Articles and advice on employment law and equine careers for jobseekers
Writing an equine CV doesn’t have to be daunting, long-winded or time-consuming, and it will make a HUGE difference to your job hunt. Find out more about the benefits of making a CV and documenting your work history as you go. The Grooms List even offers you FREE OF CHARGE a template to drop all this information into!
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The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment has grown like crazy over the last year or so. We are told we have the best, the easiest to use website & the best service to grooms etc and of course, we are delighted by that…, but we want to do more for you.
It looks like many of you are choosing to register solely with us and not everywhere else so now you don’t have to maintain multiple profiles all over the place, to get the very best from this choice, you need to put the time in if you haven’t already, to get the very best results. Let’s face it, it’s fundamentally what we are all here for, (that and our blogs and the fun on our social media pages of course too we are told).
If you really are a serious job hunter and not just dawdling for your own reasons (?!) don’t get disenchanted about the industry when the wrong things happen or things don’t happen at all – help us to help you and let’s make a start by looking at your Jobseekers Profile…
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It’s an occupational hazzard that when you work with horses, sooner or later you will succumb to ailments and injuries of some sort which may have short, medium or even long term consequences and are specific to our industry. Working with horses + age = creaking gate syndrome, hard to avoid…or is it?
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At any stage in your life, deciding on or changing a career pathway is a very tall order. We have to identify a working life that is enjoyable, that we are not only capable of but are likely to be good at, and that will sustain us financially and provide for our retirement. It’s hardly surprising that so many of us passionate horse lovers opt for a career with horses! So many young horse lovers stand on the threshold of their adult life envisaging a long future of playing with ponies every day and being paid to do it. What’s not to love?! Well, quite a lot actually – living the dream can soon become very disenchanting… unless you do it right!
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So you think you have found the job you have been looking for? That’s great, but WHOA just hold your horses a second… In my experience, interviewing alone can be a very inexact science. Before you shake hands on the deal, I strongly recommend all job seekers and all employers road test each other first with a job trial, at a pre-agreed paid rate of course. This might be the one thing that for you, secures your decision or it may be that you will look back and consider how you really dodged a bullet. Of course sometimes, for some people, a job trial is not always practical, but if it is, move heaven and earth, do yourself a favour and have one. There is nothing like a road test for really seeing first hand if something might be a fit; and you know we are all about job satisfaction and job longevity here at The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Reruitment! Becky has shared some of her thoughts about job trials and of course, I can’t resist chipping in here and there…
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Take a stroll around any yard at feed time and you will see grooms carefully measuring and allocating feeds for each individual horse. Usually, there will be a complex ever-changing board to ensure each horse has a diet relevant to their workload that allows them to reach their peak performance. By contrast, poke your head into the groom’s kitchen, take a peek in the tack room bin, glance in a grooms car passenger footwell and the chances are high there will be great evidence of a less thought out diet. For some reason when it comes to caring for ourselves the trend for living on Redbull and Mars bars still prevails for many grooms. Yet it makes no sense! If our end goal is to provide the best possible care for the horses in our charge, one of the first steps should be to ensure we are in our best possible form to do that job, and that begins with the fuel we use to power ourselves.
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A good Competition Groom/Travelling Groom is an indispensable part of a competing team, without whom most top riders would not be able to achieve what they achieve in the showring. When a good groom is secured (no need to name names here!) they are undoubtedly the glue that holds things together in the moments that really count, and the moments that aren’t often counted too yet are equally critical to top performances! For those of you considering competition grooming as a career option, or for those of you who have elements of competition grooming within your everyday grooming role, we can help you up your game to big league level, or even assist in getting you “interview ready” for this exciting career move. The earning potential that comes with such a role also has its attractions…read on…
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The horse breeding process, from planning lineage to seeing the youngsters you’ve worked with embarking on their careers, is fascinating and it’s easy to imagine that a career in the stud industry is very rewarding. Afterall, top quality international winners are not bred by chance. Whilst it is hard to imagine that any horse lover WOULDN’T want to work in an environment with foals, as Becky Parker outlines in her tongue-in-cheek look at which equine disciplines reflect your character, not every job within the equine industry suits every horse lover. There are a variety of job roles within the stud industry and this article will focus on that of the Stud Hand – what are Stud Hands and Stud Hand jobs, and who can become a Stud Hand.
