The St. Augustine Humane Society has partnered with the WorkStarter program for a fourth year while seeking the attention of St. Johns County high school seniors. The Humane Society has been chosen once again to offer veterinary technician and pet groomer training positions for 2021 high school graduates.
Since 2018, The WorkStarter program seeks to create meaningful entry level jobs for high school graduates who are not currently considering further education or career training. The graduates are matched with local non-profit organizations for an employment period of one year and an hourly wage. WorkStarter donates the full cost of the annual employment amount to the non-profit organization with additional human resources to help pursue its goals and the high school graduate receives earnings while demonstrating and further building job skills.
The WorkStarter program is funded through the Big Drawer Fund of the American Endowment Foundation. Since May 2018, WorkStarter has successfully matched St. Johns County high school graduates with the Humane Society and a myriad of local nonprofit groups.
WorkStarter candidates are required to be 2021 high school graduates of any age and may hold a General Educational Development (GED) degree, and other equivalents while looking for a full-time entry-level job in St. Johns County.
The St. Augustine Humane Society has two available positions including a veterinary technician trainee and a pet groomer trainee. For more information, go to the website and apply at www.workstarter.org, and send a resume directly to Carolyn Smith, St. Augustine Humane Society’s executive director at admin1@staughumane.org.
For the veterinary technician trainee position in the Humane Society’s clinic, the accepted participant will begin as an assistant and gradually work to become a vet tech while gaining competency in general vet tech skills and proficiency in all aspects of surgery preparation, surgical assisting and post-operative care along with various clinic administration and management skills.
“If making a difference in the lives of pets is important to you, then this is a great job. The employment outlook for vet techs is excellent,” Smith said. “As St. Johns County continues to grow, there are more veterinarians moving to the area and the need for trained vet techs is at an all-time high.”
For the pet groomer position, the Society Pet Spa is a comprehensive pet grooming salon located at the Humane Society. The program participant will receive hands-on training from the director of spa services and two experienced groomers. As an entry-level groomer, responsibilities include bathing pets and will advance to more complex tasks along with learning how to use veterinary and grooming practice software.
Upon mastery of all the grooming requirements, the participant will receive a groomer’s kit of professional tools, and eventually have the ability to transition to a commission-based salary.
“Opportunities are found in veterinary clinics, large retail pet store grooming salons, independent pet spas, and boarding facilities with an excellent employment outlook as the pet industry continues to grow,” said Smith.
At the Humane Society, the successful candidates are encouraged to display the following characteristics with compassion for animals, attention to detail, good communication skills, responsible work ethics, be a team player, and physically fit to work with dogs and cats.
