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professional foundatins
11/3/98

-resume
-budget for first 
year post grad
-four year plan starting with senior year, for person, 
professional, and financial planning

again - those are the requirements 
to get an a in this class.

References: be sure to ask your reference 
before listing him/her on your resume. Be careful - know what they plan 
to say!

one referencer said "his men would follow him anywhere, but only 
out of morbid curiosity..." "when she opens her mouth, it is to exchange 
feet..." etc etc. 
"this employee is depriving a village somewhere of an 
idiot..."

regarding page 20 of the notes: there is discussion of 
different types of resumes. you need to know some stuff. jessica Dimuzio 
can provide specific information for you. the phone number for her is in 
the notes.

he's passing around copies of two folder style resumes so you 
see what they look like. 

ok, so - Grade Point Average - who will be 
applying for jobs in private practice? well, if your grades are too high, 
they do not want you. so do not go overboard here. learn the material but 
do not excel :). if you want a high paying job, stay below 3.0 but if you 
want internship/residency, you should excel. employers think people with 
a high GPA are not good at dealing with people. 

no one will ever ask to 
see your transcript. the only people who will ask about your GPA are 
those who had high GPAs and have no social skills. :)

asking personal 
information is illegal. you can't put your sex, age, or weight on your 
resume. in some states putting a photo on the resume is illegal.

Dealing 
with gaps - use the cover letter. did you travel around the world on a 
boat? did your grandma die? whatever. put it in the cover letter.

BE 
HONEST. if you lie on your resume, and your boss finds out later, he can 
fire you immediately. do NOT overstate your case to try to look better.

avoid redundancies. you do not want the resume to be boring. redundancies 
suck. 
spelling and grammar checks are essential.

Cover Letters:

p 36 
in notes

Opening - 
-your objective: what do you want, why are you 
applying here
-knowledge about the employer
Body: more about you, why you 
are best
Closing: request a phone or in-person interview. 
DRAFT AND EDIT 
THE LETTER ON FIVE SEPARATE DAYS - it will read differently each time. 
expect to spend 2-10 hours on it. it should be hard to write.

samples: p 
38 of notes.

first one - well written letter of intent for an 
internship.note third paragraph - resume shows strong equine 
background...original plans were equine medicine...but true interest 
really blah blah. changed her mind, moved to small animal. 

next one - 
ian stone - nice, fairly short, good example.

p 40 - look at paragraph 1 
- then paragraph 3. it keeps saying "I...I...I...I" the rule of thumb 
should be no more than three Is per paragraph. otherwise you look like an 
egomaniac. 

next one - from someone who wanted to be in specific area - 
note 2nd sentence - though only in third year...she wanted to plan in 
advance, to stay in right area.

p 42 - oh, by the way - follow ads in 
JAVMA.  this one job was advertised for a year. it was in Aimesbury, ME. 


p 43 - externship letter

all those opportunities are there, examples for 
you to use, etc.

The Long Distance Search:

contact local and state VMA 
newsletters. 
they all run classified ads for you for free. get a list of 
these groups from the AVMA directory. 

drug and computer detail reps - 
if you are going to VA, you can go to VA VMA meeting, meet detail reps - 
they would love to help you find a job b/c then they will have an in with 
you! bring resumes to these things.

AVMA placement service - very useful


"shotgunning." - send resumes using AVMA directory and postcards to come 
up with your list. see p 44. create a postcard with your return address 
on it. other side says "yes, there is position available, no there 
aren't, or no, but try contacting these other people" and little check 
boxes for people use. use AVMA directory and yellow pages to get names 
and addresses of people to send these things to. responses are pretty 
good. one penn grad a few years ago sent out 28 resumes/postcards, got 15 
back, interviewed at 6, and got 4 interviews from the letters.

a Davis 
student sent out 99 resumes to OK city area. she got 38 back, 24 were no, 
14 had job openings or referrals. she got 6 interviews. she used folder 
style resumes. another person sent out 40, got 32 back. nice thing is, 
you get postcards :). some people give you nice comments about your 
letter and resume. 
you can do this even if you aren't going long 
distance, or you can just drive around, stop in places and say hello. 


make followup phone calls! wait two weeks after sending out resume and 
cover letter. most vets are lousy about responding. assume they will not. 
but they are probably not offended if you call and say, "hey, did you get 
my resume, do you have an opening?"

questions about the search...??? can 
you drive to somewhere after you graduate, find a place you like, walk 
into practices, and submit resumes? well, maybe, Tripp. Sheesh. "do you 
have to do this long distance crap?" oh please. well, you need to know 
what state to get licensed in. You may find that you like a place that 
does not offer temporary licenses. 

