, your team must first feel that their opinions and ideas are valued. You can do this by:

• Regular questionnaires/surveys
• Voting when making team decisions
• Asking if anyone can think of a better way for a task to be completed
• Asking a colleagues’ opinion directly rather than leaving questions open
• Suggestion boxes for those who would rather give their input anonymously

Speak to your team

Opening up a dialogue with your team (doesn’t always have to be work related) helps to show them that they can come to you if they have any queries or suggestions. When in a management position, you want any issues to be brought to your attention straight away. So, making sure your team feel comfortable bringing things to you can speed up this process.

Again, this links back to ensuring your team feel that their opinion is listened to. Although it may seem simple, opening up a dialogue can improve communication across your whole team.

Delegate tasks

Delegating tasks (where possible) to other members of your team shows them that you trust them to do a good job. Not only that but it gives them a chance to demonstrate their capabilities to you, and can relieve tasks from your workload in the future.

Recognise individual performance

Workplace democracy also involves giving your team feedback, not just the other way round. So, if you have noticed someone doing a good job, recognise this and let them know. Regularly acknowledging your team’s performance helps to keep them motivated and engaged at work, so why not give it a try?

Did you know democracy is one of the British Values? Find out more about how British Values are promoted at The College of Animal Welfare here.