tiff-689 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 $32,000 is what i was told by the course coordinators, as 'average'. I am very happy to be proven wrong though? RubyStar, Abbie is an English Pointer. About the same height as a Lab. She is a little shy with other dogs but gets better with time. Typical pointer really, takes a while to warm up to people. What suburb are you in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelsquest Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 It would be possible, but only you can weigh up if you could cope on that wage. There is nothing wrong with deciding that a wage of that amount cannot support your lifestyle. You still have to have the lifestyle you want, and if you need a higher wage to do that, that is your choice. There is no point being in a job you love, if the lack of money impacts on the rest of your life and makes you miserable. I would suggest sitting down and doing a realistic budget before you make any decisions. Then you need to weigh up the trade offs between having the job you love and little money, or a job that is only ok, but more money. Good luck with whatever you decide . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimiss Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Depending on the threshold, you may be able to claim rent assistance etc from centrelink for being a low income earner. Not sure what the threshold is though but it could be worth looking into Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelsquest Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) Depending on the threshold, you may be able to claim rent assistance etc from centrelink for being a low income earner. Not sure what the threshold is though but it could be worth looking into You can only claim rent assistance if you are receiving another Centrelink payment, and I don't think OP would qualify for any other payment . A quick Google search seems the pay figure OP quoted is probably correct. http://www.acpeople.com.au/cat/Veterinary-Nurses_6392xj.htm http://www.thinknursing.com.au/become_a_veterinary_nurse.htm Edited for spelling Edited November 21, 2011 by rebelsquest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimiss Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Depending on the threshold, you may be able to claim rent assistance etc from centrelink for being a low income earner. Not sure what the threshold is though but it could be worth looking into You can only claim rent assistance if you are receiving another Centrelink payment, and I don't think OP would qualify for any other payment . A quick Google search seems the pay figure OP quoted is probably correct. http://www.acpeople.com.au/cat/Veterinary-Nurses_6392xj.htm http://www.thinknursing.com.au/become_a_veterinary_nurse.htm Edited for spelling Yes you're right. Rent assistance is additional to the benefit. But there is assistance to those studying or as a trainee to possibly supplement the low wage until she becomes fully fledged.. Not sure how long one is a "trainee" is though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 You may not get much more than that EVER unless you are in a specialist centre/emergency/overnight or become a manager or full time receptionist (they are under a different award) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumof4girls Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I Also saw renting as dead money but if you cant afford a mortgage at this point in time and you want your dream job then I guess renting is the only answer.. In this field does experience count on pay increase, would your pay increase over time? Incentives? Renting maybe short term .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 jrm, yes you are correct you can make a fair bit of money doing overnight/emergency work but that would certainly be a fair way down the track at least 3 or 4 years on if you can get one. Those kind of jobs are reserved for the best qualified and only available in the inner city areas where there are a few emergency and specialty hospitals. You would have to have extra qualifications on top of your Vet nursing certificates eg. emergency care, intensive care, anesthesia course certificates or others. I worked as a vet nurse for about 14 years and always said one only does it for the love of the animals not the pay packet, I was/am married so I could afford to do the work I always loved, don't believe that I would /could live on it though if I had been single. The job is often thankless, extremely dirty (nothing like arriving at work in the early hours to find a smelly, filthy dirty cage in the iso ward with a parvo patient). Don't miss that at all!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Working for that very low wage is undervaluing yourself and your skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 two speed economy in WA & Perth is a huge problem Whilst it may be ok to get by on $32K pa in other states, Perth particularly is a problem when rents are creeping up all the time - a very average house in an outer suburb will set you back minimum $300 PW ( I assume you want space for your dog to run around ) - thats most of your wages if you arent sharing with anyone tiff - I still think you should do what you love, but stay with your parents if you can and save up a deposit for a house - renting for years is not going to get you ahead if you plan to stay in Perth Do the basic admin type study too - learning MYOB etc will get you ahead for most vet practices as some have said here. ANYWAY - if you have a Bachelor in Marketing why dont you study to be a vet ( just a thought! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Working for that very low wage is undervaluing yourself and your skills. Yet if a vet was to charge their clients a higher consult fee in order to cover higher wage costs everyone would complain that vets were to expensive... Working for that wage is not undervaluing yourself. There are always going to be lower paying jobs in society - that's just the way it is (noting I started as a professional with 2 degrees on a grad salary of $26k) and is necessary to maintain any semblance of an economy. Notwithstanding this, I think that some vet nurses are underpaid for the work that they do. It certainly is a job which people do for the love of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swizzlestick Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 The salary sounds right to me - low paying and very physically demanding Reason I asked was because I'm a qualifed vet nurse, in a regional town in Vic, and I (and everyone else I work with) earn a considerable amount more than $32,000. I wouldn't do what I do know if I only got paid $32,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuddleDuck Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Can I suggest what might be a best of both worlds alternative? Look into animal health companies. Drug, food, treats, toys, wholesaling, etc. they pay a lot better and if you have a background in/knowledge of marketing you might find it's a better fit. Usually a lot of room to move but if you start out in customer service or as a rep you often get to sit around and chat about pets. I know a lot of vet nurses who went on to animal health-all the reps we used to get at the clinic were ex vet nurses. I was a vet nurse and the novelty wore off quickly with long hours, bad pay with no hope of a payrise and being treated as a glorified kennel hand despite my qualifications. There are some great practices that treat their nurses well but IME they are rare and generally have had the same staff for a very long time! Good luck either way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry's Mum Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I don't think you would get a mortgage on such a low salary. I think puddleduck's suggestion is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Unless you have a VERY good deposit, I can't imagine any bank willing to loan anyone solo on a wage of $32,000 so rent might be your only option (and parents an even better one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Unless you have a VERY good deposit, I can't imagine any bank willing to loan anyone solo on a wage of $32,000 so rent might be your only option (and parents an even better one) I was once on a wage this low and I bought my first unit solo. Can't remember how much deposit I had, couldn't have been much more than $10k, but I got a loan. Then again, prices of Perth houses these days, you'd be hard pressed to find a dog kennel to buy on the max loan a bank could give you on 32k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee :) Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I'm in a similar situation. I did cert 11 in animal studies earlier this year, and am about to finish cert 111 in companion animal services. when i do finish i can get a job as a vet nurse, then do cert 4 in vet nursing if i get a minimum 15 hours a week. but yes, i will also have the problem of a very low paying job, as one of my teachers has made sure we know just how low paying it is and how long the hours are etc. but i also have the problem of in my area not having many veterinary clinics around and therefore not many positions, but lots of people wanting positions. i don't know what it's like in the capital cities though, but yeah $32K is probably considered pretty low, but as others have said, if you love it then you can cope with the pay rate. good luck, hope it all works out well for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 The salary sounds right to me - low paying and very physically demanding Reason I asked was because I'm a qualifed vet nurse, in a regional town in Vic, and I (and everyone else I work with) earn a considerable amount more than $32,000. I wouldn't do what I do know if I only got paid $32,000. I started on less than that with my previous boss. It was only after I networked the practice, set up email and built a website that I managed to negotiate going up to about that figure. I since scored an awesome boss who really looks after his nurses and pays me well over that, but I still do the website side of things for him and help make lots of decisions. Yes I guess bosses like mine are few and far between, but they are out there and you won't meet them if you don't try! I recently inquired about getting a loan and the bank was happy to lend to me, however my salary just meant that I couldn't borrow enough to buy a place in Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) *** Edited March 2, 2012 by gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I like PuddleDuck's idea something I may look into as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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