Commonly asked questions:
do not 
blow the interview by asking right away about vacation, sick leave, and 
work schedule! this is extremely important. start talking about practice 
philosophy. ask first about practice philosophy! "what's your euthanasia 
protocol?" what's your anesthesia protocol? etc etc. practice answering 
the questions from p 47-56 with a classmate. now, if you are on the 
phone, and you are planning on driving 1000 miles to the interview, you 
can ask about salary first :)

16 interview questions:

1. i've enjoyed 
your resume. tell me about yourself! ANSWER: this is a difficult 
question. practice answering it with a classmate. 
2. where do you expect 
to be in 2-3 years? 
look at pp 47-56 for more questions.
what do you say 
when someone asks you about where you want to be in 2-3 years? most 
employers ask one thing of you - work for them for a year. those of you 
contemplating parenthood, consider that. they are asking for a year. you 
work hard that year. after that, they want to know what are your plans. 
so the issue is not how hard will you work, but what are your plans? many 
practices plan to hire a new person each year. high turnover. 
so, when 
you have an initial job, is it usually for a given time period? yes. we 
usually see that about 50-60% of us get written one year contracts. maybe 
10% are for two years. or it is a one year oral contract. sometimes it is 
18 mos including a probationary period of 6 mos. 

Interview process:

packaging is important. what is the packaging? tie, suit, gold lame 
bikini, no wait, uh, you know, it depends where you go! you don't wear a 
coat and tie to interview for ranching position in wyoming. be a little 
overdressed though, so you can always take something off ;). bring a 
smock, stethescope, thermometer, boots, coveralls, whatever. good 
employers will put you right into an exam situation. 

observations: look 
at the external appearance of the practice, drive by, see what it looks 
like. drive by the other way. check it out. does the sign look like the 
runt of the litter, or like a champion? is the paint peeling like a 
seborrheic cocker spaniel? then go in and check out internal appearance. 
receptionist will often tell you to come back and wait in boss' office. 
then, you should tell her "is it ok if I wait out here?" and stay there, 
and watch the desk staff, watch the clients, see what is going on!
you 
should show up early and expect the interview to start late. 

shake 
hands with the employer. shake hands with *authority*. if you are a woman 
and the interviewer is a man, *offer* your hand. the way you shake hands 
and present yourself is how they size you up - wimp, strong, whatever. 
the handshake cuts through the awkwardness. 

be enthusiastic! find 
*something* about which you can praise the practice. Gee, your 
receptionists seem great, friendly, helpful, etc. Give some positive 
feedback. "gee, your parking lot is so clean!" "gosh, what a beautiful 
front door!"
most of you will interview in a sitting position. sit 
correctly. watch the interviewer. type A people sit up. type B relax, 
type C slouch and put their feet up. mimic the posture of the 
interviewer. but do not put your feet on his desk, even if he does. 


what to ask the employer: p 57
-why are you hiring? you want to know did 
they fire someone/did they quit/did they die? is this the first new hire 
(big red flag b/c they will have unrealistic expectations), is the 
practice owner burned out? :)
-are there any training programs? some big 
firms have training programs now. 
-monetary opportunities: this is under 
7 & 8:
	-how many clients per day am I expected to see? 
	-what's the 
average doctor's transaction fee?
	-so, if you see 20 a day, and it's 
$65/client...1300
	-how many days per year? figure out what you make for 
practice, and how much you will be able to take home, from that. you 
generate 270,000 you should make 54,000 - 20% of it.
	if they can't 
answer these questions, they must  not be a good practice manager. 
-ask 
for references from the employer - names of employees to talk to

p 58 - 
moral/ethical/legal questions:

convenience euthanasia, attitude about 
pregnancy, philosphies, policies...there are more people focusing on this 
now, equally with money issues. we've drafted clauses into contracts to 
address euthanasia issues and stuff. 

Practice Evaluation p 59: 
bring 
the form with you - the AAHA form. write down all the names of vets, 
additional practices, work schedule, compensation, why job is offered, 
etc. this sits on a clipboard under the front seat of your car - you do 
not bring it into the practice. when you leave, you stop at a bar, or a 
coffeeshop and fill it out! this helps you immensely. most of you have 5 
or more job offers and you have to pick.

weighted job evaluation index p 
61: what do you do when you can't choose?
list of factors - location, 
compensation, schedule, supervision, etc. you weight these things. then 
you score all the practices. you end up with an objective score. your 
first job out is your toughest one, and the most important one.


question: for equine people - should you ask about if a vehicle is 
provided? yes. if you will be in ambulatory vehicle, you should ask to 
see it, make sure it is safe, etc. 

is it reasonable to ask about 
continuing education opportunities? yes, we'll get to that under contract 
section of law and ethics (uh, that isn't core!)

The Final Effort: 
say 
THANKS and then *write a thank you letter*
the employer will appreciate 
the thank you letter effort.

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