6 Habits of Successful Veterinary Recruiters

Veterinary staffing is no easy feat. Not only do you need to find qualified candidates that can deliver the most effective animal medical care, but you also need employees who are comfortable working with people as well. Not to mention the importance of finding staff that fits well with your practice culture. It’s very challenging to say the least.

The good news is there are certain traits that successful veterinary recruiters have that can be emulated to achieve similar good results. That being said, here are six habits you may want to consider adopting to improve your own veterinary recruiting efforts.

Responsiveness – Successful veterinary recruiters are able to establish a sense of trust amongst candidates. This starts with good responsiveness. When prospective employees know that their inquiries will receive prompt, professional and friendly responses, they’ll become more engaged. They’ll also feel more comfortable, which means you can get to know them better during the process.

Strong Listening Skills – Any experienced recruiter will tell you that the stories candidates share about themselves and their experiences can reveal a lot about their qualities, personality, strengths and weaknesses. You won’t be able to benefit from this if you’re doing most of the talking during interviews. It’s equally if not more important to listen.

A Personal Touch – Many recruiters make the mistake of judging a candidate too quickly based on things like his or her appearance, clothing, way of communicating, etc. While your first impression is certainly something to keep in mind, don’t jump the gun too quickly in eliminating a potential new hire. During the interview, take some time to get to know who the person truly is. You may find that the candidate you nearly overlooked is actually a much better fit than you initially thought.

Excellent Time Management – Let’s face it. Veterinary recruiters are busy. There’s so much to do – from identifying staffing needs and defining job duties to writing and posting job listings to reviewing resumes, conducting interviews, hiring and onboarding new employees and more. It can be difficult to find a spare moment. But the most successful recruiters make time management a top priority. If you struggle in this area, focus your efforts on improving those skills.

Ability to Ask for Help – Veterinary staffing is something that can and should include more than just the recruiter. In fact, enlisting the help of other happy employees will not only ease your burden, but it can also go a long way toward building trust with applicants. Ask team members to share job listings and help spread the word about open positions with their own social networks. You’ll reach more people and likely end up with more valuable candidates as a result.

High Engagement – In today’s job market, qualified candidates are just as selective in choosing job offers as employers are in selecting the right applicants. In other words, you may very well be competing with other practices for the same skilled individuals. You can give your practice a leg up on the competition by ensuring that the applicants you are interested in remain engaged throughout the process. That means inviting questions, keeping communication lines open and following up appropriately.

Veterinary recruiting isn’t always a simple or straightforward task. After all, the pressure is on you to ensure that only the best of the best make it through the selection process and end up hired. It can be helpful to know what types of habits others who are experienced in veterinary staffing share that have made them more successful in their jobs. The six characteristics listed above should provide you with a good place to start.

If you are struggling with recruiting or simply don’t have time to hire veterinary staff, it might be time to call in the reinforcements. Our veterinary headhunters can do all the legwork for you so you don’t have to waste another precious minute of your valuable time! Contact DreamTeamElite today to get started!

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