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What’s your name, and - if you are comfortable sharing - which graduating class were you from?Jenny Hammond – Class of 2000 (but not Glasgow .. Cambridge), I did my internship at Glasgow in 2005 and have stayed ever since.
What do you do at the moment?
I work for the University of Glasgow as a Senior Lecturer in Veterinary education.
What did your pathway look like, and how did you get your current job?
I moved to Glasgow after graduating in 2000 to be near my husband who was studying at Glasgow University. Initially I found it hard to get a job and I worked for 6 months doing nights in a 24 hour shop and picking up some ‘seeing practice’ in local practices. I was offered jobs by two of these and chose to start work in a Small animal practice just outside Glasgow.
Although the first year in practice was really hard work and often stressful, I did really enjoy working in small animal practice and it was great to get to know the clients and to see my clinical, surgical and communication skills develop over time. It was a sociable practice and I was well supported. I felt I still had more to learn and chose to apply for internship positions; starting a rotating internship at Glasgow in 2005 – again it was very hard work and long hours, but I learned a lot and it was a good chance to think about what I did (and didn’t want) from my Veterinary career.
I took 6 months out (having saved up with some locum emergency vet shifts) to travel and see some of the world; returning slightly earlier than planned to take up a clinical lecturer post at Glasgow supporting final year students on their small animal charity practice rotation. By then I had identified that, although I enjoyed my work, I didn’t want to have a job that took up all my time, and as this was a term-time only position I would be able to do other things during the long Summer break. I loved teaching and really enjoyed working in the charity practice setting, staying in this role for 8 years (minus two stints of maternity leave).
Why did you choose to move away from clinical work?
I would have been very happy to stay in that role long term, but new opportunities emerged in education and I was keen to develop this side of my role; initially there was a secondment to work on developing a new Vet curriculum and eventually a PhD in education.
At first I continued to do some clinical work, but by then I was working part-time (4 days a week, School term time only) and I decided that something had to give, so I chose to move on from clinical work and focus on Veterinary education, which meant I had time for all the other things that come with family life.
What is the best part of the job?
I get a lot out of working with students – hearing about their backgrounds, experiences and seeing them develop. I also really value my colleagues and feel very fortunate to work in some great teams and to have such a varied and intellectually stimulating role.
This job may not be for you if…
You are easily frustrated by the (often slow) processes of big organisations, don’t enjoy solving problems (this is now a big part of my job) or having a very full inbox.
Do you have any words of wisdom for other alumni?
Everyone’s experiences and preferences are so different that it is difficult to give advice, but based on my own priorities and experiences I would say to stay positive, be open to new things but think carefully about what you real priorities are in life and make sure you are making choices which line up with these, rather than trying to meet other peoples expectations.