- No-one will invest in you more than you invest in yourself. Spend time, money and energy to improve your knowledge, skills and well-being which will improve your current and future life and be independent of others’ expectations or needs.
- Your role as a vet is in the support and service of people, animals just happen to be the medium through which we do it. Be human throughout all your doing. This is a team sport, don’t do this alone.
- It’s fine to not know where you want your career to go and also don’t fixate on one path before trying out some of others. It takes time to work out what you like and what you don’t enjoy and this will also change throughout your career as different aspects of your life hold different weights of value for you.
- Work out how to do more of what you enjoy.
- Make sure that whatever you do, you enjoy the journey.
- Your career can evolve with you; you are never stuck.
- There is no perfect job, just the optimal one for that time in your life and career. Life and work are about finding the compromises that you are happy with.
- Don’t be afraid to say that something is not working and move on to another job. This is not quitting – this is working out what works and doesn’t work for you and you will much more productive in a job you are happy in.
- In every job you need to earn or learn, ideally both. But if a job is neither then move on.
- We all need support, mentoring and coaching, whatever level of career we are at.
- The jobs you will be doing later in your career probably don’t even exist at the moment. Did anyone image 20 years ago that we would have smart phones with all the computing power, connectivity and growth of the internet?
- Satisfaction comes from competence not titles.
- Retain a sense of why you are doing something in amongst all the doings. Don’t do something just as a passion – passion fades.
- Take your time with your career; don’t be in a rush to achieve a particular goal. You have a potential career of 40 years or more so work sustainably.
- Make friends with uncertainty as there will be a lot of it throughout your life – learn to increase your tolerance of it. Learn how to communicate uncertainty to clients.
- Be prepared to admit you don’t know something. People respect that you’ve had courage to say so and the effort that you put in to find out the answer.
- Remain curious. Question whether what you are told is the truth, or partial truth, or not the truth at all – seek evidence, don’t just accept the status quo. Talk to people outside the profession to gain different perspectives and ideas. The most important thing to remain curious about is yourself.
- Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses, even when life feels shit and you’ve done your 4th euthanasia of the day. This job brings so many moments of pleasure and gratitude. If you are not feeling this then something is wrong (such as burnout or depression) and be curious to look for the reasons and fix them.
- Make sure you make time for play and creativity on a regular basis.
- There is more to life than work and you are more than a vet; ‘vet’ is only one facet of you. Make sure you explore and grow other interests and aspects of you.
- Have a proper break or holiday every 3 months. Occasionally have longer breaks to try new things and to reset your enthusiasm (thing of a sabbatical). Make sure you have enough rest.
- Start a personal pension (i.e. one that stays with you your entire career and is not dictated by your employer or Government whims) and income protection insurance as soon as you start work.
- You can call VetLife about anything – you do not need to be at crisis point. In fact, they would prefer it if you contacted them before this point. Its good to talk and they are impartial and completely in confidence.
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