Veterinarian Resume: Examples and Tips
Veterinarians are commonly known as doctors for animals, as they perform regular examinations on animals and pets, assessing them on injuries, disease or other health issues, and implementing treatment plans. Veterinarians are counted on for their medical knowledge, ability to diagnose and communicate, and execute surgical procedures.
Use these expert resume examples and tips to fashion a distinguished resume for a veterinarian position.
Featured Resume Example: Veterinarian
Name: MONA STEPHENS
Address: City, State, Zip Code
Phone: 000-000-0000
E-Mail: email@email.com
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Driven Veterinarian offering many years of superior performance, including advanced knowledge in chronic and acute conditions, as well as surgical mastery. Well-versed in managing high-volume client load while delivering quality and compassionate care.
SKILLS
- General anesthesia monitoring
- Emergency pet care
- Dental procedures
- Canine and feline intubation
- Vaccinations
- Animal diagnostics
- Animal behavior knowledge
- Proper animal restraint
- Illness assessment and treatment
WORK HISTORY
Veterinarian
04/2018 – Current
Company Name, City, State
- Conducted community classes on animal care and husbandry, parasite prevention and nutrition for various groups.
- Managed medication administration, dispensed prescriptions and replenished inventory, carefully accounting for controlled substances.
- Educated staff members on proper medical care procedures and pet care protocols.
Veterinary Aide
03/2011 – 07/2017
Company Name, City, State
- Cleaned and disinfected exam areas, equipment and kennels to prevent spread of disease, control odors and maintain healthy environment.
- Provided exemplary customer service to owners by answering animal health questions and educating about positive animal care practices.
- Evaluated incoming patients to determine treatment needs and urgency of care.
Retail Store Manager
03/2007 – 09/2010
Company Name, City, State
- Offered hands-on assistance to customers, assessing needs and maintaining current knowledge of consumer preferences.
- Trained new employees on proper protocols and customer service standards.
- Built talented and valuable team of departmental employees through outstanding mentoring, coaching and teaching skills.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science: Veterinary Medicine
City, State
Top 4 Characteristics of a Best-in-Class Veterinarian Resume
- Summary A persuasive summary communicates your best skills and areas of expertise in a few punchy sentences. Always craft your summary to match the major requirements of the job. For example, for a veterinarian job that focuses on cats, you could write: “Passionate veterinarian well-versed in addressing cat health issues. Experienced in providing quality health care for feline diseases and injuries.”
- Skills Break this section into two categories: practical skills such as diagnostic abilities, knowledge of surgical procedures, or maintaining medical records, and soft skills such as team management, problem-solving, excellent communications skills or a calm demeanor.
- Work History When describing your past experiences, showcase major achievements and responsibilities rather than daily tasks. For example: “Led team of veterinarians focused on equine ambulatory practice, providing sports medicine care to elite equine athletes,” or “Oversaw surgical cases and developed treatment plans for hospitalized pets.”
- Education Feature your highest academic credentials, such as a veterinary medicine degree, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, a B.S. in Biology, or a Master’s in Animal Science. You should also list your license to practice veterinary medicine, and any additional training or certifications that you may have acquired in areas such as animal anatomy, behavior, nutrition, physiology, epidemiology, pharmacology, pathology and parasitology, and public health.
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Do’s and Don’ts for Your Resume
- DO quantify your skills and achievements. Make your accomplishments more understandable and tangible by applying numbers to them. For example, it’s better to write “Performed surgical procedures on over 100 animals per year, including cats, dogs, rabbits and hamsters” than write “Performed surgical procedures on animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits and hamsters.”
- DO make sure your resume isn’t too long. Hiring managers only take seconds to read a resume — make sure those seconds are used wisely by focusing only on work accomplishments and skills that apply directly to the position you’re aiming for. Keep your phrases and bullet points short and sweet, and limit your work history to the last 10 years. The goal: a resume that’s not more than two-pages long.
- DO tailor your resume for each job opening. A veterinarian at an animal hospital will have different duties than a veterinarian at a zoological park. Always create a different version of your resume for each job opportunity, making sure you’re addressing the skills and job requirements for the specific job, as listed in the job posting. For more advice on how to customize your resume, see How to Create a Targeted Resume.
- DON’T get too crazy with your resume design. While you might want to display your sparkling, colorful personality through your resume design, don’t get caught up with using unusual fonts and graphics for your document. Above all, employers want to be able to pick out your top qualifications without getting sidetracked by confusing designs. Save the colorful details about yourself for your cover letter, and use a free resume template for your resume.
- DON’T forget to focus on keywords. Employers, and the applicant tracking systems (ATS) they use to scan resumes, will be looking for the right keywords in your resume. Read the job description and note important phrases that spell out what the job needs, such as “small animal medicine, surgery and critical care” or “spay and neuter surgeries.” These are the keywords you should address throughout your resume. For example, you could list “spay and neuter surgery” as a skill, or mention previous work experience involving animal medicine, surgery and critical care. For more keyword pointers, see our page How to Use Keywords Effectively.
- DON’T submit your resume without proofreading it.Even a minor mistake in your resume can have a negative impact on recruiters. Read through your resume a few times, and make sure it’s free of grammatical and spelling errors. Check the information you provide in your document, and ensure it’s accurate, up-to-date and targeted exactly for what the job requires. For extra security, use our Resume Builder, which reviews your resume for you.
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