Team VPJ

As the world starts taking puppy and kitten and duckling steps back toward some semblance of normalcy in varying degrees around the world, for many the challenges have been a wake-up call. Veterinary nursing is a calling and the passion and care that our Veterinary Technicians and Nurses display, often the front line of veterinary care, is to be admired. No practice can exist without your compassion, commitment and knowledge. The personal rewards are to be cherished, but the reality is that we all have to live in an ever-expensive world. It’s not until you step up a few rungs that your income starts to meet your lifestyle and gives you that little bit more to build a buffer for the unexpected be it car repairs, family support or yes, a pandemic. So to help you make that next step or three in your career, we asked some of the leading Vet Nurses and Technicians around the world who have achieved personal, professional and financial success, to share their advice on accelerating your career.

Given the generally recognised shortage of Veterinarians, Veterinary Technician and Vet Nurses, particularly in regional areas, attracting, retaining and developing your team has never been more important. Whilst focusing on retention and development is essential, when it comes time to recruit your next team member, as an Owner, Partner or Practice Manager, today you have to pitch yourself and your practice to potential candidates. An effective job ad, or Job Campaign as we prefer to describe it, is not just a job description and a list of equipment. Today it must be a carefully crafted message aimed at reaching, attracting and engaging the best qualified candidates for your job.

If the term “networking” makes you think of people in suits, all wearing “Hi, My Name Is…” labels, scanning the room for influential people to talk to, as you stand awkwardly in the corner, you are not alone. However, modern networking is actually not a painful process, and it can have significant impact on your career prospects. Here are five easy ways you can boost your veterinary career without the awkwardness of name labels!

Today it’s not just about a paper or e-resume. Employers have the opportunity to gain a richer, deeper, three-dimensional view of candidates via Social Media. And you have the chance to really stand out for that perfect job if you apply some street-smarts and a little Social Media magic. You need to market yourself across multiple media platforms to attract the attention of the very best potential employers in this industry, and to secure that dream Veterinary career opportunity. So, having made the big decision, it’s now time to start working on your Social Media Veterinary Career Strategy…

You already know that working as a Veterinary Professional is one of the most rewarding jobs there is. Of course, we also know that at times it can be the most frustrating job, and mostly we just grin and bear the down times, recognizing that the highs are always more than the low moments. But when the days start to become a grind and outnumber the good times, it can be challenging to keep your spirits up. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, it is time to move on…

As a caregiver you are rewarded in your field in special ways. The ability to heal and help is virtuous and important. You dedicate your life to this work knowing that the magnitude of your efforts and the outcomes are genuinely rewarding at the most satisfying level. But you also know that it can come with great internal costs – vulnerability, occasional helplessness and that there will inevitably be a small number of failures, even if they are often out of your control. So, if you are finding that your days are not as sparkly as they one were, that kittens don’t make you smile quite as often or that a senior dog still vigorously wagging their tail doesn’t make you feel as warm inside as it once used to, you may well have Compassion Fatigue, the emotional and physical exhaustion that often leads to a diminished sense of satisfaction in both work and life generally.
Exploring these suggestions may help you return to being vigorously passionate about your profession…

Whether you’re a fresh-out-of-university graduate Vet, an experienced Emergency Veterinary Surgeon with decades of expertise or a Vet Technician with oodles of practical knowledge, when it comes time to make your next career step, your Resume* must include these 6 critical elements. Just like any form of advertising, you only have about three seconds to engage your audience and get them to explore further, so your Resume has a lot of work to do in a very short time. Including these 6 key components will help you clarify your approach, ensure that you focus on your key skills and accomplishments, and craft a CV* that will make sure you stand out from the crowd…

We asked our worldwide network of over 251,000 Veterinary Professionals a simple open-ended question “If you were fortunate enough to have two job offers where the salary, benefits and location were similar, what other things would influence your choice?” and as you can imagine the answers were wonderfully diverse. For some it was cookies at morning tea, others could be persuaded by team massages and one very creative one had to do with the artwork in the practice. However, when we started to assemble the data we quickly began to identify five streams that stood out above snacks, kneading fingers and paintbrushes…in this order of priority…