Veterinarian nurse Yvonne Divers has reached the pinnacle of her career from a workplace training start by building on each of her qualifications over time, possibly because there were very few options when she started out.

“I did my Diploma of Horse Breeding when I left school, because back in those days, that was the only course that had sort of anything to do with horses,” Yvonne said.

“I loved horses; I wanted to do something around that, so I started with that one.

“Since then, I've done a Certificate III in Equine Nursing, then Cert IV in Vet’ Nursing, then I did a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology, and also a Bachelor of Business.”

Her first qualification was done at what is now the Epping Polytechnic, and in a parallel trend, education suppliers have grown in number as well.

“Back then, the diploma was the only course on offer in the VCAT guide, but now there is a broader range of courses and suppliers, such as GOTAFE in Wangaratta, Open University, and Kangan Batman TAFE.”

Yvonne began working for Lindsay Park head veterinarian David McKellar as she began the Certificate IV which was a prerequisite for her first bachelor’s degree.

This is all a lot to fit into a working career and has taken close to twenty years.

What would you say to a young Yvonne?

“Do it. Just do it,” she said.

“You now have got to have a Cert II to build up into those higher certificates, but a lot of people are getting loads of workplace RPL (recognition of prior learning) type of experiences that they can present as prior learning, which is great.”

Yvonne says the biggest advantage to workplace training is the continual hands-on learning related to what’s physically being done.

“I found that it really consolidates what you're seeing in the workplace, and I had a better understanding of everything that I was seeing and being exposed to in my workplace.

“There are a lot of free courses and once you get to the Cert IV in Vet’ Nursing, it is actually free.”

Although Yvonne is passing the experience onto others – with a current employee being nurtured toward a Certificate IV – she said it was important for people to choose wisely.

“Do your research, look around, and find your course.

“And work with what's working for you.”