As I type I am currently wrapping up my last ever day at the Vets Now Support Office in Dunfermline. It’s been a fantastic day with almost too much praise to handle (and photos!).  After the weekly Friday morning meeting in which Tina, Abby and myself presented to the whole office(!) Richard proceeded to give us all a glowing review which really made us all proud of the work and the time we had spent at Vets Now. We have all dined like Kings this week with a collection of Dominoes, Subways and Nandos at work, not to mention the storm that my mum has been cooking up in the kitchen every night when I get home; Lasagne, Chilli, Coq au Vin, Sausage Casserole…it’s fair to say that I will be renewing  my gym membership this weekend! Like everyone else I cannot believe that eight weeks have come to an end so soon, this experience has met and exceeded expectations and I cannot wait to spread the good Saltire word over these coming months to all next year’s hopefuls! As cheesy as it may sound, I remember attending one of the introductory lectures back in January where Claire Wilson made the point that it was ‘so important to just apply because it could be ‘you’ that gets through’, now I’m normally one of those people whose response would be ‘Yeah, Yeah’, but this time I really did think what if it was me?! And look where that has got me: an amazing eight week placement under my belt with one of the most exciting and entrepreneurial growth ventures in Britain, with an open invitation to return.

I realise that I did not blog last week; however I was unfortunately hit with a pretty bad ear infection which resulted in me having to miss a few days at the office. I was so aware of my last few days that were approaching that I ended up doing as much as I could while I was at home to keep up-to-date. I needn’t have worried though as this is where the caring nature of Vets Now really shines through, as long as I was feeling better seemed to be the main concern and even when I returned to the office I was still to assure them that I was ok. This caring nature of course has mirrored all the experiences that I have had within the company. The companies motto also emulates this nature; “Improving the Lives of Vets and Pets”, all employees are to ask whether what they are doing in their job will achieve this motto and if it does not then it is not likely that it will fit into the Vets Now family.

As my project comes to a head, I have sitting in front of me my 60 page business proposal masterpiece…with slides of course! I am also due to make my presentation to the managing director in 10 minutes!! By the time you read this however it will all be over. I have learnt so much in my time here; but most of all I have gained a taste for real business experience and I am hungry for more. I mentioned in my talk this morning, that I have so often heard in my university classes that ‘bigger corporate type’ companies are trying to install a more entrepreneurial approach to their working practices, by encouraging their employees to contribute ideas and opinions in the workplace as opposed to ‘just’ getting on with the job in hand. Vets Now is a perfect example of this in practice; there seems to be new projects and ideas being trialed and explored all the time and as a result many of the functions are integrating all the time and not sticking to their job description. This has provided me with a good idea of the type of working environment I would like to work in or even create myself in the future!

I can’t wait to meet up with all the other Saltire interns once we’ve completed our journey…I can imagine that will be a good night out ;) I just want to wish all the Saltire interns  who are still on their placements the best of luck as they near the end, I promise the best few weeks are still to come as you become to feel more and more a part of your host business family, and to all those that have finished…we did it!

p.s. Just had my presentation and it went well! :)

'A Dog A Blog'

So the final blog, brings the final dog! And I have left the best 'til last.....this is Harvey :) Harvey is nine years old, a cocker spaniel and comes from France. His owner Alison lived in France for 6 years and picked him up one day from a market they were visiting...what a find! I know you shouldn't have favourites but he has been mine. This is the most loyal and loving dog I have ever come across, he is inseparable from his owner Alison; one of the pictures below shows him curled up outside one of  the rooms Alison was having a meeting in, just waiting for her to leave. This made it even more worth while when Harvey came for a cuddle and a tickle and this dog LIKES attention. If Alison ever gives any attention to another dog Harvey is straight in there vying for her attention instead! Us interns have also noticed a slight swagger to the way Harvey walks but we think that this could be down to his French Va Va Voom! You might notice from the photos that Harvey looks slightly different from one to the other...he got a haircut! 

Well that's all folks, I'm sure we'll all meet soon!

Claire xoxo