Animal Care Apprentice Review

I work as part of a team to assist with husbandry and animal care of a variety of different animal species at the university used for behavioural research - birds, fish and invertebrates. This involves providing food and water appropriate to the species, cleaning enclosures and checking the health of the animals - to ensure that animal welfare is of the highest standard.

I have learnt about the husbandry of a variety of different animal species, and the legislation that is in place to protect animal welfare and give the best practice for the care of different species. I have learnt appropriate methods of handling and health checking different animal species, and learnt how to tell when animals are unwell.

I really enjoy my programme, this is because it is very practical and I like to be hands on, and allows me to work with animals. The people I work with at the university are all very interested in animals so the working environment is great for learning new things and sharing interests with other people.

I was the first apprentice of this kind, so there was some learning as we went in terms of what my role would look like - however the training provider was very structured, and my team were very supportive in terms of ensuring that I was given plenty of opportunities in different areas.

My employer is very supportive, I am lucky to work in a close knit team with wonderful people - so on the day to day I can make suggestions for how I would like to develop or things I might like to gain more experience in - and this is accommodated if operational needs allow.

My training provider was excellent, the tutors were all very passionate about the subject which made learning easy, as well as friendly and personable. They were also very supportive to my learning - encouraging me to contact them if I had any issues, making me feel like I could go to them, and giving lots of tailored helpful feedback on assignments.

My qualification is very specific - related to animal technology, and a lot of what I learnt is not directly applied in my role - because I do not work with some of the species that I leant about. However, a lot of it is transferable - and I have learnt a lot about the legislation which applies to all species.

The university often holds department wide events for networking and education, these are in the form of research seminars and also larger departmental events e.g summer bbq, awards ceremonies - these can be social or business. There are also a variety of staff networks eg - lgbtq+ disabilities etc - who hold events.

Yes

The University has such a wide variety of roles and different departments that there is something for everyone. The environment is geared towards learning and education, so you always feel like you are being exposed to new and interesting things. The university is also keen to develop staff, so there are lots of development opportunities.

If you are genuinely interested in a topic, don't be afraid to apply because you are worried that the university is out of your league - I was very worried that I wasn't good enough to apply for the job - but the university is mostly concerned with what you can bring to the role in terms of your passions and interests.