RubyStar Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 have you done some work experience to finally make up your mind if the job is for you? Very good point, there. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a vet nurse. So I did work experience in year 11 (for an indefinite period) up at a local vet clinic and I was enjoying it, until I got to stand in on my first operation. I got through it, but when they got to the stitching up part, that is when the room started spinning and I was out cold on the floor. I decided that it wasn't in my future to be a vet nurse afterall. I am so thankful I found out when I did!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I've felt faint as a vet nurse too at the beginning however the vet was understanding and said it happens to a lot of people. Only happened once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inevitablue Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I like PuddleDuck's idea something I may look into as well. If I can be any help.... I did Zoology, then worked directly with dogs for a number of years. I had a friend who worked for Pfizer as a rep. It really seemed to fit in nicely with her horses and dogs. I was mainly working weekends and I started to resent it. I took the first rep job I got offered and quickly realized it was a bad company to work for. But the base pay for all reps, regardless of age or experience was $55K plus comms, bonuses, car etc. I planned to stick it out for a year, work out who I wanted to work for and then almost to the day I saw a job with one of those companies. With them my base jumped to $70k plus company car etc. They were great to work for, drive the car anywhere I wanted, it was considered a reward. I'd tow a trailer from Sydney to Phillip Island in Victoria several times a year and they said 'please, use your fuel card'. I enjoy it, as I'm still well and truly involved in the pet industry, I work Monday to Friday, definately not micro managed, and can plan my week around things I might need to do. No more artificial lighting, but maybe just a bit more road rage! Then I was asked to join something really exciting, which is with Monash Uni and their stem cells. A different pay structure than normal, but my work is FAR from boring. It's a good lifestyle. The conferences can be FUN! I believe the ultimate multinational to work for is Bayer. Vet reping pays more than retail reping (think dog toys etc to pet shops) and wholesale vet reping can be quite diverse. Even with no experience, you can walk into minimum $55K (and don't accept anything less, they all know that's the minimum) and the average for experienced reps in $70k ( I knew that figure and that's what I stated when I went for the 2nd job). If the money gets addictive you then have the experience to jump to human. My girlfriend sells equipment for gyno/ urology to hospitals and specialists. After comms and bonuses are added she brings home about $120k. She is what we call a 'killer rep' though! The vets and nurses on here can confirm that you don't have to be a pushy sales person, the best ones are the friendly ones, who cut through the crap, provide the info requested and follow up on requests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrm88 Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Look at the vet nurse award as well... Many vets will only pay the minimum award. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) What you've been quoted is the award, and was only recently revised, so the base award was worse than that. Before this revision we had individual agreements where you could have been right royally screwed over. Luckily my boss was great about ours. Night shift and public holidays in emergency is the best paying, probably the Specialist clinics could be a good wage too but you may find yourself working 12 hr days on a regular basis. I had lunch on my way home at 4pm today. That was my first break after 10am brekky. To work in general practice you need to love working with sick and sometimes very sick animals, taking part in euthanasia and doing lots and lots and lots of cleaning. I can easily do four loads of washing in a day after vacuuming, mopping, wiping benches, scrubbing surgical instruments. If you are absolutely awesome with budgetting and can attain financial goals, and never having any spare play money won't make you miserable then go for it - it doesn't need to be forever. But if a house in the suburbs is what you want more than Vet Nursing then you might be wise to think about volunteering in the animal field instead. Edited November 21, 2011 by Staff'n'Toller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyesblue Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) Ive been a vet nurse for 12 years and im afraid to say that the pay is that really that bad. Even when fully qualified through Tafe you can expect to only get about $22 an hour. I was able to get a loan from the bank (on my single income)to buy a home and if you have a proven saving record it should not be a problem. Some people love the job despite the pay and others hate it. I always say get used to cleaning as its really a glorified cleaning job. I would really suggest to offer to do some work exprience at a vet hopstial to see if you like it first (you may need workers comp insurance??). If you end up loving the job I'm sure you will make it work financially. Personally, after over 10 years of being an underpaid vet nurse, i cut my hours down to part time and am currently studying at uni. Edit for spelling Edited November 21, 2011 by skyesblue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I was a vet nurse for 8yrs before i couldnt continue anymore due to the low pay. I felt like i was getting no where in life and relised liking my job wasnt enough, i had no savings and was living from pay to pay which was very stressful. I also felt like i was getting ripped off, working extra hours with no overtime pay only time off in leiu. I am now working in a job with great working conditions, hours and pay!! I am now able to get overtime pay which is a great boost, i have savings in the bank and feel so much happier and better about where i am heading. For me i would rather an ok job with good pay then a great job with crap pay. As a single person i couldnt live on the pay and it was getting me down. I would really think hard about what you want in life and what you want to achive, for me a job is a job for money, weekends are for fun. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) I second (third? fourth?) those who say to perhaps look into alternatives that are close to what you want to work in but pay better/have more career prospects. Fingers crossed I get into Uni next year because I discovered something that if I aim in the right direction can come pretty close to what my original low paying job goal was, and pays a helluva lot better!! Once again good luck! Edited November 21, 2011 by RubyStar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) I looked into vet nursing but decided if I am going to go back and study I may as well go the whole hog and study to be a vet. I need to do a chemistry and some other modules but I can only start studying in 2013 anyway as I will be a citizen by then. Edited November 21, 2011 by Mason_Gibbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I vet nursed for a while and back then it was about $10.80 per hour. I simply couldn't afford to continue, after paying rent and bills I had nothing so got in to grooming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkhe Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 It really does depend on what you want to do - while $32K does seem very low, I live on less than that now (albeit while working part time) and am doing fine. I live in a share house instead of having bought one, but I manage to save to go overseas each year. I went through this myself a year or so ago, trying to decide whether I could stop full time work and go part time and study