veterinary technician

veterinary assistant

foster coordinator

camp counselor

event specialist

Humane Society of West Michigan

I worked at HSWM for a little over a year. During my time I worked in the animal care department, and on the adoptions team. **Experience with management really depends on which department you are a part of. My experience in animal care could be a little chaotic, but overall, the manager at the time did their best to make sure everyone had what they needed, though there was a bit of favoritism. While on the adoptions team, my manager was stellar. They are wonderful at encouraging a work-life balance, and frequently check in with the team to ensure we feel secure and have a clear direction for what we are doing. 
It can get a little catty from time to time, as employees in the animal welfare world have an emotionally draining job. Burn out is real, but the staff are supportive in showing up for others when they need to tag out. Overall, it's a pretty great place to work. I enjoyed my time and was sad to go. 
Compensation is rarely satisfactory in a nonprofit, and HSWM isn't an exception, though there is a generous PTO policy for full-time employees. Management does frequent treats for the staff too. 

Honestly wouldn’t recommend working here if you’re looking for a company that cares about their employees, or if you’re looking to advance in the animal field. There is no room for wage growth, or job growth. Management has priorities mixed up and unfortunately employees fall at the bottom of the list unless you’re providing immense profit to the company. Animal care staff is an absolute amazing pleasure to work with, but high turnover. Extremely stressful job, where burnout occurs frequently and not much support given. They do have fun outings occasionally, treats, pto, paid holidays, “okay” health insurance, not much else. The biggest pro is you get to see so many animals and get to make families happy with adoptions. The ability to help other shelters was also very rewarding. I would only recommend if you’re looking for a start off job in animal care, but would not recommend any other position. They also have a very poor organization system and donation system. Priority of HSWM is focused on the wrong things.

One of the first things I was told during my in person interview by the manager is that the kennel staff have very fast turnover…not a positive start to the interview. When I asked why, the manager told me it was due to burn out. After working there and seeing people come and go, I can say it is not burnout. It is the management. I have never seen a company with management like this, with such a divide between the managers and the kennel staff. Our manager set me up for failure on my first day by having someone who had only work there two days train me. This is not right because the manager has very high expectations and since I was not trained properly, I was already set up to not meet these expectations. Our manager consistently talked badly about the staff and spread untrue lies. Our manager had no communication with us other than emails. The job itself was rewarding and the dogs are amazing. I loved working with the dogs and job itself wasn’t bad at all. The management on the other hand was not fair. 

Every place has its downsides, but this was overwhelming. I am not talking about the job itself, the animals are amazing and gave me something to look forward to daily. I truly felt so happy to be able to play such a positive role in the lives of the animals I worked with but, some of the people I worked with were the complete opposite. From yelling 5 inches away from my face to acting as if they were about to hit me, being punished for speaking up, lying about me to people above me, and generally being outcasted. I was treated like absolute garbage; I know I was far from the only person who was given this kind of treatment. 
Any advice to someone who gets hired here, find a good therapist because you'll need it.

A typical day in a summer camp started off with setting up the tabled and chairs. As the day went on and kids came, the group of us volunteers got activities set up and let the kids play with some of the animals as well. It was hard to communicate with the other volunteers but we managed to work together. The management was pretty decent though, our boss was very kind and understanding. The hardest part of the job was communication between the counselors and I. However, the most enjoyable part was having fun with kids and don't forget the animals! The animals I got to visit and even bond with was a time I'll never forget. The job was pretty relaxed but there were times where it became fast-paced.

Small not for profit, gives animal lovers a feel good type of job most of the time. They do a good work for animals. Offers little chance of advancement or pay increase to most employees. 

There has been a considerable change in management and other manpower in the time I've been there, including the time I spent volunteering before becoming an employee.  I've been blessed with working, for the most part, with some really great co-workers. 

Most difficult parts of the job are the emotions involved with the job and the inconsistency of hours or schedules.   

The most enjoyable parts are the humane care of the animals and seeing and being part of the growth of co workers.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Flexible schedule after you’ve been there for some time. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Pretty much everything. Lack of transparency and communication 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Terrible. Messy environment, and I don’t mean from the animals. No standards to enforce accountability or responsibility. Toxic environment. Gossip and back stabbing are constant. Management is very inexperienced and self serving. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Long and stressful with little to no manager support. Very physically and emotionally demanding

Volunteering and being a camp counsilor was super fun and being able to work with the people I did helped me see what working is really about. Being able to have fun with the staff, get to know how things really went and being able to interact with the animals was a huge step up for me. Helping the kids in the camps, making crafts and cleaning up afterwards was amazing. I'm just hoping my first job besides all the volunteering and being in a camp is just as fun as my experiance here

Management does not care about the employees, the pay is abysmal for difficult and physical labor, the only thing that keeps people here is the passion for caring for the animals but if you have bills to pay it's just not enough. Loved working with the animals, and some of the people, but everything else falls short. If you're young and don't have a lot of expenses yet it's a great chance to get animal care experience but there is almost no opportunity for growth. 

stressful environment. would be a very rewarding place to work if the wonderful loving appreciative animals that needed homes ran the humane society instead of the management and higher ups that actually do. donations end up paying for management salaries instead of animals needs.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Veterinary technician 2 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Veterinary assistant 5 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Foster coordinator 2 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Camp counselor 1 salary reported	$12.50 per hour
Event specialist 1 salary reported	$42,500 per year

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