Help for every stage of your veterinary career
We were flying home this weekend and saw a guy in first class who wasn’t exactly bad; he just acted entitled. The steward had to ask him twice to put his computer away. On landing, the steward had to tell him to buckle his seatbelt. Before takeoff, the steward was asking everyone loudly about a
A while ago, I posted this question on my Facebook wall: “Is answering emails promptly a requirement for white collar work?” My professional friends responded with a resounding, “It is, and those who don’t make everything harder for everyone else.” In your endless quest to aim for zero, this is an obvious step. Not answering
I belong to a private Facebook group for those who graduated in my class in vet school. When a discussion about grades came up, one of my classmates pointed out many internship programs select people that are easy to get along with over the ones with amazing grades. My reply was, “Oh man, personality trumps
I have no intention of smile-shaming anyone. I know people- women especially- get told all the time, “You should smile more.” I don’t want to make those with Resting Bitch/Asshole Face feel worse. All that being said, I am going to give you a piece of golden advice: during interviews, smile more. This came into
I was chatting with a colleague the other day who mentioned a course we had just converted that semester from a graded course to a pass/fail (at 70%) course. Apparently students had been harassing the course coordinator for a few points here and there, even though these students were already above a 70%. They couldn’t
Since vet schools care so much about GPA and GRE scores, you would think that being an amazing vet student, intern, resident, or faculty member is largely about intelligence. Being smart helps, no doubt about that. But it is only one piece of the puzzle, and an arguably small piece at that. The best veterinary
I have two editors for this blog: my wife and one of my best friends. They have both commented on my lack of advice on how to be a +1. This is because I generally believe if you aim for zero, and are then a reasonably competent person, you will become a +1. But my
Most people who apply to a position want to be the ideal candidate. Employers want the ideal candidate, so they get a quality employee who will stay for the long term and not cause waves. Applicants want the ideal position, to progress their career and to maximize happiness. Sadly, there is no such thing as
I was doing a locum job in Saskatoon when some of the people at the hospital directed me to a book written by the first Canadian to walk in space, “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth” by Chris Hadfield. While generally entertaining, I found the most compelling chapter in the book was about performance.
This blog will be about employment and professional progression in academic veterinary medicine. From undergrads applying to vet school, veterinary students applying to internship, residency applicants, and faculty applicants. We will talk about cover letters, CVs, interviews, how to strategize to position yourself for the next step, who to talk to and when, and all other things related to the business of veterinary academia.