as well. I basically cut my income in half, but there's no real discernable difference to my lifestyle. I don't have extravagant taste in anything, and am a bit of a homebody though. It seems to me that people spend whatever they earn. A bit more or less income really doesn't make that much difference, apart from the brands of things you buy, really. That's my way of saying really, don't let the money put you off. It's so important to be happy and healthy, and life's too short to slave away in a job you hate that doesn't have any prospects for turning into anything you love, let alone like! I would suggest speaking to vet nurses you know about the work, though, and making sure you're really across what it's going to involve. Make sure you go in with accurate expectations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris the Rebel Wolf Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I earn just a little more than that, but I do share the household expenses - mortgage, renovations - bills, food - with my partner. I budget very carefully, and though I would find it very difficult to live without James's help, I think I could manage all but the mortgage. That would be very hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimiss Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I agree with a few of the above - Why not study to become a Vet if money is a concern? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiff-689 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 Wow, thank you all for the very helpful advice. Very much appreciated. I have considered becoming a vet, but at this stage of my life i really can't see myself doing another 6 years of university. I did 30 hours of vet nurse work experience just a few months back. It was a prerequisite to get into the course. Did i absolutely love it? Not the entire time but i did enjoy it for the most part. Then again, i didn't get to answer the phone or do anything that required the skill of a qualified vet nurse. The place i was at was so welcoming and all the vet nurses genuinely loved their job. I spoke to some of them about the pay, but all were either married or had partners earning big bucks up in the mines...so money wasn't too much of an issue. I'de be lying if i said i didn't think to myself a few times whilst scrubbing the surgical equipment or hanging out the washing, "hmm would i get over this pretty quickly??" but then exciting stuff would happen like a big surgery or a parvo puppy going home. I had a sit down tonight and weighed the pro's and con's. I have until the end of january to make a final decision so i have decided to explore my options over the next few months. Apply for a whole stack of admin and marketing jobs and see where that takes me. If i get to the point where it is crunch time and i'm still looking for a job..well, then i'm not so sure. I'm really not to sure there are many pet rep jobs going in perth? I've never seen any advertised anyway :S Maybe vet nursing is something i need to explore when i'm older and am more financially stable? I'm not sure. I even thought i could study it part time whilst working a higher paying job...but then what's the point of having the qualification if i don't intend on using it for years :S Sadly, i'm at that stage in my life where i've lost a lot of high school friends and struggle to meet new ones with the same interests in me. I'm very much a homebody and i was hoping the course would be a great way to meet and make new friends. But in saying that, so could a new job somewhere else. My head is just all over the place right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkhe Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 <snipped> Sadly, i'm at that stage in my life where i've lost a lot of high school friends and struggle to meet new ones with the same interests in me. I'm very much a homebody and i was hoping the course would be a great way to meet and make new friends. But in saying that, so could a new job somewhere else. My head is just all over the place right now. Argh, I could have written that. This is 100% me, too. Argh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateshep Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I have worked as vet nurse for the past 6 years and have recently decided to quit because it is too hard to save on such low pay. Yeah salaries can vary, but I think the 32K is a fair average. Once you have gained a few years experience, going into other pathways such as specialist vets ect are good options. You don't have to do extra courses to get a job at specialist/emergency though it may help, they look more heavily into your experience from what I found. One other major reason I decided to quit was job satisfaction was quite low for me. I absolutely loved working with animals, but the Veterinary industry is big business $$$$, the commercial aspect is a big turn off for me. Making a living and paying for services is one thing but pushing unecessarily needed products is another. What I tell my friends and family with regards to their pet care needs is not what I am supposed to tell clients. Not all clinics are like this- some worse than others but in my experience many could do better in that aspect. Don't think I'd want to work for a drug company either. Good luck, I guess you have to decide what you really enjoy, want to do and try to balance it with what you can lifestyle can financially survive by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I agree with a few of the above - Why not study to become a Vet if money is a concern? Where I was working before, the graduate Vets were starting on about $40k or so and I believe the senior vets were earning less than $60k. Obviously better than nurses wages but the hours are much longer and obviously stressful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I agree with a few of the above - Why not study to become a Vet if money is a concern? Where I was working before, the graduate Vets were starting on about $40k or so and I believe the senior vets were earning less than $60k. Obviously better than nurses wages but the hours are much longer and obviously stressful. I have been asked many times why I don't study to be a vet, which I found quite interesting and a bit frustrating - they assume because you like animals that you would want to be a vet. Being a nurse is a completely different job, and I know that I am not up for (or interested in) being a vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimiss Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I agree with a few of the above - Why not study to become a Vet if money is a concern? Where I was working before, the graduate Vets were starting on about $40k or so and I believe the senior vets were earning less than $60k. Obviously better than nurses wages but the hours are much longer and obviously stressful. I have been asked many times why I don't study to be a vet, which I found quite interesting and a bit frustrating - they assume because you like animals that you would want to be a vet. Being a nurse is a completely different job, and I know that I am not up for (or interested in) being a vet. I know they're different jobs, however it was a suggestion that would potentially earn more $ in the same field. I didn't realise vets didn't earn that much either, as per above. This thread is a bit of an eye opener! I think it's unfair they're being paid so little for such hard and long hours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 (edited) I guess the other issue to me is, even if you can afford to do it now, how much will you have in superannuation etc to live on when you retire, that's something I never thought about till I met my OH who works in super. He is seeing a lot of people who didn't put towards their retirement that are now in lots of trouble with the way the financial market is. Edited November 22, 2011 by Aussie3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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