approaching our vet's office for dd to volunteer

[cathmom]

Hoping to hear from those who have approached businesses about their children volunteering -

 

How did you approach them? What did you suggest as far as a schedule? Did you agree on a time limit? What age was your dc?

 

I am thinking of calling and talking to the office manager (I don't know who this is, but they must have one) and suggesting she volunteer once a week for a short period of time to learn more about the field. Anything I should or shouldn't say?

 

TIA!

[Jane in NC]

My son volunteers at a rehabilitation shelter for shorebirds and raptors.

 

There are different types of volunteer tasks with animals: hands on and support. My son began with the latter although I guess the tasks were "hands on"--just not with the birds. (He did some carpentry work and cast netting for fish to feed the patients.) I think that teens need to demonstrate that they are trustworthy, compassionate and quiet when they work with animals.

 

Of course, the vet's office may be familiar with having volunteers and thus have their own protocol. Our rehabber had both my son and me sign a liability form--you might suggest this if the vet's office is not comfortable with teen volunteers.

 

Good luck.

Jane

[Hockey Mom]

My DD volunteers for a local vet. She's been there for a year. She'll be 18 in June.

 

Here's the thing; your child should be the one to put the request in. Not you. Your DD has to be the one to show the initiative. Have your child call the office where she wants to work and explain to them WHY she is interested in volunteering there (she wants to be a vet and would like to volunteer at a vet clinic for the learning experience, she would like to volunteer there because animals are her passion, etc). If that office says they're not interested, ask if they know of any other vets who would be interested in volunteers.

 

DD's vet didn't have her sign anything. She calls them whenever she has some time and just goes in - there's no set schedule for her. Her vet has been extremely helpful with giving DD advice on colleges, reference letters, and 'showing her the ropes' of what a vet does. She's absorbed so much in the past year that it has just added fuel to the fire as far as what she wants to do with her life.

[Jane in NC]

 

Here's the thing; your child should be the one to put the request in. Not you. Your DD has to be the one to show the initiative. Have your child call the office where she wants to work and explain to them WHY she is interested in volunteering there (she wants to be a vet and would like to volunteer at a vet clinic for the learning experience, she would like to volunteer there because animals are her passion, etc). If that office says they're not interested, ask if they know of any other vets who would be interested in volunteers.

 

 

 

Boy is that a good point! Our rehabber has said that sometimes she feels parents call looking for a free babysitting service for young teens!

[StephanieZ]

As the practice manager for my dh's vet hospital . . . and the supervisor of dozens of volunteers over the years. . .

 

1) yes, dd should be the one to call! Sometimes parents ask us, and we've learned to tell them the child must call and fill out our application (which has a "volunteer" category). If the child's not mature enough to handle that, then she isn't mature enough to deal with the daily complexities of working in any capacity.

 

It'd be best if dd sent in a cover letter & resume -- outlining her desires in her cover letter. How many hours over what time period? Doing what? Does she want to see how kennel/surgery/appointments/front desk are ALL run or some subset of those areas? A follow up call a week later would be great if she hasn't already heard back.

 

2) if dd is under 16, expect a NO for (nearly) sure. There are so many safety hazards (drugs, x-ray, animal bites, communicable diseases, etc) that a well run hospital won't allow anyone around under 16. It's dangerous to the kid. . . and the kid can easily make mistakes that could cause danger to a patient or another staff member.

 

For those reasons, in general, we don't allow under 18, but have made a couple exceptions for 16/17 yos. For kids younger than 16, we will allow them a one-day shadow thing on occasion as a favor to a GREAT client or good friend. . . but it IS like babysitting and is expensive (staff and dr time) to have them there, so it's a rarity and we only can do it on occasion and for truly awesome clients (the ones who care about their pets, bring them in for annuals and comply with DR advice, pay for whatever needs done w/o whining, and are nice to both drs and staff. . . and probably bring us cookies at Christmas, lol).

 

3) every hospital will have its own policies. At our hospital, we limit volunteers to 90 days, to make room for other volunteers. . . We only will have one volunteer "on the roster" at any given time. . . as they are such a time drain, we can't afford more than that. . . so we move them on to allow another in their place. . . Volunteers are ALWAYS a pain in the butt and in the way, to be real. So, we limit them to 1 part day/wk for 90 days. At that time, they should move on.

 

The only exception we make is for over-18 college kids who are volunteering more hours for a school thing (preceptorships/externships/etc) and or kids on the way (within the year, already admitted) to vet school who want more hours. Those folks can "pay their way" by actually getting some work done, so we don't mind having them around more hours. Every once in a while, one is actually helpful. :) The younger kids are pretty much just in the way. The little bit of work they do folding laundry or mopping or whatever is (much) more than offset by the staff time taken up babysitting, err coaching, them.