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Fresh from the clutches of 11 years enforced education, drunk on your own freedom (honestly guv I’m just really happy), the prospect of earning a proper wage dangled in front of you tantalisingly, it can be tough persuading yourself to think long-term about career planning. The prospect of returning to a classroom for college courses or perhaps a degree holds no appeal for those who struggle with formal education or are just fed up with the confinement of a classroom. Apprenticeships provide an alternative way to achieve formal, industry recognised City and Guilds qualifications with minimum or possibly even no classroom time. Learners are able to ‘earn while they learn’ as the tagline goes. The equine industry is famously fast-paced and physical, and there is unanimous thinking when it comes to the verdict that there is really no substitute for practical, on the job training. An equine Apprenticeship allows you to gain this in an unexploited, structured and planned way whilst also gaining the piece of paper to prove it. Becky Parker discusses the pros, cons and alternative routes into a successful career with horses.
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Job-hunting is not easy, believe us, we know this. Finding the perfect job that matches all your requirements in terms of preferred location, favourite discipline, nice accommodation, chances to ride, or not, welcoming your beloved menagerie of pets and/or significant other too. Sometimes it can truly feel like hunting for a needle in a haystack! So when your equine job hunt finally uncovers the ideal employment opportunity there are a few really silly mistakes you just don’t want to be making.
Here to help as always we bring you a simple guide on what NOT to do.
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The most fruitful horsey careers are built on consideration and planning. Unless you understand some of the key things recruiting employers take seriously, you cannot structure your equine career development to your maximum benefit in terms of getting the best job choices, salary and associated benefits. Taking your first equine job and seeing where life takes you can be quite a ride, but if you stick to this as a strategy, it is unlikely to get the most the equine industry has to offer and it can lead you into some terrible situations too that can stop many a promising career in its tracks. Again social media is full of grooms with stories to tell on that front! In this article, we ask what job longevity means and how it might positively, and negatively, impact your equine career development.
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The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment is delighted to work in partnership with the British Grooms Association (BGA) and Equine Employers Association (EEA). As an equine recruitment agency, by joining forces with these invaluable organisations we believe we can strengthen the professional equine industry by making accurate advice and resources easily accessible to all employers and employees in the equestrian world, in the right way, at the right time…
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There are of course many factors which influence the longevity and success of any working relationship. Between grooms and employers, none of these are more hotly debated these days than that of grooms’ salary and the general package. You don’t have to look too hard on social media to see the disgruntled outpourings from all sides and every day I have conversations which clearly demonstrate much is still left to be done for this situation to become resolved. I don’t pretend to have an answer as to how we raise the income levels of this particular sector, (which is in many ways is similar to many of the “caring professions”) but I believe how and when the topic of salary and terms is covered within the whole interviewing process, if addressed, could have a positive impact on the longer term security of those involved.
In this article, I give both grooms and employers my advice on laying the foundations of long-term, happy, healthy and successful employment.
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Whether to gain qualifications is always a hotly debated topic and many have strong opinions on the subject. There is no doubt about it that the BHS qualifications are prized highly throughout the world and will, especially when combined with additional practical experience, make you more sought after in certain areas of the equestrian job market both at home and abroad. They can be a door opener and an income booster in many situations! We are delighted to have another guest blogger on board to start the review on this big subject….
