Veterinarian Resume Examples: Guide & Template for 2024

Veterinarian resume sample

The US Bureau of Labor predicts that the employment of veterinarians will grow 17% from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all jobs. Veterinarians are responsible for diagnosing health problems, administering vaccines, treating injuries, prescribing medication and so much more. Your veterinarian resume must show your expertise in veterinary medicine to make you stand out from other candidates. This includes highlighting the necessary technical skills, certifications and years of experience to land the best veterinary job. The perfect veterinary resume will demonstrate you can be trusted by pet owners for their pet care with a clear outlining of your credentials as a licensed veterinarian.

What to highlight in a veterinarian resume?

A veterinarian must be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine to practice – a professional resume will make this clear. Yet, the best resume will highlight all the skills you have developed through your experience to help you stand out.

This may mean knowledge of surgical procedures, immunizations or expertise in critical care. Do you specialize in small animals or large animals? The perfect resume will highlight your specialties for hiring managers so they can judge if you will be a good fit for their animal hospital or veterinary clinic.

The structure of a veterinarian resume example

Whatever the resume, there are obligatory sections: header, resume summary or objective, skills, work experience and education.

For the resume format, you can choose to organize your information in three different ways. These are the chronological format which emphasizes work history, the functional format which emphasizes skills and the combination format which emphasizes both. The format of your resume will largely depend on your level of experience and particular skills. Choose a format that puts your strongest elements  first.

Regardless of the veterinarian resume format you go with, you should include these resume sections structure to best showcase your abilities:

Resume header

It is essential to make it convenient for the recruiter to contact you. That’s why the header always sits at the top of your resume. Include your full name, phone number and email address. It’s also a good idea to add links to any of your job networking profiles such as LinkedIn.

Resume summary or objective

This section is where you feature your professional resume summary – a brief outline of your career background that is no longer than two or three sentences. Use it to highlight your specialties in animal healthcare. A resume objective, on the other hand, is a brief statement that communicates your career goals if you don’t have many years of work experience under your belt.

Resume skills

To land your dream veterinarian role, you must demonstrate you have the skills to perform your duties. However, it’s not just about the technical and hard skills, You’ll also need to show you have the soft skills required. Refer to  the specific job description. A veterinarian resume may include some of the following skills:

• Passion for animal care
• Knowledge of diagnostic tests
• Conducting vaccinations
• Performing dental procedures
• Spaying/neutering
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Ability to work under pressure

Remember that each veterinary clinic or animal hospital may place different demands on its veterinarians. Check the job description to ensure you are highlighting the skills applicable to the role advertised.

Work experience

In reverse chronological order, list your previous relevant experience in this section. Below each role, list your responsibilities and duties briefly, using action words to highlight your ability to perform those tasks.

List veterinary roles that show your broad skill set. Hiring managers want to see that you have experience in all aspects of veterinary practices and procedures. To this end, listing any voluntary work or internships can help add an extra element to your veterinary resume. Some employers require evidence of voluntary work, so be sure to look out for that in the job description. It is good to share quantifiable metrics related to your work experience. This gives evidence of your veterinarian skills.

If you are a fresh graduate or don’t have much experience, then you will have to make the most of the experiences gained during your time at college. In that case, the education section should come before the work experience section.

Education

Veterinarians must complete a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree at an accredited college of veterinary medicine. State this clearly in your education section. In addition, veterinarians have to pass state exams to obtain their license as rules and regulations of veterinary practice vary from state to state. Be sure to acquire  the necessary credentials and share them in this section.

Do’s and don’ts for a veterinarian resume

Do:

• Make sure to edit your resume. Take the time to make sure your resume is error-free and reads well. Recruiters may dismiss resumes with grammatical and spelling errors.
• Customize your resume for the job description. Veterinarian roles can vary, so check the job duties and make sure you address them in your resume. If you are applying to work with large animals at a zoo, then focusing on experience with small animal medicine is not a good idea.
• Establish your specialist knowledge, if any. The hiring manager at the vet clinic or animal hospital needs to see that you are highly qualified for the position. Show this by using the correct terminology.

Don’t:

• Don’t lie or exaggerate about your skills and experience on your resume. You will get found out at the interview stage. Don’t claim anything you can’t follow up with evidence.
• Overfill your experience section with too many roles that aren’t relevant. It’s a fine line with veterinarian roles since employers like to see a broad skill set, but try to offer just the highlights. No recruiter wants to scour through pages of previous roles. If they want to know more, then they can ask during an interview.
• Write your resume without any help. That’s what the ResumeHelp resume builder is there for.