by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS
The VET Recruiter®
I’ve mentioned before about how costly it is when an employer leaves a position open for too long. In fact, there have been numerous studies conducted and articles and reports written about the topic.
However, the Veterinary profession represents a “different animal.” (I may have intended a pun there.) Although it’s costly for ANY employer to leave an important position open for too long, regardless of the industry in which that employer operates, it may be even more costly if you work in the Veterinary field compared to some other industries.
A recent phone call with one of my clients enlightened me on just how much it costs, and the total may be of interest to you.
Candidates’ job market makes it worse
In regards to this phone call, I was speaking with the president of one of our firm’s clients. During the conversation, he mentioned that for each veterinarian he hires, that veterinarian typically brings in around $400K per year. At the time of the conversation, he mentioned that he needed to find and hire eight veterinarians, adding that if he can do so as quickly as possible, he will save/earn approximately $3.2 million in revenue over the next 12 months.
As you’re probably well aware, we’re in the throes of a candidates’ job market. That means there are numerous employers looking for the Veterinary professionals they need. Not only that, but there is also a lack of qualified candidates in the marketplace. I’ve noted the following statistics before in previous newsletter articles and blog posts, but it makes sense to highlight them again:
- At the end of September, the national unemployment rate in the United States stood at 7%. That’s the lowest it has been in the past 49 years.
- According to a DVM360 Magazine article published last year and titled “The Year Ahead: Things Are Looking Bright for the Veterinary Profession,” the unemployment rate in the Veterinary profession fell from 5% to 0.5% during 2017.
- Earlier this year, I was at a Veterinary tradeshow in Las Vegas. During that tradeshow, I attended an analytics session, and during the session, I was told by a veterinary economist that there is currently one veterinarian applicant for every five job openings.
As you can see, this current candidates’ job market makes the situation worse. It makes it worse namely because it makes it more difficult for Veterinary practices and employers to fill their most important open positions in a timely manner. And the longer that a position stays open, the more money that the veterinary practice owner or employer is losing.
Let’s use the figure above as an example. If a veterinarian brings in $400K per year, it means the following in terms of lost revenue.
- If your position is open for one month, you’ve lost $33,333.
- If your position is open for three months, you’ve lost $100,000.
- If your position is open for six months, you’ve lost $200,000.
This debunks the myth that an organization “saves money” when it doesn’t fill a position right away, especially if that position was vacated by an employee who went elsewhere. The organization is not “saving money,” it’s losing money. Not only that, but as you can see, it’s losing a substantial amount of money.
Your search consultant: saving you money
Just like not filling a position right away “saves you money” is a myth, so is the notion that using a recruiter “costs you money” is a myth. It’s simply the other side of this particular “myth coin.” There are some employers that don’t believe engaging a search consultant is a strategic hiring move because of the cost involved. However, as you can see by the figures we presented above, that is certainly not the case. In fact, quite the opposite appears to be true.
Based on those figures, wouldn’t you want to fill a critical open position with a qualified Veterinary candidate as quickly as possible?
After all, if you wait a month, that’s already $33,333 “out the window.” And with each passing day, you lose more money. Couple that with the fact that according to a survey The VET Recruiter conducted, nearly 30% of candidates would bow out of a hiring process if it lasted more than four weeks.
So if top candidates don’t want the hiring process to last more than a month and you’ll lose over $30K if you wait more than a month to fill a position, why would you wait that long? The answer is that you would not and should not wait that long as a practice owner or Veterinary employer.
Do you know where the most qualified candidates are for you open position? A good search consultant does.
Do you know how to convince these candidates that your opportunity is the best next step in their career? A good search consultant does.
Are you prepared to keep these candidates fully engaged throughout the entirety of the interviewing and hiring process? A good search consultant is.
The bottom line is that a good search consultant can save you money. That’s because they save you time. And when it comes to hiring Veterinarians in this current job market, time and money are one and the same.
Are you looking to hire Veterinarians right now? How long have you been looking? How long have your positions remained open? Don’t wait another day and don’t delay. Enlisting the services of an experienced Veterinary recruiter is a sound investment in the future of your veterinary practice or organization that can pay dividends in the future.
Hiring a Veterinary recruiter is NOT a “sunk cost.” It is an intelligent investment in the future of your organization, one that can give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace and help position you to hire the best talent there is.
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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