As a new graduate of Veterinary Medicine you probably haven’t interviewed for many jobs. Here are a few tips to help you make a great first impression.
What Are the Key Qualities You are Looking For in a Hospital?
List these in advance. Talk with veterinarians who graduated before you. What questions/qualities do they wish they had looked for?
Continuing Education is important. Find out what the stipend/time off is for this. Some states only require CE every two years. If the hospital follows the ‘legal’ limits, they don’t really value education.
What kind of mentorship program do they have? What type of program would be the best for you and your learning style? Create your own. Then see how flexible the hospital is when you request certain training. This is a good indication of what you’ll experience if you work there.
What are your career goals? Where would you like to be in five years? Don’t decide these key factors on the spot. Talk to other classmates and professors. What do they think?
Be Prepared
Be prepared by doing research on the veterinary hospital. This will give you background on who they are about. You can craft some questions around this. It also demonstrates that you are truly interested in the practice.
Look up their website
How professional is it?
What are their stated values? And notice if they exhibit these values during your interview.
See client comments on Google and Yelp
What’s the general consensus? There is always going to be a bad one.
Google the hospital
Look for articles/comments about the hospital.
On your visit, talk with the techs
Try to have a one-on-one conversation with the techs.
Location
Consider your preferred geographical location as well as the attributes, qualities, and characteristics of the hospital.
Be Honest
Be completely honest when answering questions about your career goals and your qualifications. Interviewers know that someone just out of medical school will not be as experience as other veterinarians already in the practice, but you will have the advantage of knowing about the latest drugs and technology that others in the practice may not be aware of.
Salary and Other Tough Interview Questions
If you’re asked why you want the job, avoid focusing on the paycheck and benefits. In fact, you should avoid talking about your salary unless they bring it up first.
The later in the conversation salary is brought up, the more they know about you. They can see more easily the value you bring to the practice.
Tips for answering tough Interview Questions
Interviewers typically save the more detailed interview questions for the middle or end of the interview. They want you to have the opportunity to relax a little bit so that you are able to produce well thought out answers.
They may ask you about a favorite case. Or about a favorite client. Try and think about your answer before you start talking.
Make three points and keep your answer on the short side. Many candidates just go on-and-on hoping to make a good point eventually. The better way is to give them your top three ideas….pause and ask them if you’ve answered the question. You’ll know probably by the look on their face. A good recruiter/career coach will help you with this. Many of the questions are there to see how good your critical thinking skills are. There may be no right or wrong answer.
And finally, expect a question about…
- why the practice should hire you?
- what you can offer the practice?
Never forget that your energy and enthusiasm can be a real plus. Jot down some thoughts about the value you bring to the practice because you do bring value.
Practice But Do Not Rehearse
You want to avoid sounding “perfect” for the risk of sounding fake, so practice with a good career coach to get an idea of the content of your answers.
Afraid of Having a Bad Interview?
If you are afraid of having a bad interview, the more preparation you do, the more confidence you’ll have. Victoria Travis can prepare you for your interview. Most candidates find this interview preparation extremely helpful. They also feel confident and prepared when they walk in for the interview.
The 4 Best Job Interview Questions for You to Ask
- What are 3 things your practice is most proud of?
- What are the qualities of a great veterinarian at your practice?
- What is the one thing that your practice would like to get better at, or improve?
- Where does the hospital want to be in the next 3-5 years?
You can read the full article on best job interview questions, plus get bonus tips on having a strong job interview.
You’ve worked hard and studied thousands of hours to get to where you are now. It’s time to live your dream — and find your dream job!
Alice Carroll says
Thanks for also talking about how the staff should also be scrutinized when planning to find a good pet hospital. I might need to start looking for one that’s near where I live because I recently found a dog that I got really close with in the animal shelter where I sometimes volunteer. I think I will have to adopt him at some point.