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Do you intend to work voluntarily with animals on a part-time basis, or do you want to apply for a full-time position? Using our free animal care worker CV template will help you arrange your educational qualifications and relevant job experiences in an easy-to-follow and correctly formatted manner.
Our guide covers everything you need to create a CV and includes the following:
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Animal care work CV sample
Albert Hamilton
21 Guild Street
London EC2A 7TA
07912345678
Albert.Hamilton@example-example.co.uk
Professional summary
Caring professional with keen sense for identifying animal behaviour and addressing needs of animals. Organised in planning exercises to keep animals healthy. Maintains calmness and composure in managing emergency situations.
Work history
February 2020 – Current
Bark Dog Hotel – London
Animal Care Worker
- Performed thorough daily cleaning tasks including sanitation of enclosures and surrounding areas according to endorsed internal policies and procedures.
- Dried animal coats using stand dryers, blasters and finishing dryers.
- Assessed animal behaviours and conditions, tailoring treatments to suit.
January 2018 – February 2020
Happy Tail Rescue Centre – London
Animal Care Assistant
- Thoroughly assessed animals for existing injuries and conditions upon arrival to ensure consistent care was administered.
- Performed thorough daily cleaning tasks including sanitation of enclosures and surrounding areas according to endorsed internal policies and procedures.
- Monitored animal grooming trends to meet customer demand.
Skills
- Animal behaviour assessments
- Large animal care
- Animal rehabilitation
- Dangerous behaviour management
- Animal safety
- Exercise techniques
Education
London College London
Level 1 & 2 – City & Guilds Diploma in Work-based Animal Care
Which format is right on a CV for animal care worker applicants?
Getting the format right for your CV is essential as this provides a clear and concise record of your work history and education. Fortunately, it’s pretty simple to get started. Recruiters prefer the reverse-chronological order format. This means starting with your most recent job and qualifications first.
Your animal care worker CV format should include a variety of elements. These should be formatted with your contact details at the top, followed by the personal statement, work experience, skills, and qualifications.
Writing in a skills-based format is also acceptable if you are applying for an entry-level position. This highlights learned skills from education or other roles if you don’t have extensive experience related to the job.
How to write a CV for an animal care worker
With the correct format, writing your animal care worker’s CV is the next step. But, understanding how to write a CV is essential to set the right tone and making a good impression.
The most important tip is to keep things simple, including both the words you use and the structure of sentences, and don’t be tempted to exaggerate or lie on your CV. Recruiters will always find a way to catch you out if your CV isn’t factual.
If you’re looking for more guidance, our step-by-step guide takes you through the steps to complete a professional CV. It includes:
- How to add contact details to your animal care worker CV
- Start your animal care worker CV with a personal statement
- Tackling work experience on a CV for an animal care worker
- Great skills to add on your animal care worker CV
- How to add education to your animal care worker CV
How to add contact details to your animal care worker CV
Your contact details go at the very top of your animal care worker CV. This section is simple to get right, but you need to include several important points for recruiters. This ensures they can contact you with job details and interview appointments.
The contact details section should include the following:
- Name – Leave out nicknames
- Address – Add your full address and postcode
- Phone number – Include a mobile number or home phone you have access to
- Email address – Use a work-appropriate email
Example of contact section for an animal care worker CV
Angie Caring
25 Your Street
Padstown
UJ89 5GB
0123 4321 5644
angiecaring@example.co.uk
Start your animal care worker CV with a personal statement
Your CV should give recruiters an insight into your background. However, giving them details about your attributes and personality is also essential. That’s where a personal statement can help. This is a short paragraph that gives you an opportunity to present yourself concisely.
Some tips on writing this section include:
- Detail what you offer – to do this, write in the third person
- 3-4 sentences are ample
- Use positive words such as “empathetic”, “flexible”, and “reliable”
- Include skills and achievements if necessary
- Highlight expertise if relevant such as “administering medication”.
Example of personal statement for a animal care worker CV
Hardworking, reliable individual with a love of all animals. Good team player that can follow instructions when working unsupervised. From school age, carried out volunteer work as a local animal rescue centre after school hours and at weekends.
OR
Dedicated animal care worker with 10 years’ part-time experience in a care centre environment. Experienced in dog walking, cleaning kennels and catteries, feeding the animals and general work around the kennels and cat centre. Now seeking a full-time placement to expand knowledge in animal welfare.
Tackling work experience on a CV for an animal care worker
Detailing your work experience is one of the most important sections on an animal care work CV. This is often the most prominent element as well. In this section, you need to include relevant aspects of your career. Plus, it needs to be in reverse-chronological order – starting with your most recent post.
Details to include are:
- Start and end date
- Job title, employer and location
- Write 3-6 duties for each job
This section often contains a lot of information, so be careful not to write too much. It needs to be concise and clear, so don’t overlap duties or tasks. For example, if you have experience cleaning kennels in one position, perhaps include your knowledge of animal grooming in another.
