Episode #209 – How to Accurately Assess an Animal Health or Veterinary Job Offer
Julea: Welcome to “The Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider,” brought to you by The VET Recruiter. In this podcast, Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary recruiter Stacy Pursell, of The VET Recruiter provides insight and practical advice for both employers and job seekers in the Animal Health and Veterinary industries. The VET Recruiter’s focus is to solve talent-centric problems for the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. In fact, The VET Recruiter’s mission is to help Animal Health and Veterinary companies hire top talent, while helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that increase their quality of life.
In today’s podcast episode, we’ll be discussing how to accurately assess an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer. Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Julea. As always, I’m glad to be here with you.
Julea: Stacy, tell us, why you decided to choose this topic for today’s podcast episode?
Stacy: A couple of reasons, actually Julea. First, the job market is still strong for professionals in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. Animal Health companies and Veterinary companies still want to hire, and the best job candidates in the marketplace are still in demand. Second, not all job seekers and candidates know what they should be doing during the offer stage of the recruiting and hiring process.
Julea: Just to clarify for our listening audience, when you say “offer stage,” you mean when an employer has made a job offer to a candidate, is that correct?
Stacy: Yes, that’s right. The job offer stage is one of the most important stages of the hiring process, right up there with the interview and the negotiation stages. And negotiation often follows the offer stage, so those two are closely linked.
I tell candidates all the time that the whole goal of interviewing with an employer is to get a job offer. Without a job offer in hand, there is no decision to make. They can’t decline an offer that hasn’t been made to them, and conversely, they can’t accept an offer that hasn’t been made to them, either. It’s only when an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer has been made that the real decision making begins for the candidate. That underscores how important this stage of the process is.
Julea: Where would you like to start today, Stacy?
Stacy: I have a list of 10 things that Animal Health and Veterinary professionals should consider when they’re assessing an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer, and I’d like to discuss them one at a time.
Julea: That sounds great! What’s the first item Stacy?
Stacy: Well, the first item is one that just about every professional uses when they evaluate a job offer. That’s starting salary, benefits, and other perks. I’ve written entire articles and done presentations about negotiating salary and benefits after an offer of employment has been made. We don’t have time to go into all of that information in today’s podcast episode, but I will say that a job candidate should have a salary range in mind, in addition to a minimum starting salary that they would accept as part of an offer.
Unfortunately, some candidates get stuck on this item and they focus on it almost exclusively when assessing an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer. It’s important, for sure, but it’s definitely not the only thing that should be considered in this situation.
Julea: What else should professionals and job candidates consider?
Stacy: They should also consider the position title attached to the Animal Health or Veterinary job offer. The most important question they should ask themselves is if the new job title denotes a step up their career ladder or instead is more of a lateral move. Some professionals, especially the top 5% to 10% of candidates in the marketplace, do not want to make a lateral move. In fact, some professionals will not even consider or want to hear about a new opportunity unless it’s clearly better than the job they have right now, and that’s understandable.
Our next two items also deal with the position itself.
Julea: Which items are those Stacy?
Stacy: First, there is the amount of freedom that the person has to implement ideas and affect change while in the position. In other words, what is the freedom you have to make decisions in your job? In addition, how much authority and responsibility are you given to complete projects and tasks on time? If you’re used to having a lot of freedom at your current job, then you’re going to want at least as much freedom if you accept an offer and take a new positon with another employer.
Second is the challenge of the tasks associated with the new position. Many professionals, especially the best candidates, want to feel as though they’re being challenged with their work. They respond positively to a challenge and they thrive in a work environment where they are challenged on a consistent basis. Without those challenges, they don’t feel fulfilled in their work. So you must ask yourself questions related to this item. Will this new position be challenging? Will it be just as challenging as your current job or will it be even more challenging?
Julea: That makes sense.
Stacy: This is a good time to mention that Animal Health and Veterinary professionals need to also be aware of the fact that they’re not just evaluating the job itself when they assess an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer.
Julea: They’re not? Why is that?
Stacy: They’re also evaluating the organization that made the offer to them. It’s possible to have a great Animal Health or Veterinary job offer from a not-so-great employer. There are plenty of people in the marketplace right now who love what they do in their job on a daily basis, but they do not like the organization for which they work. This is not a situation that anyone would want to find themselves in.
This is why a professional must ask themselves specific questions about the employer.
How stable is the company? Is the organization an industry leader? What kind of potential does it have for growth in the industry?
Julea: We’ve discussed this before, haven’t we Stacy? Almost everyone likes to work for a winner.
Stacy: Exactly Julea! Most everyone likes to work for a winner. So if you’re making the move from one employer to another, make sure that you’re making a move from one winner to another.
Julea: Stacy, is this related to company culture at all?
