Episode #251 – How Working with an Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiter Can Help You Make More Money
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.
Today, we’ll be talking about how working with an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter can help you make more money. Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Julea. As always, I’m glad to be here with you. It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of 2021 and headed into 2022.
Julea: Yes, it is hard to believe…..Stacy, a few weeks ago, the title of our podcast episode was “10 Good Reasons to Talk to an Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiter.” How is today’s episode different from that one?
Stacy: In that previous episode, we discussed ways that talking with a recruiter can benefit a person outside of a new employment opportunity. After all, not everyone is interested in making a move in their career when a recruiter contacts them about an opportunity. Today, though, I want to address how working with a recruiter to explore the opportunities that exist in the job market can make a person more money. In some cases, it can help make them a LOT more money over the course of their career.
One of the reasons that I’d like to address this topic today is because are some misnomers and misunderstandings in the job market about Animal Health recruiters and Veterinary recruiters. With a New Year ahead of us, I thought now would be a good time to clear up any confusion about recruiters. And this has been a recurring theme throughout my career.
Julea: What has?
Stacy: Two things, actually. First, that some people still don’t really understand what a recruiter does and what their is role in the employment marketplace. And second, that some people don’t take advantage of the value that a recruiter can provide for them. That’s a shame, since a recruiter can provide a tremendous amount of value, and that includes financially in terms of a person’s career and how much money they make.
Julea: Okay, where would you like to start today?
Stacy: Well, I’d like to start with something that should be obvious: that it costs no money to work with an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter if you’re an Animal Health or Veterinary professional and fortunate enough to be considered by the recruiter for an employment opportunity with one of the recruiter’s clients.
Julea: Are you saying this because some people believe that it does cost money to work with a recruiter?
Stacy: Let’s put it this way. If there’s a recruiter who is charging job seekers and candidates to work with them, then those job seekers and candidates should run in the opposite direction! That is at least my opinion. Reputable recruiters don’t charge candidates fees to place them. That’s not how it works, at least not with an experienced and reputable recruiting firm. The cost is to the employer, who has hired the recruiter to help them find the best candidates for their most important positions.
Julea: So, working with a recruiter does not cost you as a candidate any money?
Stacy: Correct. If you’re a job seeker or a candidate, working with a recruiter should not cost you any money. So, I want to debunk that myth, if anyone believes that to be the case. And now that I’ve done that, we can move to the main focus of today’s podcast, which is that working with an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter can help a person make more money. And when you boil it all down, there is a simple reason why this is the case.
Julea: Stacy, tell us more about a recruiter’s role in helping an Animal Health or Veterinary professional make more money.
Stacy: Recruiters help professionals explore employment opportunities, specifically opportunities that are often better than the job they currently have, which is why the person would be compelled to make a move. In most cases, one of the reasons that these opportunities may be considered better is because they offer more in the way of salary and other compensation. And keep in mind that this can sometimes include a signing bonus.
Julea: Okay, Stacy. I’m going to play “devil’s advocate” for a moment. There may be some people in our listening audience who believe that you’re a bit biased because you’re an Animal Health recruiter and Veterinary recruiter. They might believe that you’re saying this because it casts recruiters in a more positive light. What would you say to those people?
Stacy: Great question Julea! I would say that it’s not just recruiters who think this is the case! And I have two prime examples of this.
According to an article published in Forbes magazine a few years ago, staying employed at the same company for over two years on average is going to make you earn less over your lifetime by about 50% or more.
Julea: Wow, 50% or more! That is significant Stacy.
Stacy: Yes, and not only that, but the article also goes on to say that’s “a conservative number at the lowest end of the spectrum. This is assuming that your career is only going to last 10 years. The longer you work, the greater the difference will become over your lifetime.”
Julea: People’s careers typically last longer than 10 years.
Stacy: Yes, typically much longer. They typically last upwards of 40 years. Since that’s a multiple of four, you could multiply 50% by four, and you would get 200%.
Julea: So if you project that, it would mean being employed at the same company for over two years on average is going to make you earn less over your lifetime by about 200% for someone with a career that lasts 40 years.
Stacy: Right, based on the 10-year timeframe that the Forbes article used as a baseline for their calculation.
Julea: Wow, when you look at it that way, the numbers really are startling.
Stacy: Yes, they are. And the Forbes article did not mention recruiters. It addressed changing jobs roughly every two years.
Julea: And that’s no longer considered “job hopping,” is that right, changing jobs every two years?
Stacy: That’s right. It’s no longer considered “job hopping.” Once upon a time, it was looked down upon by employers, but right now, with talent so scarce, employers are happy to have a superstar candidate working for them for a tenure of two years. Their philosophy is that they just want to get top candidates in the door and then they’ll worry about retaining them later.
Julea: That’s quite a change in philosophy.
Stacy: It is, for sure, and it goes to show how conditions in the job market can change and how marketplace dynamics overall can change. Ten years ago, we were still emerging from the Great Recession. There was not much talk about how difficult it was to hire people or how changing jobs every 18 months to two years was commonplace and not considered “job hopping.” However, all of that has changed considerably, which is good news for Animal Health and Veterinary professionals, because changing jobs more frequently is one of the best ways to make more money.
And the Forbes article is not the only example I have.
Julea: What’s the other example?