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It is undeniable that if you work within an equestrian discipline that actually interests you and suits your personality traits and experience levels, then your working life will be much more fun and you will thrive in that role for longer periods of time and to a good level, everything else being equal! I can spot a square peg in a round hole at 1000 paces and, it has to be said, this forms the basis of many discussions I have with both grooms/riders and indeed, employers. This is one of the benefits of using a recruitment agency like ours, as discussed in our recent article Why Use a Recruitment Agency. What is true is that grooming within any discipline requires reliability, consistency, hard work, and initiative. But this week, we take a characteristical tongue in cheek, whistle-stop tour through just a handful of popular disciplines. Becky Parker will ponder the various discipline-specific characteristics and it will remind you of why you suit a specific discipline, or it might help you to finally decide which of the horsey disciplines suit you, or even some of the people you know. See if you can guess which one Becky seems to have a bias towards?!
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By having a 7.5 tonne+/HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) license, and a certificate to legally transport horses (as part of your job, or as your job) you can add anything from circa £200 up to £1000 or more to your monthly wage. If you are a freelance groom to add this service to your skills repertoire can really improve your “offerings” to prospective clients. The outlay required to get these qualifications can be steep for many, but at The Grooms List we have many jobs that come in where the Employer is happy to fund this training in return for a contractual promise to remain in the role for which you were employed for a mutually agreed fair period of time. The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment has negotiated a cracking 20% discount for you or your employer to make this more affordable for you by partnering with a specialised HGV trainer who trains over 200 people per month. They are the UK’s largest specialist vehicle training company, training for some of the UK’s biggest organisations. Becky Parker has done some further research on the nuts and bolts of the subject. You need to read this…
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There are many perks to being a groom, but the greatest perk is the horses themselves. When you work with an animal day in day out it’s not just their beauty, their power or the thrill of going for a good gallop that keeps you hooked. It’s discovering their individual unique characters. The way they amuse us with their antics and the satisfaction we get from watching them learn and progress in their careers, as personalities we have a bond with, not just machines. That’s what makes the job so rewarding. A vital part of a groom’s skillset is the ability to recognise the different personality types and adapt the way they handle each horse to suit the individual. Of course, some horses make our job easier than others. Here are a few examples of the more ‘quirky’ characters you might come across as a groom or employer!
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Several times, every day I am involved in discussions with grooms and employers about salaries. One of the most commonly asked question by grooms in what is considered a poorly paid profession is, “what can I do to get the top end of the salary ranges advertised in your jobs?”. There are some basics you can achieve fairly easily, and any investment in your career will undoubtedly pay back dividends, but you don’t want to make moves and spend money on qualifications and licences willy-nilly. Through a series of articles over the next few months, we will tell you how you could get some serious extra money in your pay packet each month. Bookmark this page to easily access the entire collection of articles as it grows…
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When working with horses, whether as a groom or an employer, we do need to acknowledge the physical risks we put ourselves and others in, often in remote locations. We have all seen the gory pictures, we don’t need reminding and most of us have at least one story to tell. As the first in a series of articles about how grooms can increase their salary, let’s start with the simple, effective, inexpensive and possibly life-saving step – get a First Aid certificate PLUS get a 10% discount on the course fees via The Grooms List! But beyond financial considerations, let’s not forget that we need to look after ourselves and each other. Find out more about options available to you, the difference it makes to your business or career and, of course, claim your 10% discount here!
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At the moment there are so many blogs and articles discussing the negatives that grooms face, I often wonder if we have the balance right. We are always hearing about the grooms perspective and the horror stories encountered, which undoubtedly do exist and need to be aired. BUT….whilst they need to be addressed properly, mature, reasonable grooms will know there are also stories on the other side of things which can range from funny to annoying, to toe-curlingly bad, and sometimes dangerous in the extreme. The following article exploring some groom stereotypes takes a slightly light-hearted look at the other side of employment within the equine industry, poking a bit of fun here and there but nevertheless, a very serious message is underlying. Make sure you AREN’T one of these…!
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