February 2018 – How to job hunt as a student
Happy February everyone! This month has been a good one for me, consisting of an on-call week which wasn’t crazy, a weekend up at Glasgow for Old Boys which certainly was.
As I was catching up with all my classmates up in Glasgow, we did the usual thing of comparing the ups and downs of new grad life, sharing horror stories and generally celebrating the fact we were in jobs we’ve wanted since we were children. However, at least three of my friends have already left their first jobs, with another looking to make a move; all contributing to that oft-quoted statistic of new grads spending on average one year in their first jobs. Between us I think we have come up with some useful advice for those of you starting to think about your futures beyond the safe confines of vet school.
It was about this time last year that I started job hunting in earnest, before interviewing and accepting a position in April. I have friends who found jobs very quickly, and others that took a bit longer looking and interviewing before making their decision. I’m not sure one approach is better than another, when I started looking I asked my vet school mentor for advice, and among the good advice he gave the most pertinent piece to me was: trust your gut instinct. So, if you feel that you’ve found your ideal place straight away, it’s pointless and time consuming to carry on the hunt, unless to prove to yourself that your initial feelings are correct. And if you haven’t found the ideal place then I would say, keep hunting, it is there!
Where do you want to work? The traditional mixed practice job is still there but these tend to be in rural areas. Is geographical location important to you? Do you want to be near friends/family? I personally took the decision that I would move anywhere as long as I liked the job, and this was also the tactic taken by a couple of my friends. While sometimes it feels a bit isolated being somewhere completely new, we don’t really regret this decision. And the feeling of isolation is pretty universal in your first job, even if you don’t live far from people you know. More than one of my friends has said to me, “I wished I thought a bit more carefully about where I was moving to”. Do you like hustle and bustle of cities? Or hill walking? Or the beach? Sometimes being far from family isn’t so bad if you like where you are.
So, you’re browsing the back of the Vet Record, you’ve decided you want to work somewhere specific, or you’ve decided to keep your options open… what next? Here I would go back to what you know and have seen during EMS. What did you like and what did you not like. If you, like me, spread your EMS around many places you have a good idea about what works for you. And be honest to yourself about this! I knew I wanted a more hospital/referral environment. But maybe you liked the pace of a 2 or 3 man practice. Just remember that a 3 man practice has a 1:3 rota and so that means this will drop to a 1:2 when colleagues go on holiday. The more vets, the less often you are on call but does this mean you get to see and do less? Work out exactly what you are looking for and target your applications. Your enthusiasm will be obvious when you’re applying for jobs you actually want.
Next, the interviews. We have basically all come to the conclusion that an official sit down interview does very little to let you learn about the practice and vice versa. “My boss should win an Oscar for the act he put on that day”, one of my friends dryly remarked to me last weekend. Ideally spend half a day or a day there, chat to the nurses and the ancillary staff besides the vets. Do they get on? Does it seem like they make a good team? How well is the interview organised? Did everyone know you were coming? Obviously we can’t help the mad days that the veterinary industry throws at us. But a well organised interview is a good sign, and also shows the practice is taking you seriously too! Also check out practice protocols, how long consults are, what sort of caseload there is and what the clients are like by sitting in in a few consults if possible. Does the practice embody your personal standards of veterinary medicine? Are they forward thinking and open to change? While there is very often no ‘one’ right way to do things, I think you are happier somewhere where your standards match the clinic’s.
Finally, you’ve got the dream job! Or have you?... Sometimes, despite your best efforts, expectations do not match reality. Maybe you’re being treated as a glorified TB tester, maybe that equine work you were promised has vanished, maybe that boss that promised monthly progress meetings has disappeared and barely acknowledges your presence. There is only one solution: voice your concerns. And if they are not addressed then leave. There is no shame in leaving a job that is not suiting you and furthering your education. View yourself as a valuable commodity, don’t be grateful for a job that isn’t fulfilling. Or you will be another statistic: the vet who leaves practice after 5 years.
As I was catching up with all my classmates up in Glasgow, we did the usual thing of comparing the ups and downs of new grad life, sharing horror stories and generally celebrating the fact we were in jobs we’ve wanted since we were children. However, at least three of my friends have already left their first jobs, with another looking to make a move; all contributing to that oft-quoted statistic of new grads spending on average one year in their first jobs. Between us I think we have come up with some useful advice for those of you starting to think about your futures beyond the safe confines of vet school.
It was about this time last year that I started job hunting in earnest, before interviewing and accepting a position in April. I have friends who found jobs very quickly, and others that took a bit longer looking and interviewing before making their decision. I’m not sure one approach is better than another, when I started looking I asked my vet school mentor for advice, and among the good advice he gave the most pertinent piece to me was: trust your gut instinct. So, if you feel that you’ve found your ideal place straight away, it’s pointless and time consuming to carry on the hunt, unless to prove to yourself that your initial feelings are correct. And if you haven’t found the ideal place then I would say, keep hunting, it is there!
Where do you want to work? The traditional mixed practice job is still there but these tend to be in rural areas. Is geographical location important to you? Do you want to be near friends/family? I personally took the decision that I would move anywhere as long as I liked the job, and this was also the tactic taken by a couple of my friends. While sometimes it feels a bit isolated being somewhere completely new, we don’t really regret this decision. And the feeling of isolation is pretty universal in your first job, even if you don’t live far from people you know. More than one of my friends has said to me, “I wished I thought a bit more carefully about where I was moving to”. Do you like hustle and bustle of cities? Or hill walking? Or the beach? Sometimes being far from family isn’t so bad if you like where you are.
So, you’re browsing the back of the Vet Record, you’ve decided you want to work somewhere specific, or you’ve decided to keep your options open… what next? Here I would go back to what you know and have seen during EMS. What did you like and what did you not like. If you, like me, spread your EMS around many places you have a good idea about what works for you. And be honest to yourself about this! I knew I wanted a more hospital/referral environment. But maybe you liked the pace of a 2 or 3 man practice. Just remember that a 3 man practice has a 1:3 rota and so that means this will drop to a 1:2 when colleagues go on holiday. The more vets, the less often you are on call but does this mean you get to see and do less? Work out exactly what you are looking for and target your applications. Your enthusiasm will be obvious when you’re applying for jobs you actually want.
Next, the interviews. We have basically all come to the conclusion that an official sit down interview does very little to let you learn about the practice and vice versa. “My boss should win an Oscar for the act he put on that day”, one of my friends dryly remarked to me last weekend. Ideally spend half a day or a day there, chat to the nurses and the ancillary staff besides the vets. Do they get on? Does it seem like they make a good team? How well is the interview organised? Did everyone know you were coming? Obviously we can’t help the mad days that the veterinary industry throws at us. But a well organised interview is a good sign, and also shows the practice is taking you seriously too! Also check out practice protocols, how long consults are, what sort of caseload there is and what the clients are like by sitting in in a few consults if possible. Does the practice embody your personal standards of veterinary medicine? Are they forward thinking and open to change? While there is very often no ‘one’ right way to do things, I think you are happier somewhere where your standards match the clinic’s.
Finally, you’ve got the dream job! Or have you?... Sometimes, despite your best efforts, expectations do not match reality. Maybe you’re being treated as a glorified TB tester, maybe that equine work you were promised has vanished, maybe that boss that promised monthly progress meetings has disappeared and barely acknowledges your presence. There is only one solution: voice your concerns. And if they are not addressed then leave. There is no shame in leaving a job that is not suiting you and furthering your education. View yourself as a valuable commodity, don’t be grateful for a job that isn’t fulfilling. Or you will be another statistic: the vet who leaves practice after 5 years.
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