When getting a Vet nurse job in Australia becomes a real challenge

Today I want to tell you my story about landing my first vet nurse job.

As overseas veterinarians, we think that finding a job as a vet nurse in Australia is easy. Or some others think that they can volunteer first, but hold on! Finding a volunteering is nearly impossible too!!

The reality is that , finding a vet nurse job in Australia is hard and finding a volunteering position is even harder.

It took me 2 years and 77 resumes to find my first “volunteering” position.

My quest started back in 2018, after being 1 year in Australia and working as a waitress I realised that if I wanted to stay in Australia and have a GOOD quality of life and NOT to struggle financially I had to become registered as a Veterinarian.

At that time I was working 20 hours a week as a waitress, I was washing dishes on sundays for extra cash and I was studying academic English course full time for Visa purposes.

I was constantly struggling financially despite being working 30 hrs a week.

In 2018 my new year’s resolution was: “ To become a registered Vet in Australia by 2020”

My first step was to find that Vet nurse job, so I could belong to the Vet industry within Australia, learn medical vocabulary, get to know other vets and make new friends.

I created my CV and sent it to more than 10 clinics and I never got called for an interview.

After 2 months of waiting, I sent my CV + cover letter to other 10 different places across Sydney and once again, I never heard back.

It was now the middle of the year and I was still working as a waitress during the week and washing dishes on the weekend. I felt hopeless, lost, I felt moving to Australia after all wasn’t for me, I felt like I was wasting my time.

I am going to be very honest with you, in my mind I had given up (yes that easy), but my partner kept saying to me: keep looking, apply to as many jobs as possible, eventually someone will call you.

As I started looking again for vet nurse jobs, I saw a volunteering position as a zoo keeper at Taronga zoo. I thought: I am applying and I am SURE I am going to get this position, after all I am a Veterinarian, this is a massive advantage !!

I applied, went to several interviews ( it took SO MUCH OF MY TIME) and guess what? I didn’t get it.

The day I found I was devastated, I cried for hours, I almost felt like moving back to my country and going back to my old life in Colombia. But my partner kept saying: keep looking and thank god you didn’t get that, that was a terrible idea!!

Once again , I started looking and I applied to more than 15 different vet nurse positions, this time I got called for an interview!!!

Wow , my first vet nurse interview!! It was a small practice in Surry Hill. The interview was a disaster, the head veterinarian and practice owner asked me all of this questions about the vaccination protocol in Australia, asked me names of different surgical instruments, asked about how to use the Heska IV pumps, asked me about common medications, setting up of an anesthetic machine….

I barely answered to these questions, I had never set up a Heska pump, I didn’t even know what a pump or what Heska was!!!!

Anyway, obviously, I didn’t get the job, once again, I was sad, crying ( I always cry when things do not go as planned) , I felt like I was never going to achieve my goals in this country.

On the following year ( I actually took a break from job hunting) , it was driving me INSANE and it was time consuming.

On July 2019 I was working my ass off as a sandwich maker, I hated that job and I was having a life crisis, I was still stuck in the hospitality industry and I felt like getting any job within the vet profession in Australia was gonna be the biggest challenge of my life.

I started applying to vet nurse jobs, I sent a bunch of resumes and cover letters and I got ONE CALL! here I go again on my second vet interview.

This time is was a clinic located in Parramatta, the head veterinarian and practice owner asked me so many questions about vet nursing and I barely answered them. By the end of the interview I knew he was never going to call me.

before leaving I said to him “ I know I won’t get the job, but please know that I am willing to volunteer on my day off, I can come here on Mondays, help you with the washing, cleaning cages, walking dogs. Then he said:

“ You remind me of myself when I moved to Australia, I was in the exact same position as you are right now and I was like, what? are you not Australian? he said “ no, I am from Iran and I did the AVE exam just like you want to do it.

I could not believe it!!! I could not tell he was from Iran, he didn’t have an accent and his English was great. He was the first person I met that had done the AVE exam and he gave me HOPE.

After that experience I realised it was possible, I waited for 2 weeks and he never got back to me, then my partner said:

You need to call him, follow up on that application, become a pain in the ass for him.

If it wouldn’t have been for my partner , I would have never called him or follow up on my application, I honestly, did not have the confidence, I felt like I was bothering him. Bu I did, I called him once, he did not reply, I called again and left a message with reception, then I sent a follow up email and this was his response:

When I read this email, my life changed FOREVER, my soul, body was re-energized, I knew this was the beginning of my journey.

I started an unpaid position on Mondays, I volunteered there for 6 months, then I updated my CV and I applied to a few vet nurse jobs and guess what? I got a call straight away! I went for the interview and they offered me the position as a part time vet nurse.

And that was my journey into getting a vet nurse job in Australia.

If you are in the same position, let me be that person that tells you: DO NOT GIVE UP, apply to as many jobs, go in person to that vet hospital with your printed CV, do not let ANYONE STOP YOU.

Good luck in your job hunting journey.

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