Hi All

I am a Personnel Manager by proffession and am unfortunately losing my job as the Company I work for has gone to the wall. I have had the bad news today that I didnt get the latest job that I went for and after a few tears I have decided to take the bull by the horns!

I am considering a possible change of career as I dont seem to be going anywhere fast and as I love my little furball so much I wonder if there is some sort of career out there for for me with animals?

Its difficult as the situation I am in means that I cant afford to take a huge salary drop (Im not on a massive salary anyway)but I am keen to do somethig that I really enjoy. I cant retrain to do something radical like be a vet or something but am otherwise pretty flexible and a quick learner. I am wondering if any of you have any thoughts on what route I might take or any Companies/organisations that I could write to to see if they have any positions.

Id be grateful for any help as I dont know where to start!!

Thanks all xx

Have you considered trying the Dogs Trust?  I don't know how much of a salary drop it would be for you, but they (of course) pay minimum wage to start with.  Or maybe another big rescue organisation?

Or, how about doing a little course in dog training and hooking up as a trainers' assistant?  I shouldn't think that'd pay badly, considering the prices I've seen for behaviourists and training courses!!

Sorry to hear about your job, it is horrible when it happens - happened to me twice so far!

Its a tough world and few jobs... i've been looking for ages.... just applied to the Blue Cross HQ , got interview, have all qualifications and the extra desireable, thought i/v went really well, just got letter today to say sorry you were unsuccessful with your application - really disappointed as would have been able to take buffy with me and job was just what I loved doing, animals and admin. you could try Goddard Gadd (put their name in google) they have an animal/equine section in their recruitment agency, Horse and hound have a good selection of jobs, sometimes they have stuff.

Good luck in your search

Chloe
x

Unfortunately because jobs with animals tend to be very popular, the money is generally barely subsistence level. :(

And, as I found when looking myself, you are expected to work quite 'unsocialable' hours, eg I was looking for kennel work and the vast majority of employers wanted someone who could work EVERY weekend. I found it just wasn't practical, I want my weekends to relax/show/train etc and it seemed I would spent all of my time looking after someone elses animals as oppose to mine! So I have now found a part time job totally unrelated to animals, decent wage(all the kennel/yard work I looked at was min.wage :( ) and I have weekends and school holidays off so plenty of time for dogs :D

A friend of mine from college has just recently left her job working at a boarding kennels as she was beginning to work full time, it was meant to be a max of 16 hours per week and ended up mre than double that, as her employer knew she loved the job and was basically taking the mick, of course she was getting paid but doing a full time college course at the same time was just ridiculous....and kennel work is HARD!

I still would really love to work with animals, have just spent 2 years doing an AM course so would make sense, but I'm seriously considering my other options....whatever they may be ;)

Good luck in your search, its not an easy career to get into, and I expect it doesn't suit everyone.

Emily :)

I declined the second interview for a kennel job which required, every 10 days or so, a shift of 7am till 5pm, then 5pm to 9pm free (but still remaining on premises) then on call from 9pm till 7am (a bed was provided), then on duty again till 2pm. The overnight on call was unpaid ... and my dogs wouldn't have been allowed on the premises ...

I'm not surprised you didn't go back :D But the thing is that the work can be so rewarding, I did a bt of work experince at the boarding kennels in my town and they also had a block of rescue dogs who we looked after on behalf of a local animal charity who, as yet, don't have their own premises. Some of these dogs were brilliant and I could have quite happliy taken a couple of them home! And it was great to find out when they had got new homes, they sooo deserved it, I still remember one in particular, what a little star, saved at the 11th hour and such a happy, sweet little guy :)

Oh, and the puppies too :D I only went once a week so I saw one litter grow from teeny babies to bold, cheeky, chubby pups...they were such fun! 

But I could still not put them first infront of my own dogs, no way!

Speaking from experience - I have worked with dogs since I was at school.
From the age of 13 - I worked most weekends Sat & Sun & every school holiday - in a boarding kennels - no pressure to --- it was all very flexible - but I loved it so much I used to go whenever I could. Once I left school I worked there for a couple of years & when old enough (aged 18) I went to work for Guide Dogs - as kennel staff - part of the criteria then was to live in (that's not the case now though) & the hours were long & included working every other weekend, but it was a "way of life" as opposed to a job. Even though I shortly progressed to Supervisor & got married & moved into my own home - it was still a demanding job, but the job satisfaction makes it all worth it for me. Many Christmas's  have been spent in the "house" at work with my husband & children and other staff & their families. Christmas is what you make it & a good time was always had by all. Many Christmas days have been spent with a bitch whelping & again we'd all muck in & help out. Now I have moved on & I do a different job within Guide Dogs, working 8am-4pm Mon - Fri however I am on call 24/7 & I don't mind one bit. Often get called out / or phone calls for advise. It is still a "way of life" in lots of ways as you never know what will happen from one day to the next, only last week I was at the vets Thursday helping to revive pups in an emergency C/S & didn't get finish work til 9pm. On Friday I spent the evening fostering pups & didn't finish til 9pm. My family are very understanding.

My point is, there are some good jobs out there working with animals, but you need to be very dedicated to your work, very flexible & most of all love animals.  :)