Episode #101 – How The VET Recruiter Helps Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals, Part 1
Samantha: Welcome to “The Animal Health Employment Insider,” brought to you by The VET Recruiter. In this podcast, executive search consultant, Stacy Pursell, founder and CEO of The VET Recruiter, provides insight and practical advice for both companies and job seekers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. The VET Recruiter’s mission is to help Animal Health and Veterinary organizations hire top talent, while helping animal health and veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that increase their quality of life.
In today’s podcast, we’ll be talking about how The VET Recruiter helps Animal Health and Veterinary professionals. In our previous podcast, which was the 100th for the “Animal Health Employment Insider,” we discussed how The VET Recruiter helps Animal Health and Veterinary employers. But today we’re going to shift our focus to animal health and veterinary professionals.
Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Samantha. I’m glad to be here with you to record our 101st podcast.
Samantha: Stacy, I imagine that there are numerous ways The VET Recruiter helps animal health and veterinary professionals.
Stacy: Yes, there are. In fact, today’s episode is going to be the first part of a two-part series about how we help Animal Health and Veterinary professionals. In our previous podcast episode, we addressed the reasons why employers should use a recruiter or executive search consultant to fill their most important and critical open positions. We’re going to start today’s episode by exploring the reasons why animal health and veterinary professionals should use a recruiter to help them find a new job and grow their career.
Samantha: So why should a professional use a recruiter?
Stacy: There are many reasons. It’s about more than just finding another job. An Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter can also provide valuable advice to professionals.
Samantha: But Stacy, isn’t all of that career advice and information on the Internet? Can’t job seekers and candidates find it themselves?
Stacy: It’s true that there is some information on the Internet, but not the information that can really make a difference in a person’s job search or career.
Samantha: What information is that?
Stacy: A recruiter has information about the organization that is looking to hire, as well as information about the position itself. And since they have a relationship with the hiring authority, they have a better idea of what that hiring authority is seeking in a candidate. They certainly have a better idea than the candidate does, since the candidate may not have a relationship with the hiring authority.
Armed with this information, an Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter is prepared to use it to advise and guide a candidate through the hiring process. This includes the interview. A recruiter can definitely help with interview preparation. As part of that help, the candidate will learn who within the organization will conduct the interview. They’ll also learn insights into the personalities of the people conducting the interview and what they should emphasize or avoid discussing.
So yes, a candidate can obtain information about a company or organization on the Internet, but this is the kind of information they will not find online. A good recruiter should also have details about why the position is open in the first place and what happened to the person who held the position previously if the position is not a newly created one. Once again, this is information that is not likely to be found online.
All of this better positions the candidate to perform well during the interview stage of the process and ultimately, to receive an offer of employment.
Samantha: Speaking of the offer stage, doesn’t a recruiter help during that stage, as well?
Stacy: Yes, they do. In fact, their value to a candidate becomes even more apparent during the offer stage of the hiring process. That’s because they assist in negotiating salary with the employer. This helps the candidate to focus on their qualifications and the potential value they can bring to the employer. They can leave the salary negotiations to the recruiter. And it’s important to note that it is in the recruiter’s best interests to make sure that the candidate receives an offer with a compensation package they deserve and that is in line with their potential value.
Basically, recruiters provide free interview advice and career guidance to professionals throughout the interview and hiring process when you are a candidate being represented by the recruiter’s search firm. It’s like having a free career coach. The bottom line is that a candidate who is represented by a recruiter has a competitive advantage over other candidates who are not represented by one.
Samantha: Stacy, what else can recruiters do for professionals?
Stacy: Recruiters have access to employment opportunities that are not advertised through traditional avenues.
Samantha: What does that mean, exactly?
Stacy: Some organizations hire search firms because they don’t have the time or the resources to conduct the search properly themselves. However, some organizations hire search firms because they’re conducting a confidential search and do not want to post the opening in a public fashion, and that certainly includes on the Internet.
So if a professional aligns themselves with a good recruiter, then they will have access to some of the same employment opportunities that the recruiter has access to. They’ll know about these Animal Health jobs or Veterinary jobs and be able to pursue them, where otherwise they would not. This also gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Samantha: And Stacy, these are all things that The VET Recruiter can do for professionals?
Stacy: Yes, absolutely. In fact, The VET Recruiter provides even more value than that to professionals.
Samantha: How so?
Stacy: The VET Recruiter specializes exclusively in the Animal Health, Animal Science, Animal Nutrition, Veterinary, and Pet Products industries. Because of that specialization, we have extensive experience within those industries and niches. This is valuable not only for employers, but also for job seekers and candidates.
A professional has a much better chance of being placed in a position they desire if they work with a good recruiter who specializes in their field and who has extensive experience working in that industry. And that brings me to another way that The VET Recruiter provides even more value, and that’s with our experience. The VET Recruiter has been in operation for more than 20 years. That means we bring that much experience and expertise to every search assignment and we put that experience and expertise to work for both our clients and our candidates.
And working with a recruiter who has experience is even more important in light of current marketplace conditions.
Samantha: Why is that, Stacy?
Stacy: The unemployment rate is historically low right now. In fact, it’s the lowest that it’s been since 1969. During times such as these, there is an enormous demand for qualified candidates, and that is especially the case within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. As a result, a lot of recruiting firms are popping up, claiming they can help employers and professionals. However, they don’t have the experience or the expertise needed to do so. Many of these firms are only in business because economic conditions are good enough for them to be in business.
The VET Recruiter has endured a few recessions during the past 20 years, including the Great Recession. We have history and we have credibility behind us, and credibility is definitely something that professionals should seek out when working with a recruiting firm.
Samantha: What can professionals do to make sure they’re working with the right recruiting firm?
Stacy: Well, they have to ask questions, first and foremost. A professional should definitely ask questions of an Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter before they partner with them.
Samantha: What kind of questions should they ask?
Stacy: They should ask if the recruiter specializes in their industry. Then they should ask how long the recruiter has specialized in their industry. If they specialize in the Animal Health industry or Veterinary profession, but they just started their firm, that’s probably not helpful to the candidate. They should ask the recruiter how many people like them they have placed with similar qualifications.
The candidate should also ask the recruiter to name some organizations where the recruiter has successfully placed people who work within the candidate’s field. This is a question that should shed more light on whether or not a recruiter has the experience and expertise necessary to help the candidate.
Samantha: And with more than 20 years specializing in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession, The VET Recruiter has that experience and that expertise.
Stacy: Yes, we do. We also have a passion for helping our clients and also for helping candidates achieve their career and professional goals. As I’ve said before, we strive to reach a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Samantha: Stacy, thank you for joining us today and for talking about this topic. We’ll tackle the second part of this two-part series in our next podcast episode, and I’m sure you’ll have more great information for our listeners.
Stacy: Thank you, Samantha. I will, and I look forward to that episode!