 

4) dd should treat the volunteer opportunity as a job -- show up on time every time, making self useful at every opportunity, no cell phone, no texts, no leaving early, no calling off, etc. If she does a great job volunteering, she might get a paid job offer out of the deal. We've done that. Once. LOL

 

5) Be sure dd (and you) repeatedly and enthusiastically thank the owner, the supervising DRs, and the staff for her opportunity. It is a HUGE gift to let her be there -- and I guarantee you that there is no way she can contribute enough practically -- even if she works hard -- to offset the staff time/trouble/distraction that her presence will take away from the regular staff. Written thank you notes are golden. Bringing in donuts in the morning or a batch of cookies once in a while will make everyone happy to see her. Working hard every shift to HELP will also make her a welcome addition instead of a nuisance.

 

HTH

[Sebastian (a lady)]

 

Here's the thing; your child should be the one to put the request in. Not you. Your DD has to be the one to show the initiative. Have your child call the office where she wants to work and explain to them WHY she is interested in volunteering there (she wants to be a vet and would like to volunteer at a vet clinic for the learning experience, she would like to volunteer there because animals are her passion, etc). If that office says they're not interested, ask if they know of any other vets who would be interested in volunteers.

 

 

 

This is a great point. I interview for my alma mater and work with boy scouts. I can see a huge difference between teens who are comfortable and accustomed to speaking for themselves and those who are used to flowing along behind a parent.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

You made some good points about the relationship of a teen to trained staff. What about at places like a shelter or humane society? Would there be more lower skill work at places like this?

[StephanieZ]

You made some good points about the relationship of a teen to trained staff. What about at places like a shelter or humane society? Would there be more lower skill work at places like this?

 

Yes, I think most shelters and rescues are well equipped to welcome volunteers.

 

There are always inherent risks to working with animals, but a vet hospital has extra ones (radiology, anesthesia, drugs galore, animal illness, surgery equipment, $$ handling) that a typical shelter won't have, and as a vet hospital is also a *theoretically* for profit enterprise, you have the issue of sucking up trained, expensive, staff-time supervising volunteers (which can be tough for a small business on a tight budget in a tight economy). . . So, a non-profit animal welfare organization might be an easier and/or better fit. . .

 

Of course, there is much to be learned at a vet hospital, and if the kid is really motiviated and finds a hospital willing to take him on, then it can be awesome for the kid. . . but so far as "doing good", then a shelter or humane group would be of more use.

 

Walking dogs, socializing cats and dogs, etc can be of great, great value to shelter animals and a huge help to the staff. It could likely be very flexible. So long as there is good leadership in place, one would hope it could be a safe and productive use of volunteer time. Reading up on rescue dogs, positive dog training, etc would be a great project leading up to the job, so the kid can come in with some street-smarts to help him/her read dogs body language and thus avoid problem situations, etc.

 

I'd want to check out the group myself, as a parent, before allowing my kid to volunteer. . . just to make sure it would be a good thing. . . not too depressing or demoralizing. . . and safe. . .

 

FWIW, having volunteer experience with a shelter is a common resume builder for kids wanting to volunteer or get a paid job at a vet hospital. It can help get a foot in the door for a paid job. . . as then we know the applicant has some sense of reality as to what it means to clean kennels, walk dogs, etc and some degree of animal-sense. . .

 

HTH

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When my kids were much younger, I used to think that it would be rather simple to find internship opportunities for them as teens.

 

Now that they are older and I have been around them and their friends, I can see that they can often be a mixed blessing. Even in scouts, which in theory is scout run, there is a lot that they miss, get tired of or just don't want to be bothered with.

 

Lots of work in polishing those diamonds in the rough.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My children are always the ones to ask for a job of any sort. I may coach them a little on what to say (though I didn't even know they were going to approach someone a time or two); but I figure if they are old enough to volunteer or do an apprenticeship or work, they are old enough to obtain the opportunity for themselves.

 

With our vet, we just chatted with the vet himself while we were there.

 

My kids started such things about age 11-13 depending on the kid and opportunity. Some situations have required a parent be present or working along side the child. The only NOs we've ever gotten were for real jobs (ds is looking for a job for this summer and we're having a lot of difficulty because of age and limitations).

Edited March 8, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[cathmom]

The closest shelter requires the child to be 16, and it's not very close at all. Our vet is only 5 minutes away and if they say no, she will not be able to volunteer anytime in the near future. Since our vet is out in the country, I doubt that they are inundated with volunteers. She will be 14 when she asks. We don't currently have a pet, so we can't just ask while there.

 

Animals are her passion, and she would like to be a vet. We would definitely treat it as a job!

 

Thanks for all the advice!