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To meet the criteria for award certification, students are required to gain hands-on exposure and experience in the Animal Care industry. We refer to this as workplace practical training or a work placement. The number of work placement hours required varies between courses and so does the type of organisation we work with.
In fact, we work closely with a range of employers throughout Australia including:
If your organisation is interested in assisting with practical training opportunities with our students, we encourage you to complete our form below. Our Student and Liaison Officer can assist you with more details including a downloadable information guide on providing work placement opportunities.
Learn more about what is involved, the mutual expectations of all parties, the benefits to a vet clinic or hospital, plus the next steps to take.
If you run an animal care facility and are wondering how you can assist a student, watch our video to learn more about practical training.
We pride ourselves on the continued high employment rate of our graduates. There are several reasons for this including the quality of our training and the highly respected network of employers we work with. In fact, we are proud to say 93% of our graduates are employed or enrolled in further study after training (NCVER, 2022).
If you are looking for a graduate or a student in training to join your team as an employee, we encourage you to send your job advertisement to us using the form below. We share job vacancies with our students and graduates via our exclusive private Facebook groups.
Depending on the qualification studied by the individual, our students are equipped with anything from basic to advanced knowledge in their chosen area.
Before commencing a work placement, students have read detailed information on expected workplace conduct.
If you are considering a Veterinary Nursing student at your workplace, they have already met a prerequisite which is a minimum of a Certificate II in Animal Care or equivalent skills and knowledge. This means they have recent animal handling skills and introductory knowledge about animal care.
Depending on the qualification studied, our students are asked to gain experience (or knowledge) in various activities whilst at their workplace.
These activities or tasks are detailed in their Practical Skills Workbook. You will be asked to sign off on the Workbook Checklists during the student’s practical training.
If you would like an example of the types of tasks required, please feel free to request one of our Supervisor Guides for more information.
We love it when a student is given an opportunity to gain vital communication skills whilst interacting with clients during their practical training. Although, we understand this isn’t always an option for some workplaces.
If tasks involve working with clients, and you do not wish a student to be in direct contact with a client, that’s completely fine. You can also use role playing to complete a task.
We encourage our students to ‘drive’ their own training. This means they present their workbooks to their supervisor at every appropriate opportunity to review and mentor their required practical skills.
We encourage you to treat an AVT student like a newly employed trainee vet nurse – the more time you invest in the student in the beginning, the easier it will be to make them a very useful individual in a short space of time and make them a valuable and useful “extra pair of hands” to have in your workplace.
We have an amazing pool of talented individuals who have successfully graduated with us.
If you are an employer, we would be more than happy to share your vacancy with our students via our private Facebook groups and guide you with suggestions.
Similarly, if you are seeking to offer a work placement, we can assist you. Simply get in touch with us!
Our Student and Industry Liaison Officer is experienced in working with students and workplaces to ensure everyone has a positive training experience.
If you need assistance, you can either phone and ask to speak to our Student and Industry Liaison Officer during business hours or drop us a line!
Yes, you can employ a student. Being employed during work placement is the biggest compliment our students can receive. We have many students who have taken on paid roles whilst successfully continuing their studies. You also have the option to employ a student once their studies are complete.
We encourage our supporting workplaces to treat our students as a member of the team, not only from a training and mentoring perspective but but also if any issues arise.
If you are experiencing problems with an AVT student, we ask that you approach the student and explain the issues and consequences where appropriate. Issues should then be relayed to our Student and Industry Liaison Officer.
We endeavour to support our students throughout their course but we also want to provide as much support as we can to our partnering workplaces and work together towards a positive outcome.
Melanie is a Vet Nurse from New Zealand, passionate about educating aspiring veterinary nurses and assisting students find their work placements.
Melanie is our work placement guru! Melanie’s super efficient and our students love her because she’s so approachable. Melanie spends her days planning and organising placement positions with our supporting veterinary practices and organisations.
If you have an existing AVT student and want to touch base with us or discuss their progress, get in touch with Melanie.
Chloe brings a fresh perspective and can-do approach to everything she does. She is an AVT graduate and has worked as a Veterinary Nurse with experience in small animal, medical and emergency nursing. She has since worked in development roles, assisting with the integration, training and streamlining of people and processes.
Chloe plays a vital role in supporting our existing network of work placements as well developing new opportunities for our students.
If you are interested in offering a work placement to a student, get in touch with Chloe.
Whether you’re thinking about offering a student work placement, would like to find an AVT graduate for a position at your workplace or would like more information how we work with businesses and organisations like yours, simply fill in the contact below and we will contact you. Alternatively you can contact us by phone during business hours.
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The leader in delivery of Australian Nationally Recognised Qualifications including ACM20121 Certificate II in Animal Care (formerly Animal Studies), ACM30122 Certificate III in Animal Care Services, ACM40818 Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing and ACM40322 Certificate IV in Animal Behaviour and Training.
Applied Vocational Training (AVT) delivers a range of qualifications and short courses for students wishing to pursue a career working with animals.
AVT is a Registered Training Organisation based in Perth, Western Australia, providing on-campus and online courses to students studying throughout Australia. More about us →
We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where our campus is based, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and we commit to walking alongside our indigenous brothers and sisters. We extend that respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in our community.
Applied Vocational Training (AVT) is proudly a Registered Training Organisation (RTO 5273).