There is perhaps no industry growing as quickly as the Pet Industry, both in the United States and around the world.
According to the latest numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the overall employment of animal care and service workers is projected to grow a staggering 33% between the years 2020 and 2030. That means there will be 33% more Pet Industry jobs at the beginning of 2030 than there were at the end of 2020. Broken down by year, the BLS is projecting there will be an average of approximately 66,200 job openings for animal care and service workers every year. When extrapolated, that equates to 662,000 overall job openings during the course of the decade.
Driving the growth of Pet Industry employment is a year-over-year increase in the amount of money that people are spending on their pets. The numbers are almost mind-boggling. According to data from the American Pet Products Association (APPA), the amount Americans spent on their pets grew to $103.6 billion in 2020. That amount was a staggering $13.1 billion more than it was in 2018. The breakdown in 2020 was as follows:
- Pet food and treats—$42.0 billion
- Vet care and product sales—$31.4 billion
- Supplies and over the counter (OTC) medications—$30.2 billion
It’s expected that the Pet Industry will grow at a compound annual rate of 6%. In fact, according to Global Newswire, the global Pet Industry and Pet Care market will reach over $350 million by 2027.
The need for Pet Industry recruiter services
While there is no evidence that the Pet Industry is recession proof, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that not only is the unemployment rate in the industry lower than the National Unemployment Rate, but also that it’s nearly non-existent. This, plus the fact that the industry is projected to grow for much of the next decade, has created a great need for Pet Industry recruiter services.
Since there is a lack of qualified candidates in the job market, employers should strive to hire the best person for their open position, not just the best person who is looking for a job. The problem is that these candidates are already gainfully employed and highly regarded by their employers. Not only that, but they’re also not actively looking for a new position. This is where an experienced and reputable Pet Industry recruiter enters the picture.
A Pet Industry recruiter approaches qualified candidates, engages them, and presents them with an opportunity. Even more than that, they convince these candidates to first consider and then explore the opportunity. In addition, a trained recruiter can help their client to avoid mistakes throughout the hiring process due to their extensive experience. Because of their expertise, they can help you save time during the process so that you can hire the right people for your organization and also do it quickly.
The more important the role that you’re trying to fill, the more likely you’ll need the services of a Pet Industry recruiter. A recruiter specializes in identifying and engaging serious-minded people who are looking for ways to grow their careers and maximize their professional potential. However, it’s important to use a recruiter who has experience in the Pet Industry and not just a generalist or a recruiter who operates in a bunch of different areas.
A recruiter with experience in the Pet Industry will understand the job openings that you’re attempting to fill, including the job description and other details associated with the position. In addition, they’ll understand the language and technical jargon used in the industry, as well as the candidates’ achievements and accomplishments. And last but not least, they can represent your organization in a positive way and help to brand it in a way that will make it more attractive to candidates and potential employees.
Why to use only one Pet Industry recruiter
While it’s a good idea to use a Pet Industry recruiter to fill your most critical and high-level job openings, it’s not a good idea to use more than one recruiting agency to fill the same position. Instead, it’s recommended that you establish and build a relationship with one agency and use it on an exclusive basis to fill assignments.
There are a number of risks associated with attempting to use more than one Pet Industry recruiter for your organization’s hiring needs:
- The recruiters that you hire may cross paths while they work to fill the position.
- If candidates are contacted by more than one recruiter about the same position, they might believe that there is a problem with turnover at your organization. This is an employer branding mistake, and employer branding is a critical component of hiring in the Pet Industry.
- You could scare away potential candidates, including top candidates who could make a difference and an impact at your organization.
However, when you establish a relationship with an experienced and reputable Pet Industry recruiter, you can trust that recruiter to do what is necessary to represent your organization, find the best candidates in the marketplace, and convince those candidates to pursue your employment opportunity.
The VET Recruiter: your choice as Pet Industry recruiter
The VET Recruiter is a full-service Animal Health, Veterinary, and Pet Industry recruiting agency. We help organizations and employers of all sizes throughout the United States and Canada identify and hire the best candidates for their most important open positions. We have a proven track record of success in the Animal Health, Animal Nutrition, Veterinary, Pet Products, and Animal Agriculture industries. We have relationships with the top candidates in the employment marketplace, as well as up and coming talent, including those who have yet to graduate and will soon be entering the workforce.
The VET Recruiter offers several options as a Pet Industry recruiting agency. These options include retained search, contingency search, and a hybrid plan between the two.
We have two primary goals at The VET Recruiter:
- Help Pet Industry companies acquire top talent, which helps them increase their bottom line on a global basis
- Help Pet Industry professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that allow them to achieve the quality of life they seek
At The VET Recruiter, our passion is to solve problems and to help others succeed. For more than 25 years, we have become experts in the search process, working in “the trenches” of the employment marketplace on a daily basis. We’re committed to using our experience and expertise to help our clients identify and hire the top candidates in the job market.
Our Pet Industry recruiting process
One of the keys to our success as a Pet Industry recruiting agency is our proven search process, honed over the course of 25 years. We use this process as an effective way to identify, present, and place top talent with our clients. Our process is also of benefit to candidates. That’s because we’re able to walk them through the entire process in a way that will make them feel confident not only in us, but also in the organizations that we represent. This starts with the initial introductions with their new future employer all the way to the moment that they resign from their current employer and get ready to start employment with our client.
At The VET Recruiter, we don’t just “throw resumes.” Instead, we present targeted candidates whom we have interviewed and evaluated according to specific criteria. In addition, there are two crucial components of our Pet Industry recruiter process. The first component is communication, as we strive to create and maintain open lines of communication between our clients and candidates. The second component is timing, as we strive to keep our clients informed throughout every step of the process, all the way to the successful conclusion of the search assignment. In short, we want to help create a “win-win” situation for everyone involved.
The VET Recruiter’s step-by-step Pet Industry recruiter process is as follows:
- Coordinate the job description and alignment with our client’s parameters.
- Interview the hiring manager for clarification of needs.
- Research to locate the logical talent pool.
- Check our existing databases for leads.
- Source to narrow our research results.
- Qualify candidates by initial telephone interview against the necessary job essentials.
- Sift the potential finalists from the wishful thinkers, window shoppers, tire kickers, and underqualified.
- Perform in-depth interviews with potential finalists.
- Reference check performance if requested by client. (Most clients prefer to perform their own reference checks.)
- Arrange and coordinate the interview schedule.
- Prepare and counsel nominees for interviews by spelling out company needs, culture, organizational fit, hiring authority, personality, etc.
- Debrief candidates after each interview, answering questions, etc.
- Debrief the client’s hiring authority after each interview, assessing strengths, weaknesses, incompatibilities, etc.
- Coordinate with the hiring manager on possible offers to be made and set the stage for acceptance.
- Participate with the company in providing necessary information required for negotiating an acceptable offer.
- Reconcile any differences with successful candidate to smooth the way for offer acceptance.
- Assist the successful candidate in cleanly terminating current position.
- Work with spousal placement, if necessary.
- Follow up after the placement to ensure new employee integration.
The VET Recruiter has an impressive track record of success and getting stellar results for our clients and candidates.
Click HERE to learn more about why you should consider using The VET Recruiter for your Pet Industry employment and hiring needs.
Click HERE to see examples of The VET Recruiter’s placements. These are all examples of real positions we have filled in the Pet Industry.
Contact us today for more information about The VET Recruiter’s services for employers by calling (918) 488-3901 or (800) 436-0490 or by sending an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.