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A Résumé, or CV (Curriculum Vitae), is vitally important to make a good first impression, and secure an interview.

It should be:

• Easy to read
• Include all relevant information
• Accurate

An employer wants to know your name and contact details, what level of experience and qualifications you have and what additional skills you can bring to the practice to make you a valuable employee.

How to lay out a CV

Your CV should be easy to read so that a potential employer can quickly find the information they are looking for.

• Use clear headings
• Line things up! – use tabs
• Use bullet points or numbered lists
• Use a standard format throughout your CV – make it match
• When listing things in date order, put the most recent first
• Use a clear font – don’t use a handwriting or ‘fun’ font
• Don’t use a large font – 10 or 11 is fine
• Optimum 2 to 3 pages long
• Do a Spell Check and a Grammar Check!

You can use a Résumé Template to give you a hand, but make sure you delete any irrelevant information.

Major Headings

1. Contact Information and Personal Details
2. Qualifications/Education
3. Skills / Personal Statement
4. Previous Employment
5. Undergraduate Work Experience
6. Undergraduate or Non-Veterinary Employment
7. Continuing Education
8. Personal Interests
9. References
10. Additional Sections
11. Photograph
12. Once you’ve written your CV, DO A SPELL CHECK!

1.      Contact Information and Personal Details

Include your full name, address, contact telephone number and email address. If your Visa status or Nationality will have a bearing on your suitability for work (eg overseas qualified vets) you can include it here.

2.      Qualifications/Education

Don’t include too much detail. List the most recent first ( reverse date order). New grads can include school details but for vets qualified several years it isn’t necessary.

3.      Skills or Personal Statement

Use this section to list your skills and competencies, veterinary interests, and career aspirations. Sell yourself!

4.      Previous Veterinary Employment

List previous veterinary employment with the most recent first ( reverse date order). Make it easy to read and to see dates. If there are any dates where you were travelling for example, or took a ‘career break’ for any other reason, include those details too. Do elaborate (briefly) on your actual duties and any specific skills acquired.

If you have been graduated for a long time and worked at many clinics, only give additional details for the most recent.

If you have locumed for a while, you don’t need to list all your locum jobs – just give a brief summary.

5.      Undergraduate Work Experience

This only applies to new graduates, and is extremely important. List the most recent first. List the clinics that you have seen practice at, and for how long. Describe the clinic, and give a brief description of the skills that you learnt while there.

6.      Undergraduate or Non-Veterinary Employment

It’s only worth including this if you’re a new grad, or if the type of work you have done is particularly relevant to the veterinary jobs you are now applying for.

7.      Continuing Education

This section is extremely important, and becoming more so as the various Vet Boards start to enforce a requirement to complete a set amount of continuing education each year. Put the most recent first.

8.      Personal Interests

Yes, this is important! Vets need to be well balanced individuals to cope with the stresses of their work life.

9.      References

If you have a written reference, attach it to your CV. Please include full contact details for your referees – nothing is more annoying than having to look them up!

It can be difficult for new graduates to get references, however, it is worth asking the practice principal where you have had most work experience to write you a reference, or be listed as a referee.

10.      Additional Sections

In addition to the basics, you may want to include more information. Put extra info between the Continuing Education, and Personal Interests sections. Examples could include professional memberships & subscriptions, and additional useful skills, including technical/computer skills, languages, community activities, volunteer experience, Awards received.

11.      Photograph

It’s a hard question, whether or not to include a photograph of yourself on your CV. Generally, if you’d like to include a photo, just use a regular passport style photo.

And Finally – DO ANOTHER SPELL CHECK!

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.

There is a lot of competition between clinics to fill practice vacancies for vets and vet nurses at the moment. These are Paula’s Ten Top Tips to consider when advertising:

1. Boost your extramural studies program: you may pick up a new graduate vet;
2. Have a strong vet nurse team: boosting the role of your nurses makes your practice more attractive to potential applicants;
3. Reply promptly to applicants: communicate in a timely manner;
4. Sort out your social media: applicants are looking for practices with a strong online presence;
5. Put your team online: pictures of your happy, sociable team can play a role in attracting applicants;
6. Give everyone a lunch break: this will impact on your team’s work/life balance and outlook on their job;
7. Undertake regular social activities: encourage your team to be socially engaged with each other and their community;
8. Promote your location: applicants are looking for somewhere they can settle so provide them with reasons why for your area;
9. Talk openly about the full benefits package: advertise your salary range on offer; and
10. Pictures of equipment are to be avoided: this is unlikely to attract applicants as most practices use similar equipment.

