14. Veterinarian

The job

Most veterinarians perform clinical work in private practices and spend more than 50 percent of their time treating small animals, such as dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, rabbits and other animals that can be kept as pets. Some veterinarians work in mixed animal practices, and may also see pigs, goats, sheep and other non-domestic animals.

Veterinarians in clinical practice diagnose animal health problems, vaccinate against diseases such as distemper and rabies, medicate animals suffering from infections or illnesses, treat and dress wounds, set fractures, perform surgery, and advise owners about animal feeding, behaviour and breeding.

Skills

Veterinarians must understand the behaviour of domestic animals and wildlife and know animal husbandry policies and procedures.

Veterinarians should be able to perform medical tests and accurately interpret results, keep training current in use of new medical technologies, and quickly make decisions in emergencies.

They should have an affinity for animals and the ability to get along with animal owners.

Education

Prospective veterinarians must graduate from a four-year program at an accredited college of veterinary medicine with a doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM or VMD) degree and obtain a license to practice.

There are 27 colleges in 26 states that meet accreditation standards set by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Outlook

Employment of veterinarians is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2008.

Job openings stemming from the need to replace veterinarians who retire or otherwise leave the workforce will be almost as numerous as new jobs resulting from employment growth over the next several years.

Related Careers

Animal trainer, Animal breeder, Chiropractor, Dentist, Optometrist, Physician, Veterinary technician

Read this text. Do your notions about the profession of an interpreter coincide with the ideas expressed by these famous interpreters?

I want to be an … interpreter

So, first ask yourself the following questions:

Am I the right type? Can you keep your head when all about you? How long is your concentration span? Heard the one about the interpreter who dozed off and woke up to relay "frozen semen" as "cold sailor"? A very serious mistake could cause an international incident.

How would I dress for work? Smartly and inconspicuously.

Accessories? Dictionary, headsets, briefing notes … and a pen.

Image problems? You won't exist; you will always remain in the background – a voice through earphones or the unnamed third person in press photographs of two heads of stale. Your job can be a high-pressure one. Schizophrenia's almost a professional illness among interpreters, it can be explained by the fact that interpreters 1) must quickly switch languages and 2) detach their personal feelings from the job at a hand.

What are the top skills required? Mastery of two languages; strong powers of concentration, stamina.

Who would give me a job? The European Commission (EC) is a major employer – and holds regular competitions (Civil Service speak or entrance examination).

How much could I earn? Salaried rates vary. Starting salary at the EC is more than Fr 30.000 (per year).

How do I up the pay? Increase the more high-profile work.

What is the current situation? Membership is not obligatory – but the top jobs tend to go to members of the Association Internationale des Interpretes de Conference or the Institute of Translating and Interpreting. Official languages of the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish: of the EU, those of all members' states.

What does the crystal ball see? More demand for the less usual European languages as more countries join the UN.

Where could I wind up? Where you started – as a freelance (but earning more), unless you work as a stuff interpreter and become a head of interpreting service.

Are you still sure that you've chosen the right occupation?

Here are some abstracts from the interviews with top translators vs interpreters, sharing their opinions concerning the very notion of the word "interpreter".

1. Bruce Boeglin (France) and his views on interpreting:

B.B. The experiences before I became an interpreter have been invaluable. I don't think you can be an interpreter without a certain baggage or luggage, if you like, that you carry around, of things that you've learned and forgotten, the way people behave, the things that people know, the things that people say, the customs. All these things have been assimilated and when you go to a meeting you bring all that with you. There are only words I know, but interpretation is more than words.

Do you know that there are two kinds of interpreters? Translators and interpreters? Do you know that translators write, interpreters speak? The translator has all the time of the world, perhaps, the interpreter hasn't. The translator can have his references and consult them. The interpreter can't. The translator takes his work home, when it's not finished; the interpreter must finish when the meeting finishes, etc. Translation for me was really a drudgery, my nature doesn't accept it very easily. Quite honestly! I couldn't live very happily as a translator. If you are a translator, you are an erudite, perhaps, a slow-thinker, it doesn't matter, but a thorough person. An interpreter has to be quick even if he isn't thorough. From the character standpoint they are completely different people. They thought that anyway the translator could sweat away at his desk all morning and then in the afternoon go zipping through a meeting without a hesitation, without an "amm…" or ar…". It was impossible, but what was possible for me was to say, "I'd rather leave the translation section, altogether and go into the interpretation section," which I did. There is some kind of, as we say, mental reactions that have to be trained – to hear and to speak at the same time, but evidently, I think you are wired for it, meaning that you are born with it like music being able to play the piano. You know, some people can just sit down without training and play the piano. They have talent for it. And I think interpreting is the same thing.

Corr.: Clearly, the immediacy of all that can be quite a stressful experience. What about the interpretation itself? What should a young interpreter bear in mind?

B.B.: There are two kinds of interpretation that a young interpreter should know about. One is consecutive, when you speak after the speaker, on other words, you've memorized it or taken notes, and you rebuild the speech. It can be a whole speech. And there is another kind called simultaneous which is you've got earphones on; you hear "Good morning", you say "Bon jour". And the speech goes on, fast or slow, slurred or well-articulated – you follow.

Corr.: What advice would you give to new recruits to the profession now?

B.B.: Oh, I love this profession so much that I … You know, I do have a school here, in New York and I do have young recruits who come along and I do try light the fire in them. And tell them how wonderful it is to start this profession. Not only will you find that you are someone who helps another group of people understand the first party, but you will find yourself… you will derive so much enrichment from it. And you will get such enormous satisfaction in being able to create understanding and to explain things that have been misunderstood otherwise. I don't know any other profession like it and I'm still, still at it.