Dear c/o 2015, how did your job search go?

[CocoTheWild]

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I was wondering if some of you would want to share your job search experience with us.
Were you able to find solid, appealing offers in terms of location/work environment/compensation/type of practice? And what was the offered starting salary if you don't mind sharing? Any tips or advice regarding timeline of job search, where to look, negotiation, etc?

Wish you all the best with your new job!

 

[SocialStigma]

I don't have any experience with this yet since I applied for internships this year.

But it seems like a lot of my classmates who landed jobs did so with their externship clinic or with a clinic they visited on external rotations in 4th year. So I would say it's important to use 4th year clinical rotations as a way to network and potentially land a job after graduation. I think January-February was when most people were actively applying to jobs and going on interviews (our school year ends in April).

 

[Coquette22]

My experience echoes SS's. I was responding to ads around December and landed a position in late February. Location was probably the biggest stumbling block for most of us. It seems like a lot of the hiring and advertisements were in smaller towns and rural areas which isn't what people wanted. I didn't end up where I wanted to be, but I liked the clinic and the compensation was good so I took it. Many people went places that they either externed or had some other relationship with.

My compensation is a slightly higher than national starting average, plus licensing fees, medical/dental/vision benefits, paid vacation and a fairly generous CE allowance.

 

[deleted387118]

Agreed to the above. I did the VIRMP but I can tell you most of my classmates have jobs. Those that I've talked to are pretty pleased with where they are going. I don't know specifics on contracts but remember the average is an "average" for a reason. Consider cost of living,benefits, why the position exists (new or someone left) and every other aspect when comparing contracts. No two jobs are the same.

 

[jmo1012]

I also matched to an internship so not on the front lines, but it seems like many of my classmates that have jobs will be at places they extern'd at so agree to all the networking! As a side note kind of observation, for my classmates that didn't pursue internships, it seems very much like those who were at the top of our class had many options and opportu,cities presented (even if just interviews), and those who are more average in the middle of the class seem to be having tough times finding something (even just getting interviews seems tougher). I have no way of knowing if that's actually related to academics and not other personal factors, but it definitely was kind of a surprising observation. Makes me glad I have an internship to go to, because even if I'm barely being paid to work hard, at least it's something. I k,ow many people right now who are still searching.

 

[LetItSnow]

I did zero active searching and have two offers in GP that are both very reasonable, and one offer in ER work that pays quite a bit better than the nat'l avg, but (obviously, I suppose) consists of lots of night shifts. If I were to actively look .... Well, the job market is substantially better than 4-5 years ago. It's not hard to get a decent offer at the moment, at least in my limited experience.

I will say this:'all three offers were, in one way or another, based on established relationships. In other words: network.

But, my wife and I decided not to make a decision until after graduation. So I'm in that process now.

 

[twelvetigers]

Of the two big cities on OK, I picked the one with way less jobs available right now. It figures.

I'm looking but I'm behind in the game because I thought I was moving to Oregon for a while. So.

I don't want to be pressured to find something NOW NOW NOW and end up with something I'm not actually happy with though, so I'm trying to be calm about it. So far, receptionists and managers have not been great about calling me back, but I had to start somewhere. I haven't had a chance to visit too many places in person to drop off a resume etc. because it's time consuming and we have a lot of other things going on right now.

 

[JaynaAli]

I matched for an internship and had an unsolicited job offer later on from a clinic I did a preceptorship at. A friend interviewed at a couple places she heard about through word of mouth by vets who knew her but ended up taking a job at a place she did a preceptorship at as well. Her salary is below national average, but she'll be doing predominately large animal at a mixed practice and they are covering all benefits, costs to practice, and providing an ambulatory truck for her so she's happy with her compensation over all. Most of my classmates who began looking for jobs before March-ish have positions or at least a couple interviews as far as I know. Maybe they aren't taking their dream position, but they are finding jobs.