How To Prepare For An InterviewMarch 26, 2015It worked! You sent out your resume and cover letter, and you have a fish on the line! Now is the time to get ready for your interview. Be aware that the practice may want to conduct a phone interview, personal interview and even a “working” interview or observation time. Here are some things to consider: One of the best ways to interview involves behavioral questions, which is founded on the concept that past actions are the best predictor for future actions. So you may be asked questions such as: Next time, we’ll take a look at the face-to-face interview and how to sell yourself to land the job you want! Be ready for a phone call. This may sound silly, but it matters what type of voicemail message a potential employer will hear when they call you. Take a moment to listen to your outgoing messages, at home and/or on your cell phone, and make sure you sound professional — no loud music, obscure messages, lazy grammar, that sort of thing. At least while you’re sending out resumes, you should realize this is someone’s very first image of you. Make it a good one. Keep in mind that a …
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Pets In The Clinic: 5 Instagram PhotosMarch 25, 2015Your job isn't always dealing with clients or patients that don't want to be in your clinic. Some pets seem to love the clinic, like these 5 pets. Working hard this Wednesday morning! #hvc #veterinarian #minipigsofinstagram #pintsizedpiglets A photo posted by Heartland Veterinary Clinic (@heartlandvetclinic) on Mar 25, 2015 at 6:07am PDT BB Basil is working hard at the front desk today. Call him to schedule an appointment. #qvpets #killingly #connecticut #veterinarian #veterinary #vettech #vetlife #ctvet #petstagram #newengland #Massachusetts #plainfield #putnam #killingly #danielson #catsofinstagram A photo posted by Quinebaug Valley Vet Hospital (@qvvets) on Mar 25, 2015 at 1:07pm PDT Chilling on my floor..lol #puppy #puppylove #puppies #chilling …
5 Veterinarian-Themed MugsMarch 19, 2015If you need your cup of coffee in the morning, you need a mug that will brighten your day just as much as the caffeine. Try one of these 5 mugs! This mug from the Blue Fox Etsy shop knows why you went into veterinary medicine. This simple mug from TYDDesigns features a cat design made out of a stethoscope. If your clinic's clients aren't around to see it, this mug from Blue Fox might be perfect for you. This cute mug from Mugxie can be customized for your hair and skin color. If you need more the one cup of Joe, try this customizable tumbler mug from HeartfeltPersonals instead. Have you moved past coffee for this day? You might want to try this cup instead: This glass from WulfCreekDesigns can be made for veterinarians and veterinary students too.
How to Find and Keep the Job You LoveMarch 12, 2015It’s nearly impossible to know when you might want to consider changing jobs, unless you are making the decision, of course, and then it depends on how impulsive you may be! Regardless, it is important to stay “ready to launch” into finding a new job whenever needed. Keep your eyes open. Even if you are “happily married” to your current job, remain observant about job openings in your profession and region. Stay in touch with your state or provincial VMA at a minimum. If you are a veterinary technician, you should also continually review the classifieds for your technician association. By doing so, you will not only be one of the first to spot a great opportunity for advancement, but you’ll also get a feel for the supply and demand for employees. For instance, if you notice a continued or sudden increase in practices looking for credentialed technicians, you’ll know that the demand is high and supply may be low, so you could ask your current employer for a more competitive wage and/or benefits, knowing that it will not be as easy to replace you if you decide to leave. Pay particular attention to any wage and/or benefits mentioned …
4 Tips for Hiring Veterinary StaffMarch 9, 2015Whether you are just starting your own veterinary practice or you are looking to replace or expand your practice, hiring is an essential part of running an efficient practice. With an employee costing 1 ½ to 3-times their annual salary and some employees taking up to five months to reach break-even productivity, according to Investopedia, making sure your next hire is the right one is essential to your practice’s longevity. Have you looked at how your practice selects the best candidates? Here are some tips to help your veterinary practice reduce hiring time and increase the amount of time you can spend growing your business by better serving new and existing clients. Focus on Soft and Technical Skills When Hiring While having the necessary education and licensure for a technician or veterinarian is necessary for competency, looking at the complete skill set of a potential hire is equally important when making a successful hire. “For a technician, you look for a person with good technical skills: Being able to put catheters in, being able to intubate animals, being able to setup a patient for a radiograph is what I look for in a vet tech,” says Dr. Philip …
