You can't get rid of me that easily
I first came to Waltham on an industrial placement year in 2018/2019 from the University of Nottingham as part of my undergraduate Animal Science degree and later returned after I graduated in Summer 2020.
I first learned about Waltham and Mars in my first year at university and made it my mission to secure my dream industrial placement year, and I was right to do so because my placement year at Waltham was the highlight of my degree, and secured me my first role as a graduate.
I train our pets at Waltham
I am part of a team called Operation Trainers at Waltham, and we are responsible for training our pets to take part in research trials so that we can make a better world for pets. I also record data so that we can see how our pets are progressing in their daily training, along with addressing any specific behaviour needs.
I get to work with cats and dogs on a daily basis
I work on one of our cat units on site, which means I get to interact with our cats on a daily basis and so am never missing out on cat cuddles. I often get to work with the dogs on site too and just seeing their happy faces as they run around one of the off-lead areas here at Waltham always puts a smile on my face.
Work hard and you will be rewarded
If you are willing to put the work in you will always be recognised and rewarded for it. Showing your passion and enthusiasm is a part of this and companies want people who are willing to work had and passionately. These traits cannot be taught, where as you can learn how to carry out a certain technique - for example in my role I can learn how to train a cat for a certain behaviour, but I need to have the initial passion and willingness to work hard for it to be successful.
Securing my dream role
During my placement year I worked as a unit specialist, carrying out the daily care of our pets on side but I also took the time to work closely with the Operations Trainers as this was a role I dreamt of progressing to in years to come.
On my first week of returning to Waltham I interviewed and secured my dream job of an Operations Pet Trainer which was a more senior role to what I had worked as on placement and what I was expecting to return to.
