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It has been interesting to read the NSW Parliamentary Committee report from its Inquiry into the veterinary workforce shortage in NSW. ( See Report ) The committee has made over 30 recommendations to help address the concerns demonstrated by the significant number of stakeholders who contributed to the enquiry.

The mention by Southern Cross University of their planned Veterinary School prompted me to compare our schools in Australia & New Zealand to the ones in the UK. Those of us who graduated some time ago may be surprised at the growth that has taken place in the veterinary education sphere.

Author:

Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

I recently did a very quick survey on social media in a veterinary group, to ask whether people find it frustrating when a pay rate or salary range is not given in a job ad – 100% of respondents said yes, they did find it frustrating.

Other job advertising companies have done large scale surveys, and found that salary is one of the top three drivers of attraction to a role, along with work-life balance and career development, across all industries. In fact, there’s a 36.9% increase in job applications when salary is shown on a job ad.  73% of candidates find it frustrating when salary isn’t included in a job ad and many candidates wouldn’t even consider applying for a job if the salary isn’t advertised.

You may have thought that making applicants apply for a job without knowing the remuneration might give you a bigger pool of applicants – however, besides that impression not being supported by surveys, it wastes time on both sides when someone who has got through interviews and been offered the vacancy then turns the job down.

Pay can be expressed as an hourly rate, or an annual rate, and it’s important to include detail in a job ad about the basis on which someone will be paid. Listing a Salary in your advert does NOT mean saying “salary above Award”, or “negotiable depending on experience”. It is understandable that some veterinary employers may prefer to advertise a range so they can assess through the recruitment process what salary best fits the candidate’s skill level, particularly with the current shortage of qualified veterinary staff. Regular evaluation of a new employee is a good way to adjust pay rate to closely match their skills, if necessary, and  produce a good outcome for both employer and employee.

Why is there such a reluctance to list salaries or salary bands in veterinary job ads? Is a pay rate in general practice so totally dependent on the skill set of the vet that it’s impossible to estimate? Why is there no pay grading on the work that the applicant will be expected to do? And the situation is even worse for vet nurse and vet techs – 99.99% of job ads don’t even mention salary.

Start mentioning the pay rate, and you may be surprised at the interest in your next vacancy.

Author:

Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.