What Veterinarians Look for when Choosing a New Job

For the month of June, I’m focusing on what veterinary associates – both experienced and recently graduated – are looking for when it comes to choosing where to work. In this part of this series, we will consider the characteristics that draw experienced veterinarians to a clinic.

The most common attribute candidates tell us is most important is a positive work culture, meaning they want an environment that promotes communication, reinforces teamwork, and provides feedback. Here are more qualities doctors are looking for:

• Mentorship – having a dedicated senior veterinarian working one-on-one with even an experienced vet will help the new doctor fit in with the practice more easily, thus helping them become a productive member of the team quickly
• Continuing Education – offering to pay for continuing education and training shows the practice has faith in the doctor being a long-term member of the team
• Developing Skills – even experienced practitioners still have skills to learn or improve at, so by giving them the time to learn and practice techniques will improve the quality of patient care
• Career Advancement – veterinarians want to know there will be an opportunity to move up within the practice, and even have the chance to buy into it
• Modern Equipment – whether lab equipment or medical records, it is important for animal clinics to keep up with technological advances to ease how the staff practices and communicates with patients
• Reasonable Schedule – no one wants to work 24/7, and you wouldn’t want the type of care provided by someone who is overworked, so by offering shifts that are as close to a typical office job as possible will appeal to more doctors
• Dedicated Charting Time – not every clinic offers the luxury of charting as patients are seen, however, those that build time in the day to do so are more appealing to practitioners who don’t want to wait until after the last patient of the day has been seen
• Emergency Backup – many veterinarians, especially those who have several years of experience, no longer want to offer on-call hours, so offering an emergency service when the clinic is closed will appeal to many applicants

If you are not seeing quality candidates showing interest in your search, you might need some help. I’d appreciate the opportunity to tell you how my team has a 93% success rate in bringing quality candidates to our clients within 90 days of the recruitment process. You can reach me by phone or email.