We asked our worldwide network of over 308,000 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?”. As you can imagine, the answers were wonderfully diverse! For some, it was cookies at morning tea, whilst others could be persuaded by team massages, and one very creative answer was in regards to the artwork in the practice. However, when we started to assemble the data, we quickly began to identify five themes that stood out above snacks, kneading fingers, and paintbrushes…

Many veterinary professionals – Vets, Nurses, Tech and more – used to dream of spending anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year or two traveling the world, working with animals and locals, as a practicing veterinary practitioner…and then COVID came along. However, with the world slowly starting to open up, and courtesy of two jabs or more (regardless of the flavor), traveling abroad and caring for animals as a veterinary professional can be put back on your bucket list. So, given that this will take a little more planning time than in the pre-COVID days, it’s time to refresh your research and start exploring the options once more. Here are five ways to still fulfill your sense of wanderlust while keeping your veterinary skills at their sharpest…

Improving your well-being is not as simple as taking a week-long holiday at a health spa, or simply getting more exercise and improving your diet. Though all of these are important to Veterinary Professional Wellbeing (and wouldn’t we all like to justify our own annual spa retreats), stress management and mental health care require fundamental changes to our daily lives. Remember that you deserve to nurture yourself to the same degree that you look after your patients. How do you cope when you are being pulled in so many directions, mentally as well as physically? Here are some essential first steps…

If you have considered a transition to relief or locum medicine, you’re not alone. An increasing number of veterinarians are looking to locum relief work as a way to maximize flexibility and quality of life, while also earning a lucrative income. Relief medicine appeals to a wide variety of vets, from parents wanting more time with their children to young vets seeking time for travel and adventure, and more. Before making a transition to relief or locum medicine, you should understand what working as a relief vet actually entails. How will your days flow, and what will be expected of you? So, to help you out here is a day in the life of a locum relief vet…

As you approach five years into your career as a veterinarian, it’s time to step back and do some reflection. Take a few moments to carefully consider what you have learned, how your job has impacted your worldview, and how you’ve managed to balance your work responsibilities with social or family obligations. You probably don’t need to be convinced of the importance of self-evaluation. After all, you have been pushing yourself since your pre-vet days. Even as a practicing veterinarian, you likely work hard to keep up with evolving technology and techniques. You may put in long and irregular hours, either at the clinic or at home with your nose in reference books and veterinary journals, all in the continued quest for personal and professional development. Five years into your career, you’ve earned your chops and gained confidence in your work. Now it’s time to take a step back and take a big-picture view. What’s ahead for your career? What are your goals in your personal life? Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Now that we are beginning to see some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel and we are settling into a ‘new normal,’ there are many opportunities to take your career in new and exciting directions. If it seems like every day is the same with that sneaky puppy who presents with a foreign body at closing time, the chronically vomiting cat, or the rabbit who is suddenly inappetent, it may be time to change things up. It’s not that you don’t care about these cherished pets, or about their owners’ peace of mind – we know that you always will. It’s just that, after years of the same routine, some vets find themselves wanting something new; different challenges, new procedures, fresh ways to learn and grow…and with that, maybe a little more balance in their work-life balance too! If you’re willing to explore new horizons with an open mind (which could be quite an adventure in its own right), you’ll find a host of interesting and surprising veterinary careers that you may not have considered, or maybe didn’t know existed, or didn’t even exist at all when you started…

Most veterinary practices are small to medium businesses that don’t run with much spare capacity. This means that things can feel pretty tight when you have a staff member away on annual leave or due to sickness! That’s where locum relief staff comes in. But how do you go about finding the right locum relief veterinary professional – be that vet, nurse, or tech?

Caring for animals as a Veterinary professional and traveling abroad are no longer mutually exclusive activities. Here are five ways to combine your sense of wanderlust whilst also advancing and diversifying your Veterinary career.

Like Liam Neeson in Taken, you have a very particular set of skills, acquired over your career, but unlike Liam, your skills make you a joy for employers and recruiters. But when they look for you on LinkedIn, as 77 percent of recruiters and employers do, you want them to find you and be impressed enough to reach out and connect. And when they do find you (and they will if you follow this advice), they will employ you…possibly not on-the-spot, but if you apply these tips, you will be well on the way to your initial interview…