7 Things That Will Kill Your Employee's MotivationMarch 9, 2015Almost every new employee brings a high degree of motivation to: Be the best they can be Contribute to your practice Learn new skills Get along with other employees Remain with your practice for the long haul “I Love My Job.” The challenge for practice leaders is to build on that initial motivation, and to create an environment where motivation grows deeper. Eventually, a sense of motivation can blossom into an attitude of loyalty and commitment. This reminds me of a scene at the altar of a wedding I once heard about. When the groom started patting his pockets as though looking for something, his best man asked, “Did you forget the ring?” The groom worriedly answered, “No, I think I’ve lost my enthusiasm.” Looking back on 36 years of leadership in veterinary practices makes me wish I had researched and written this article many years ago. No, I didn’t make all the mistakes all the time, but my leadership could have been better, especially in the area of keeping team members motivated. A lot gets written about how to motivate employees. But what about the flip side; things that kill motivation like weeds choke out a vegetable garden? Killer …
Why are Technicians Late for Work?March 5, 2015After months of polling the technicians we work with from various clinics and online (with the help of a Facebook page for technicians, “Vet Techs United”), we have come up with a collection of the funniest or craziest reasons they’ve arrived late for work. Here is a true story, narrated by a technician at one of my practices on a day we had a TPLO scheduled at 9 a.m.: “I woke up late but still wanted to go to the gym. I quickly gathered up my gym bag, and out the door I ran. I had a successful ‘express workout,’ feeling good about myself. Time to hit the shower. And that’s when I realized that not only did I pack two scrub tops and no pants, but also no fresh underwear. OMG!!! So I have to put on my sweaty gym clothes back on. I rushed home to spruce up and get dressed. “Once I got to the clinic, my TPLO patient had backed up his rear end up to the cage door and unloaded the smelliest and most disgusting blackish diarrhea, which stunk up the entire kennel. With a deep breath and some assistance from my great teammates, we …
Is it Possible to Avoid Compassion Fatigue?February 26, 2015Once again, I have been given the opportunity to teach my compassion fatigue classes on the Veterinary Support Personnel Network, which began two weeks ago. While I certainly hope the VSPN students walk away with something of value, it never fails that I also walk away with something of value too! This time around, it has been illustrated to me how, even if you think you are on a career path where you are “safe” from the emotional repercussions of compassion fatigue, really, there is nowhere to hide. Just as a refresher, in human medicine, compassion fatigue is defined as the stress that arises from the clinician’s relationship with the patient. For us, this is the relationship we all have with our families, both the human and the animal members of our family. Based on this definition, you expect compassion fatigue in general practice, where you form lengthy relationships with families and their pets. You also expect compassion fatigue in emergency practice, where the family is dealing with an incredibly emotional, unexpected situation. Even if the family is a complete stranger to you, the sudden and even short relationship is still going to affect the team. In specialty medicine, you …
Practice Makes Perfect — NotFebruary 5, 2015During the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, the world discovered that South Koreans were excellent at archery. According to Reuters, “South Korean archers have won 30 Olympic medals, 16 of them gold, and hold every world record with the Olympic-style recurve bow.” South Koreans approach archery like a martial art. "First they spend months learning the proper stance. Then it’s months learning to raise one arm, then both arms for a couple of months." Students practice “the most basic elements until they had perfected the technique and biomechanics.” As a result, “those kids have six months intensive training before they shoot their first arrow." Meanwhile, how are things done in the United States? We “just stick a bow in their hands right away and then spend the rest of the time trying to break bad habits.” The article concludes: “The more you practice the wrong things […] the harder it is to get rid of [them].” Clearly this approach doesn’t work very well. Just count the medals … “Practice makes perfect” is a classic expression we’ve all heard multiple times, and probably have said many times. Yet it’s completely untrue. It can lead to all kinds of mistakes, including …
Is Your Practice Short-Staffed?February 3, 2015Previous: Are You Supervisor Material? Have you ever come to work, looked around and thought, “Wow, we are fully staffed!” Sound like a dream? Probably so. Most days, in most practices, the staff is “short” due to someone’s illness, child’s illness, vacation, jury duty, maternity leave, funeral … plenty of reasons to not have the full team that was scheduled actually on the floor for their entire shift. I propose a solution to being “short staffed”… we no longer consider ourselves “short,” and simply realize that this IS the entire staff we can expect any given day. So instead of being short most days, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you have an “extra” person clocked in to help! Wouldn’t that be nice — to feel positive for a few days, instead of feeling negative most the time? I may have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Sometimes, some of us are just not that sympathetic when a team member is out sick. How do you know who is unsympathetic? You’ll hear comments such as “she didn’t seem that sick yesterday,” “geez, she was just sick X number of days ago,” “she’s always sick” (even if she’s really on out …