Example of work experience for an animal care worker CV
Animal Care Worker, RSPCA Padstown (voluntary work), Surrey. June 2019 | Present
- Dog exercising
- Animal welfare
- Feeding animals and cleaning accommodation
Animal Care Assistant, Padstown Cat Sanctuary (voluntary work), Surrey. April 2017 | June 2019
- Helping with new arrivals
- Preparing cats for veterinary visits
- Cleaning of cat accommodation and runs
- Feeding and watering cats and attending to their general wellbeing
Animal Care Assistant, Padstown Dog Rescue Centre (voluntary work), Surrey. July 2014 | March 2017
- Dog walking
- Kennel cleaning
- Feeding and watering of dogs
- Completing new arrivals paperwork
- General duties around the centre
Great skills to add on your animal care worker CV
Working with animals is a rewarding and exciting career, and it requires individuals to have a diverse range of skills. Day-to-day duties may differ, and versatility is essential, so highlighting your skills will let employers know how you’ll fit into the position.
Excellent CV skills to add include:
Essential skills for an animal care worker
- Experience with animals
- Good physical fitness levels
- Knowledge of health and safety
- Team player
- Adaptive
Desirable aptitudes to set you apart
- Empathetic
- Reliable
- Organised
- Willingness to learn
- Flexible
How to add education to your animal care worker CV
While animal care workers don’t require specific qualifications when applying. It’s helpful to have a good standard of education, such as GCSEs. Some employers may also request a college diploma in a related area.
When detailing your education, it’s important to include the following:
- School, college, university or training provider
- Year of qualification
- Level of qualification, for example, GCSEs, NVQs
- Subject or course title – you don’t need this for high school courses
Example education section for an animal care worker
Example College, Padstown | 2012-2014
Level 1 & 2 – City & Guilds Diploma in Work-based Animal Care
Any School, Padstown | 2007-2012
GCSEs in Maths (B), English (B), Science (B)
Top dos and don’ts for animal care worker CV writing
DO
Do include a cover letter
A cover letter is an ideal way to tell employers more about yourself. This is especially helpful for candidates applying for entry-level animal care worker jobs with little experience. Here you can add aspects such as attributes, passions, and skills learned in previous roles. However, it’s important to keep it relevant to the job you’re applying for.Do tailor your content to the job role
Everything on your animal care worker’s CV should be tailored to meet the job description. Be sure to read about the job, employer, and person specifications, and match your experience to this wherever possible.
DON'T
Don’t go overboard
Your animal care worker’s CV should contain all the relevant information you need to showcase your work history and background. But it’s not the place to talk about absolutely everything. There’s not enough space, as a CV should be no longer than two pages long.Don’t leave gaps in your employment history
Unexplained gaps in your work history can throw up red flags to employers. However, as there’s often a reason for gaps in employment, don’t be afraid to add them. These periods offer experience in other ways, such as travel, maternity leave, or sabbaticals.
Your animal care worker CV questions answered
What are the responsibilities of an animal care worker?
Animal care workers have a variety of tasks to complete day to day. These include:
- Checking and monitoring animals
- Cleaning out enclosures
- Preparing food and helping at feeding time
- Grooming animals
- Caring for sick or distressed animals
- Dealing with the public
- Exercising animals
- Updating and managing records
How do you say you like animals on a CV?
Within the work history section, you can include more personality to your duties to highlight your passion for caring for animals. For example, instead of just saying “feeding animals”, perhaps say “bottle-fed sick kitten and volunteered to monitor health during recovery”. Giving slightly more detail within a short sentence still covers the task but it also adds emphasis to your passion for helping the animals.
What traits do you need to work with animals?
Animal care workers require a range of skills to do this role successfully. Many employers are looking for candidates that consider this a vocation, not just a job, so it’s vital to showcase your personality. The most common traits an animal care worker has are:
- Empathy
- Patience
- Sensitivity
- Adaptability
- Able to work well in different environments
- Ability to remain calm
What qualifications do you need to be an animal care worker?
There are several ways to get into this career, such as apprenticeships, college courses, and volunteering. However, it’s helpful to have a good standard of education, such as GCSEs in English and Maths. Some recruiters also look for diplomas in animal care subjects.
Where do animal care workers work?
Animal care workers are required in numerous organisations such as rescue centres, zoos, kennels, and wildlife parks. The workload is varied, and some duties will involve outdoor tasks. Animals may also require exercising, so physical fitness is also recommended.
Create your own animal care worker CV
Creating your own animal care worker CV has never been easier with our handy CV examples. Build your CV with pre-made CV templates and utilise bespoke content for animal workers and similar roles to improve your chances of job success. Soon enough, your CV will have recruiters purring.
