Do’s & Don’ts

How to get a job working with animals

Finding a job working with pets isn't always easy! We have put together some do's and don'ts that you may find interesting when it comes to looking for a pet care job with your favourite animal!

DO'S:

  • Do your research and find out what animal it is that you want to work with. Do you love being a pet sitter or a dog sitter? There are many different types of animal out there that may tickle your fancy so don't always assume you want to work with one type of animal and one type only. Why not keep an open mind and look at other animals that you find interesting and keep them as backup plans? There are so many pet jobs out there for many different animals, such as parrots so it always pays to know what you want and know a bit more about other potential industries
  • Do your training! If you have found out what type of animal you want to work with and what specific job it is you want, then you should find out all the relevant qualifications you need as well as how you can go about getting them. Some students looking for free accommodation in Australia work as pet sitters at the pet owner's house. They complete their internship or wait for their working Australia visa application to formalize while working on the job.
  • You should contact places that deal with this and find out exactly what you need to do and how long they take, as well as how much they cost and where they take place. You can never have too much information on a potentially new career, so it is always a good idea to start early so you know exactly what to expect for the rest of your time reaching your goal.
  • Contact other people who work with animals and in the pet job industry and find out how they got there and if they recommend doing that work. It's the best way to find out the truth about certain industries and will help you make your mind up on a level you couldn't before, so ring around, research and soon you will have lots of questions answered. For instance, some work as dog rescuer while few others work as dog trainers. There are some pros and cons for each pet job. Find out whether these suit you or not.
  • Do go out and experience all different types of animals! For all you know the animal of choice may not even be an animal you have ever seen or experience in person, so go to your local zoo or wildlife park and look at all the different types and find out which animals tickle your fancy. You may not be able to decide and want to work with a wide variety of animals, but this will allow you to then experience these places first hand to see if it is really what you want to do.

DON'TS

  • Don't assume getting a job with animals is easy! Most of the time you could easily assume that you can just walk into any job with a bit of pet ownership experience and then think they will give you a job. Absolutely not! You will generally need a wide variety of experiences from paid to volunteer work and a lot of the time businesses will not look at pet ownership as something they can employ you on. Always do some volunteer work with animals to better your chances. Check our website for more information on voluntary work with animals.
  • Don't be set on one type of animal career! Always keep options open! You could be set on one career for your entire life, get into it and realise it's not what you wanted to do or expected it to be like at all! Always look at other industries and jobs around animals to further your chances also should you not succeed in one.
  • Don't quit your current job unless you know you have a 100% guaranteed job with an animal career in sight! The last thing you want is to be unemployed completely and assume that getting a job will be easy! It never is and never will be! If you have a job lined up that you know you will have then start to make steps into leaving your current job, but always be certain about the pet job benefits.
  • Don't believe everything will be easy in your job! It's pretty easy to assume that working with animals is easy compared to humans but a lot of the time it can actually be a lot harder! Always be prepared for anything too, as there are a lot of times where working in the industry can through up a few surprises!

Remember these facts strongly when going about a new career change to find the tasks for best pet for kids and you will ensure that you will have a great career working with whatever animals you choose!