by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter®
I probably don’t have to tell you that times are good in the U.S. economy. Or that times are also good in the Animal Health Industry and Veterinary Profession.
However, it’s one thing to know about a good situation. But it’s another thing to leverage the opportunity that such a situation presents to you. Basically, it’s the difference between knowing about a situation and benefitting from it.
In case you haven’t yet fully grasped the current situation in the marketplace, a recent article by TheLadders.com helps to bring things into better focus. According to the article, being a veterinarian is the job that now has the biggest pay-increase potential.
In fact, the article listed the top 10 jobs with the biggest pay-increase potential. Those jobs are as follows:
- Veterinarians (37.5%)
- Surveying and mapping technicians (36.7%)
- Producers and directors (28.0%)
- Financial clerks, all other (27.4%)
- Emergency medical technicians and paramedics (26.3%)
- Meeting, convention, and event planners (24.5%)
- Food processing workers, all other (23.5%)
- Parts salespersons (23.0%)
- Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop (22.9%)
- Logisticians (21.6%)
So—are YOU taking advantage of veterinarians’ pay-increase potential?
The new rules: in your favor
So you can see the potential and the possibilities that exist within the Veterinary Profession right now. I’ve been writing and speaking about these possibilities for years, but now the mainstream media has recognized it, as well. But how, exactly, do you access these possibilities? To paraphrase the question, how do you access the Veterinary profession’s pay-increase potential? Well, there are really only two ways to do it:
- Receive a raise from your current employer
- Take a job with another employer and receive an increase in pay when you do so
Of those two options, which one do you think will lead to the greatest pay increase? Would it be receiving a raise from your current employer? Or receiving more money from another employer after accepting their opportunity?
If you said the latter, then you are absolutely correct.
I’ve discussed the financial benefits of changing jobs in previous newsletter articles and blog posts. And that’s usually the case in both a good economy and a poor economy. But when you take into consideration the current financial landscape, plus the lack of qualified candidates that exists within the Veterinary Profession, then those benefits are magnified.
When an employer hands out raises to its employees, how much of a raise do they hand out? Two or three percent, tops?
What about when you change jobs? What’s the percent increase in salary that you receive then? Five percent? Ten percent? More?
People who change jobs every three to five years earn more in compensation and benefits than people who stay at the same employer for 10 to 15 years or more. That’s because employers must entice professionals they want to hire with more money, compensation, and other benefits.
Let’s say there are two professionals who start their career on the exact same day with the exact same salary. One stays with the same employer for the duration of their career. The other changes jobs every three to five years.
Both of these professionals retire at the age of 65. Did they retire earning exactly the same amount of money? They certainly did not. The professional who changed jobs every three to five years earned tens of thousands of dollars more during their final year of employment than the other professional.
No one stays with the same employer for their entire career anymore. If they do they are the exception not the rule. There are no more gold watches for service. The rules have changed. The good news is that they have changed in your favor.
A low-risk, high-reward proposition
There is, however, a prerequisite for leveraging positive situations and taking advantage of opportunities. That prerequisite is the willingness to take risks. I’m not talking about irresponsible risks, but calculated risks. With a calculated risk, something could go wrong. But in the majority of cases, nothing goes wrong. In fact, things usually go right.
In fact, in this current market, considering the employment opportunities that are available is a risk-free proposition. Why is that? Because it doesn’t cost anything to consider an opportunity. And when I say “consider,” all I mean is hearing about it. Not only that, but there’s hardly any risk in exploring the opportunity. And when I say “explore,” I mean pursuing an opportunity by entering the hiring process of another organization.
Why is there no risk? Because you can always say “No, thanks.” You’re not committing to anything by just considering an opportunity and you’re not committing to anything by exploring an opportunity. The only time you’re committing to anything is when you accept an offer of employment. Short of that, there is hardly any risk involved.
What’s important, though, is that you’re willing to at least consider hearing about other employment opportunities. With the state of the current economy, employment marketplace, and Veterinary profession, this is a low-risk, high-reward proposition. If you discover that an opportunity is not clearly better than the one you have, then you can simply stay where you are.
This is a prime example of having leverage and moving from a position of strength as opposed to a position of weakness. And that’s exactly the position you want to be in when you’re strategically advancing and growing your Animal Health or Veterinary Career.
The Veterinary profession has HUGE pay-increase potential for those people who are willing to consider new opportunities and explore those opportunities. Without that willingness, knowledge of current marketplace conditions or the possibilities that exist is just that—knowledge.
And knowledge of a situation alone is not going to help you leverage the positive aspects of that situation. Action is how you leverage it and use it to your advantage. Don’t be complacent and don’t let these opportunities pass you by.
Seize the moment and seize the pay-increase opportunities that currently exist in the Veterinary profession!
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1.By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2.By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.
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