Stacy: The other example is based on a recent online survey conducted by MagnifyMoney of about 1,000 working adults. According to the survey, 24% of working adults said that changing jobs is the best way to get a pay boost.
Julea: So not just recruiters and Forbes magazine are saying that changing jobs is a good way to make more money, but working adults are saying so, as well.
Stacy: Yes, that’s right. And on the heels of that, I think the behavior of the younger generations also proves it’s the case.
Julea: How’s that?
Stacy: Millennials and members of Generation Z change jobs much more frequently than the members of the other generations. And when you think about it, why would they do that unless there were some tangible benefits? One of those benefits is more pay and other compensation. The fact that Millennials and Gen Zers are changing jobs more frequently is further proof that they understand the benefits of doing so.
Julea: You’re right. That does make sense.
Stacy: Yes, it does. When you change jobs, that job often comes with a boost in pay. After all, that’s probably one of the reasons why you took the job in the first place. An experienced Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter can help you explore and land employment opportunities that are potentially better than the job you have right now. So simply by working with a recruiter, that recruiter can potentially help you make more money.
But it goes even beyond that.
Julea: It does? Tell us more Stacy!
Stacy: An Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter typically negotiates on behalf of a candidate during the offer stage of the hiring process. So first, they help you make more money by introducing you to a great new employment opportunity that is better than the job you have now and that you didn’t even know existed. And second, they also help you make more money once you know about the job, you’re in the hiring process, and an employer wants to hire you.
Julea: So now a recruiter is helping you make money in more ways than one.
Stacy: That’s right! One the reasons they can do this is because they have knowledge about certain things that job seekers and candidates don’t necessarily have.
Julea: What things are those?
Stacy: Those things involve the organization, the company culture, and the company officials involved in the hiring process. Something else they know about is what the employer has offered to candidates in the past and what kind of negotiation is possible once the organization has made its initial offer. They also know what other professionals are earning in the marketplace and what would be considered a fair and equitable offer for the value that a person would provide as a new employee.
Julea: That is a lot of things! Is this the type of information that gives a candidate who works with a recruiter an edge over someone who isn’t working with one?
Stacy: Yes, that’s exactly right. When a candidate has access to this information, especially during critical stages of the hiring process, they can put that information to use. They can use the experience and expertise of an Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter to their advantage.
Julea: Stacy, I would imagine there are plenty of people out there who don’t realize that they’re being underpaid by their current employer, at least according to industry norms. Have you found that to be the case?
Stacy: Yes, and I’m glad you brought that up! This is definitely the case, and it continues to be the case. I have met a countless number of professionals who did not realize the degree to which they were being underpaid at their current employer. In fact, they were shocked when they found out that was the case.
One of the best examples of this happened earlier this year, and I also relayed this story in a recent podcast episode. To recap, because of his qualifications, this person became a top candidate for one of my client’s job openings. Ultimately, my client made him an offer that included a base salary of $150K. That base salary represented a 79% increase over what he was earning at the time. Not only that, but my client also offered him a signing bonus of $50K.
Julea: Yes, I remember that case study! That was pretty amazing!
Stacy: Yes, it’s almost hard to fathom. We’re talking about a 79% increase in salary, and then you throw a $50K signing bonus on top of it. I would encourage the members of our listening audience to imagine what it would be like if their current salary was 79% larger.
Julea: That’s a lot to imagine.
Stacy: It is, and I understand that not every person is going to receive a salary increase of 79% when they change jobs. But it is very possible that they could receive an increase of 10% to 15%.
Julea: Even a 20% increase is not outside the realm of possibility, is that the case?
Stacy: Yes, absolutely. And I’ve seen candidates receive much more than that during this past year. Maybe not 79%, but more than 20% and even more than 30%. Because of the lack of candidates in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession, increases in compensation for changing jobs are commonplace. The demand for talent is high right now, and there’s a chance that it might become even higher in 2022.
Julea: You’re talking about the Law of Supply and Demand, right?
Stacy: Yes, I am! According to the Law of Supply and Demand, when the demand is high, the price is high, too. In this case, the price of securing the services of top talent is high.
And this is essentially how and why working with an Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter, especially when you’re changing jobs, can help you make more money in your career. Recruiters do NOT cost you money as a job seeker or candidate. Anyone who tells you differently does not truly know how experienced recruiters work and how they can help professionals in the employment marketplace.
Julea: Stacy, we are just about out of time for today. Is there anything else that you would like to add before we end today’s podcast episode?
Stacy: Yes, there is one more thing I’d like to add. I want to challenge the members of our listening audience to be bold in 2022. I also challenge our listeners to be proactive and take ownership of your career and not allow fear to hold you back from the things that you want. Remember: people typically regret the things that they didn’t do more than they regret the things they did do, and that certainly applies to their professional life just as much as their personal life. In fact, if you think about it, you might say that it applies even more to your professional life.
There is nothing wrong with taking changes and taking risks. It doesn’t make you an irresponsible person. It just means that you are not satisfied with the status quo and that you want to continue growing and evolving. Contrary to popular belief, truly great things do not come to those who wait. They come to those people who are willing to do what it necessary to go out and get them.
Julea: Stacy, thank you so much for all of this great information about how an Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter can help you make more money. Once again, the website address for The VET Recruiter is www.thevetrecruiter.com. Stacy Pursell is a key opinion leader and a workplace workforce expert in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. There are some great resources on The VET Recruiter website. 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!