# How to work for free to get some experience



## littlejon (Dec 11, 2011)

Has anyone done this, what I'm hoping to do is offer my help for free and get some experience at the same time. I live in Sweden and there's plenty of day care centres but I'm a little unsure how to approach them...do any of you guys run day care centres, what would be your reaction to someone offering to come and help out a couple of days a week for free...or have any of you done something similar to gain experience this way.

Any advise please share....I'm willing to do anything to get a little more knowledge.


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## AngelEyes92 (Jan 30, 2012)

It depends, do you mean a child's day care centre? If so, then I would imagine that anybody working there would need a CRB check. I'm not sure if this is the case in Sweden though. 

Your best bet is probably to either talk to the manager or send a letter, just ask if they would be willing for you to participate in some work experience there, as it is something you would love to do in the future.

Sorry this hasn't been awfully helpful, it's the best advice I could offer.

ETA: Sorry, just realised you mean doggy day care! In which case I would suggest having a meeting with the owner and just explaining that this is something that you would be very interested in persuing an interest in and you would like to gain experience with different breeds of dogs, and see and learn how to deal with dogs with different personalities, also dogs with behavioural issues potentially. Even if you just observe for the first few weeks, and then help out a bit later on. 

HTH.


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## bestforpets (Jan 17, 2012)

I think that if you are honest about why you are wanting to gain the experience - ie to become more confident around differents types/size of dog etc before starting your own dogwalking business, then they would certainly be willing to talk to you. If I was them I would want to see how you interracted with the dogs and explore the level of knowledge you currently had before agreeing to anything and also to ensure that you weren't coming on board simply to take all their ideas and set up locally to and in competition with them. You would also need to discuss insurance with them to see whether you would be covered under their policy or whether you would need to get your own. At the end of the day their first priority must be to ensure that the dogs in their care are safely looked after.

Generally though I would think busy day care centres would welcome an extra pair of hands. From your point of view too, make sure that you will be properly supervised and will gain the right sort of experience - don't be used as free labour with no opportunities for learning.

Phone 2 or 3 so that you have something to compare against. Good luck!


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## littlejon (Dec 11, 2011)

AngelEyes92 said:


> It depends, do you mean a child's day care centre? If so, then I would imagine that anybody working there would need a CRB check. I'm not sure if this is the case in Sweden though.
> weeks, and then help out a bit later on.
> 
> OOh no no, that made me chuckle (sorry)
> ...


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## Clairey1234 (Apr 3, 2012)

in england, places like that are always on the look out for voluntary staff. 

as the others said, approach them and explain your situation. i'm sure there will be one company out there who would be in need of you and they would be very grateful


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## littlejon (Dec 11, 2011)

Thanks everyone much appreciated, I sent an email to a dog shelter to see what they say regarding helping out...I will call them too if they do not respond to try and get a little more understanding how such thing's work.

Sweden can be a strange place when your offering your help for free, mainly not being fluent in Swedish, although most speak very good English.

I'm hoping a profit making company will be more open to the idea.

Tak.


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

Hi there,

You could also gain valuable experience abroad. I volunteered at a shelter in Spain and met a lot of friends that had come from Sweden. The swedish website is "SOS Animals -Arbetar fr att hemlsa hundar i Spanien ska f en ny chans i livet." - the people who run the charity speak great English.

The UK site is SOS Animals UK - dog rescue - Home and the spanish one is SOS Animal Rescue Centre

Best of luck


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## littlejon (Dec 11, 2011)

Tapir said:


> Hi there,
> 
> You could also gain valuable experience abroad. I volunteered at a shelter and met a lot of friends that had come from Sweden. The swedish website is "SOS Animals -Arbetar fr att hemlsa hundar i Spanien ska f en ny chans i livet." - the people who run the charity speak great English.
> 
> ...


wow thanks, that is the sort of thing I would love to do..thank you so much...


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

I can definately reccomend it! I had the best time of my life there, and have adopted one of the dogs I met in Spain.


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## littlejon (Dec 11, 2011)

Tapir said:


> I can definately reccomend it! I had the best time of my life there, and have adopted one of the dogs I met in Spain.


Hi I'm going to have a good look at there web page, would it be ok if I ask you some questions later..? about it.


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## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

Not a problem


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