How to Find Veterinary Jobs in the UK

There are many ways to find veterinary jobs in the UK, whether you are seeking a permanent position or work as a veterinary locum. However, if you are in desperate need of such work, how should you go about finding it, and what are the best methods of securing permanent or locum veterinary work within the UK?

Just like any form of employment in any profession, there are a number of alternative ways of finding work, and even if you are a veterinary surgeon or nurse seeking a permanent position, it might benefit you by taking locum veterinary jobs until you get lucky and find the job of a lifetime. In fact, the more locum work you have in your CV, the more likely it is that you will eventually find a permanent job.

That apart, here are some methods you can use to find veterinary jobs in the UK:

Using Professional Bodies and Publications for Veterinary Jobs

Whether you are a veterinary surgeon or a veterinary nurse, you will likely be registered with your professional body and also subscribe to professional veterinary publications that will have an employment section. When using such sources of employment, you will be personally responsible for making contact with potential employers, and setting up your appointments for an interview.

You will also have to ensure that you are qualified for the position offered, and if you are from overseas, that you are qualified and permitted to work in the UK. There is nothing wrong in using such sources, although you will be left to yourself once you see the advert, and you will also likely have large numbers of other vets responding to the same advert.

Using the Press and Local Advertising

Some veterinary practices will advertise vacancies locally, particularly for locum vets and vet nurses, while others will place an advert on the national press. With the former, you will be fortunate to find the advert if you do not live locally to the position or don't read the local press, and with the latter you will again have the problem of multiple respondents to the advert. OK, you may not mind competition, but if you are one of fifty seeking the same job. . .

Using Online Veterinary Employment Agencies

Many veterinary employment agencies, whether offline or online, do little more than provide you with lists of vacancies for permanent or locum veterinary work, and so you remain with the same problems as outlined above. How do you project yourself to be the most suitable for the job advertised?

There are online veterinary employment agencies that that go farther, and act as intermediaries between employers and those seeking employment. When you register with such a veterinary recruitment agency you will be asked for your full details, including your CV, your visa to work in the UK and your identity card, now required for non-EU citizens wishing to work as locum vets in the UK for six months or more.

Once such an agency has your details, they can match you with veterinary surgeries seeking permanent or locum vets - surgeons or nurses. By doing that, they don't inundate their client surgeries with unsuitable applicants, and you will avoid applying for jobs that you would never have a chance of securing because of the requirements of the job.

Experience Requirements of Veterinary Jobs

Some vacancies might not mention these requirements in an advert placed in the press or in professional publications, although local vets will understand them. For example, a veterinary vacancy in Newmarket, whether for a surgeon or a vet nurse, can be assumed to involve a certain amount of equine work, and so, although equine experience might not be a necessary quality for applying, you will likely have no chance against others with such experience or even qualifications in equine veterinary work. Newmarket is a horse racing town, but Yorkshire tends to be farming land, and so veterinary work there will like need some farm animal experience: sheep and cattle in particular - and knowledge of what plants they should not eat!

Qualification, Visa and ID Card Issues

A good online veterinary recruitment agency will keep you right on such special requirements, and will not offer you situations that don't suit your experience or needs - a car and accommodation for example. It will also keep you informed of the veterinary qualifications, entry and work visas, and any other registration requirements needed by overseas vets wishing to work as permanent or locum vet nurses or surgeons in the UK.

Finally, a veterinary recruitment agency will help those seeking veterinary jobs in the UK with income tax, personal liability insurance and other important aspects of working as a vet in Britain. By selecting an agency that acts as an interface between you and the employer, you will have a significant advantage in terms of securing veterinary jobs on a permanent or locum vet basis in the UK over those that try to go it alone.

Further information on finding the most suitable Veterinary Jobs can be found by visiting the Alpha Impact website where you will not only find lots of veterinary jobs, but also essential information for those wishing to work in the UK from overseas.