Stacy: Yes, and culture is the next item on our list. There are many things to consider in terms of company culture. For example, is the organization larger than your current employer? Size has a lot to do with company culture. Then there’s the matter of how rigid or flexible the culture is. It could be more corporate or more laid back. Perhaps the members of the team you’re about to join are so connected that they almost consider each other family. Or maybe nothing could be further from the truth.
How the employer has branded itself to you during the interviewing and hiring process should tell you a lot about its company culture and what you can expect if you were to accept the organization’s offer of employment.
The next item on our list is also related to company culture, and that’s the rapport that a new employee would have with their co-workers, their supervisor, and the members of management.
Julea: Chemistry in the workplace is important, isn’t it?
Stacy: It absolutely is! It’s critical in terms of building camaraderie and increasing production, not to mention achieving satisfaction in your job. There have been numerous studies done that suggest that one of the leading reasons that a person leaves their job is because of their boss. Either they don’t have a good relationship with their boss or their boss’s management style clashes with their working style. Or it could just be a clash of personalities. Anything is possible.
This is another example of why the organization itself is just as important as the position when you’re assessing an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer. And this leads us to the next item on our list.
Julea: Which item is that?
Stacy: The work environment associated with the position. Specifically, this involves the physical environment, where you’ll actually be working. Will you be working in an office? Will it be a clinic or hospital setting? With the COVID-19 pandemic still affecting the country and the marketplace, some professionals are working from home or remotely. Will that be a consideration for this position with this employer? Will you have to travel for this role? If so, how often and how far will you have to travel?
This brings up a related consideration, which is the geographic location of the employer. Are they close to your current employer or are you going to have to relocate? If they are hundreds of miles away and you can’t work remotely, how will that factor into your decision?
Julea: Wow, there is certainly a lot of questions and a number of things to consider!
Stacy: Yes, there are. And the pandemic has only added to the degree of difficulty for professionals who are evaluating an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer.
Julea: What’s next on our list?
Stacy: We have two items left on our list, and they’re related to each other. They both involve a professional’s opportunities for growth and advancement. The first relates to their potential for growth within the organization, including the potential for a promotion and/or a raise. No one wants to be stuck in a job where there is no upward mobility or career path. Once again, this is especially the case for top professionals in the marketplace. Because they’re top professionals, they want to do more and achieve more, but they also expect to be rewarded for their hard work and the value that they bring to the organization.
So if you’re considering an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer and you don’t think you will have the chance to move up the ranks at the organization, then you may want to pass on the opportunity and look for something better.
Our last item, which is related to the one we just discussed, is access to personal development. Will you have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and experience if you take this position? Will ongoing training be part of your job description? These are definitely considerations when evaluating a job offer. Ideally, if you take a new job, you want to grow within that organization and also grow as a professional within the employment marketplace and job market overall.
Julea: Stacy, we’re just about out of time. Is there anything else that you’d like to add before we end today’s podcast episode?
Stacy: Yes, I’d like to add one more thing. It’s important for those in our listening audience to not only know which things they should consider when assessing an Animal Health or Veterinary job offer, but also know what is most important to them. There has to be a list of priorities. That’s the only way that you can truly weigh the pros and cons of an offer and make an informed decision, hopefully the right decision, for yourself and for your career.
Sure, everyone wants more in terms of starting salary and benefits, but what about the other items that we discussed today? How important are they when it comes to making a decision about the next step that you’ll take in your career? Ideally, these are all questions that the members of our listening audience will already have answered before they receive their next job offer.
Julea: Stacy, thank you for all of this great information. Before we end today’s podcast episode, I have a question for you. Not only have you been a recruiter and a search consultant for more than 20 years, but you’re also considered an Animal Health key opinion leader and Veterinary key opinion leader, is that right?
Stacy: Yes, that’s correct.
Julea: Why is that so important and why does that set you and The VET Recruiter apart from other recruiting firms?
Stacy: I have seen quite a lot in the marketplace during my time as an Animal Health recruiter and Veterinary recruiter. Because of the experience that I’ve gained during the past 20 years, I’ve achieved areas of expertise in the job market and also within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. This experience and expertise has helped me become an Animal Health key opinion leader and Veterinary key opinion leader, but this is not information that I want to keep to myself. On a daily basis, I share what I know with both employers and professionals.
I always keep in mind the mission statement of The VET Recruiter, which is to help Animal Health companies and Veterinary businesses hire top talent to help their businesses grow and become more profitable, while also helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that allow them to achieve the quality of life they seek.
So if sharing my advice and expertise with both employers and professionals will help The VET Recruiter carry out its mission statement on a daily basis, then that is exactly what I will do as an Animal Health and Veterinary key opinion leader. As I’ve said before, it’s very important to me to share my expertise with others and do what I can to improve their careers and their quality of life.
Julea: For more information about The VET Recruiter and the services that it provides to both Animal Health and Veterinary employers and professionals, we invite everyone listening to visit www.thevetrecruiter.com. Stacy, as always, thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: It’s been my pleasure, Julea, and I look forward to our next episode of the “Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider”!