My current rule of thumb is to take the emphasis in the ad off what you want from your new employee and instead put it on what you are offering.

Author:

Paula Strong
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.

Employing a locum vet can happen in a rush – but there are several things that an Employer in Australia should check prior to the locum starting work. This article is based on the “10 Things to ask your Locum Vet” factsheet written by Kookaburra Veterinary Employment.

1. Visa.

An overseas vet should have a valid work Visa. It is an offence to employ someone without a valid work visa, so it’s the employer’s responsibility to check. Most overseas vets should have their passport with them or be able to provide details about their visa. See www.border.gov.au for more information. You can now check to see if a worker has work rights in Australia at www.border.gov.au/Busi/Visa – you should ask for consent to check the worker’s visa details first.

2. Tax File Number.

If a vet is going to be working for you as an employee, you will need their Tax File Number. See www.ato.gov.au for more information

3. ABN.

If a vet says that they are self employed, they should provide you with their ABN – Australian Business Number. See www.ato.gov.au for more information, or consult your accountant for individual information about the best way for your practice to pay locums. Some locums are employed as casual employees, some locums are engaged as independent contractors. It’s likely that either way, the clinic will have to pay superannuation under the Superannuation Guarantee. There are Calculators online on the ATO website that help you work out whether your locum is an employee or a contractor, and in either case whether you should be paying superannuation for them. Keeping a record of your use of these calculators can support your decision if necessary.

4. CV and References.

Locum vets should be able to provide contact details for 1 or more recent veterinary referees. Clinics should make sure that any locums introduced to them have the required experience for a particular locum job. Kookaburra Veterinary Employment can provide CVs for all locums listed on their register – these CVs are provided by the locum vets to Kookaburra, and Kookaburra doesn’t provide any warranty as to the accuracy of any CV. We recommend that clinics take up one or more references for a locum prior to booking them for any work.

5. Vet Board Registration.

Following mutual recognition implementation in many States, you can now search for a particular registered veterinarian on the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council website at www.avbc.asn.au and find the State that they have primary registration with. It is good practice for vets to use their board registration number after their signature when signing certificates etc. See www.avbc.asn.au for information about registration of overseas qualified veterinarians.

NB: In Western Australia there is the requirement for a veterinary surgeon who appoints a locum to give written notice to the WA Vet Surgeons’ Board of the name of the locum, and the period of the appointment before, or as soon as possible, after the appointment commences.

6. Professional Indemnity Insurance.

The practice insurer may cover all vets working at the practice, or the Locum vet may have their own PII. It’s a good idea to make sure that all your locums and employees have adequate cover. In South Australia this is a requirement for all vets registering with the SA Vet Board.

7. Workers Compensation.

The locum vet may or may not be covered by the Practice workers compensation scheme – check with your Insurer.

8. Medical Insurance.

The locum vet may have their own medical insurance or, if from overseas, may be covered by a reciprocal agreement with Medicare.

9. Other Professional Registration.

For example, some States require vets to be licensed to use Radiation equipment.   Vets may also need to be registered or licensed to perform other duties such as microchipping, preg testing, certification for export etc.

10. Contract

Although practices and locums may not decide to formally enter into a contract, it could be a good idea to set down terms of employment and working conditions in writing prior to the start of the locum period. Things to consider include:

• Pay rate;
• after hours remuneration;
• days off;
• overtime;
• normal hours of work;
• type of payment arrangement and when the vet is to be paid;
• type of employment (casual employee, contractor);
• Superannuation;
• GST;
• Travel Costs;
• Professional registration costs;
• Responsibility for keys – for the clinic and for scheduled drugs
• Accommodation and responsibilities of the locum with respect to the accommodation and use of facilities if applicable (eg phone, internet, food in the pantry);
• provision of vehicle for work – and private use – and fuel costs;
• any provision for short term cancellation of the locum period by either party.

This list is by no means exhaustive. Contact the AVA HR Hotline for more information on 1300 788977 or email avahrhotline@whr.com.au (you must be an AVA member).

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.