Pet Sitter, Dog Walker
(Female, Age 50) from Woodbridge, NY
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 50 who works as a Pet Sitter, Dog Walker in Woodbridge, NY. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Pet Sitter, Dog Walker |
|---|---|
| Salary | $40,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 40 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | Woodbridge, NY |
| Years Experience | 5 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
Two small businesses providing pet care; feeding, water, bathroom breaks, and exercise. Fun Dog Fitness, TREATS Pet Care Services, provide dog walks, cat sitting, for domestic pets. Services can include medication administration, monitoring of sick or post surgery animals. Typically it is a mid day dog walk, while owners are at work in DC and cannot get home to their condo to let dog out. Sometimes, it is exercise and sometimes overnight stays to monitor their pets.
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Walk dogs mid day. Monitor and report on their overall health and condition at the time of the walk by sending email notes via blackberry and or calling owner to report. Monitor their bowel movements and elimination and report. Monitor health. Feed, water, take for either bathroom break or a longer exercise walk, or a day long off-leash adventure with other dogs, or provide individual or group daycare. Monitor sick, post-surgery and special needs pets vital signs, administer meds, water, feed, provide therapuetic exercise and interventions as specified by owner.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
no benefits
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I interact with others. I don’t work with them. I don’t like depending on other employees. I dislike not having a back up if I am sick.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
Home office, in the field, coffee shop. I like the flexibility. I like not depending on anyone else. I dislike not have any health insurance or 401 k, or other benefits.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 4
Hours: 5
Co-Workers: 2
Supervisors: 3
Job Title: 6
Level of Responsibility: 8
The Actual Work: 7
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
Researching- Asking.
What was the application process?
Resumes, credentials
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes. One-one- face-to face,questions about my experience and expertise, my Certifications, and references. Two interviews.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
The typical ones. Don’t recall.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
NO. Employers don’t really care about individuals otj. Just do the work, don’t complain, don’t ask questions, don’t stand out. There was NO formal training. Not even a real job description, just a list of duties. No investment was made in my understanding by any (owner or general mgr).
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
YES. Certified Vet Asst. through the Fairfax County Public Schools. Lots of reading on my own about breeds.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes. I have a BS and the Certification definitely helped me to have an edge in petcare that other people without my credentials don’t seem to have. i have confidence and skills. I am able to do many things, while many people seem to be only able to manage a few things.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Working part time for a large petsitting company and learning everything that they could about the position in the area they live in. I live in an urban area, 9 miles from DC, so their is a constant need for pet care. Learn as much as you can about different breeds of dogs and cats. Learn about animal medical conditions, dog training techniques, and how to read animal behavior.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Veterinary studies at the local community college, certificate programs at a local tech school: learn the breeds, behavior, medical conditions, terms, treatment.
Take Vet Asst classes. Volunteer at animal shelters, where they train to gain experience.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes.
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Get the training one way or another. Get a certificate program. You must know about how to handle dogs and cats, and other domestic pets (exotics). Volunteer at animal shelters to gain knowledge and authority and comfort with animals.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Not really, no. I am now revising my plan. I have to have a plan A, plan B, plan C. I am starting another career. I need training. I’ve identified RN as an opportunity OR Vet Tech (LVT)as an opportunity for future income and job stability. Maybe both?
What are your current career goals?
Go to Vet Tech school. Become a Licensed Vet Tech.
Finish Nursing Program. Become RN.
Get CSAC training and become a Certified substance Abuse counselor too (in my spare time) as back-ups for earning income no matter what happens in future.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Advertising Sales Account Manager | 1.5 years | 60000 | Advertising sales for monthly magazine. Account management, including billing and collections. Created and wrote ad copy for small business advertisers in Washington DC. Sales account management, new business development. Built up a book of business for the magazine. Created large contact database management system for publisher. |
| Prior Job 2 | Advertising Sales Account Exec | 3 months | 50,00 | Defense News Media: Federal Times News Weekly advertising sales – developed new business with ad agencies and companies, advertising campaigns for print news paper(weekly), and internet advertising. Wrote, created ad copy, proposals. Built contact database management records. |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:2
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3 | Virginia Commonwealth Uni | Bachelor of Sci Mass Communications |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
4 | Vet Asst. | Veterinary Asst Program |