Veterinarian resume example
A resume for a Veterinarian needs to show the work itself: diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Day to day that means work like this: treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery; inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.
Also advertised as
The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
- Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
- DVM
- Emergency Veterinarian
- Emergency Vet
- Small Animal Veterinarian
- Small Animal Vet
- Veterinary Medicine Doctor
- Companion Animal Practitioner
- Large Animal Veterinarian
- Large Animal Vet
- Mixed Animal Veterinarian
- Mixed Animal Vet
- Veterinary Surgeon
- Vet Surgeon
- Veterinary Surgical Specialist
- Vet Surgical Specialist
- Zoo Veterinarian
- Zoo Vet
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.
What people in this job call themselves
Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.
- Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
- Emergency Veterinarian (Emergency Vet)
- Large Animal Veterinarian (Large Animal Vet)
- Mixed Animal Veterinarian (Mixed Animal Vet)
- Small Animal Veterinarian (Small Animal Vet)
- Veterinary Medicine Doctor (DVM)
- Veterinary Surgeon (Vet Surgeon)
- Veterinary Surgical Specialist (Vet Surgical Specialist)
- Zoo Veterinarian (Zoo Vet)
What this work actually involves
Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.
- Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
- Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
- Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
- Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis.
- Operate diagnostic equipment, such as radiographic or ultrasound equipment, and interpret the resulting images.
- Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans.
- Counsel clients about the deaths of their pets or about euthanasia decisions for their pets.
- Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
- Euthanize animals.
- Attend lectures, conferences, or continuing education courses.
- Train or supervise workers who handle or care for animals.
- Perform administrative or business management tasks, such as scheduling appointments, accepting payments from clients, budgeting, or maintaining business records.
21 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.
Example bullets for this role
Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.
- Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
- Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
- Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
- Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Software used in this role
Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.
- Adobe Acrobat
- American Data Systems PAWS Veterinary Practice Management
- Complete Clinic
- Eklin Information Systems VIA
- Henry Schein ImproMed
- IDEXX Laboratories IDEXX Cornerstone
- IDEXX Laboratories IDEXX VPM
- ImproMed Infinity
- InformaVet ALIS-VET
- IntraVet
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
20 software entries are recorded in total.
Tools and equipment
The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.
- Ambu bags
- Angiography catheters
- Animal catching poles
- Animal electrocardiograph ECG units
- Animal snares
- Arterial line catheters
- Arthroscopic surgical equipment
- Aspiration catheters
- Automated chemistry analyzers
- Automated microbial identification systems
- Avian restrainers
- Bandage scissors
Skills an ATS reads for
Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.
- prescribe medications
- immunize patients
What this job rates as most important
O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.
- 01Active Listening
- 02Reading Comprehension
- 03Active Learning
- 04Complex Problem Solving
- 05Critical Thinking
- 06Judgment and Decision Making
- 07Science
- 08Speaking
- 09Writing
- 10Service Orientation
Knowledge areas
The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.
- Biology
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
- Chemistry
- Personnel and Human Resources
What qualifications people in this job have
From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
- 79%Doctoral Degree
- 12%Post-Doctoral Training
- 9%First Professional Degree, awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.
What level this role is pitched at
O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Common questions
- What does a Veterinarian do?
- Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Day to day that includes work like treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery and Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
- What skills should a Veterinarian put on a resume?
- O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
- What software should a Veterinarian list?
- Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, American Data Systems PAWS Veterinary Practice Management, Complete Clinic, Eklin Information Systems VIA, and Henry Schein ImproMed. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
- What other job titles cover Veterinarian work?
- O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, DVM, Emergency Veterinarian, and Emergency Vet. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
- What qualifications does a Veterinarian need?
- In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 79% reported their level of education as "Doctoral Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
- Will this resume pass an ATS for a Veterinarian role?
- No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.
Related roles
Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.
What this page cannot tell you
- No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
- This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
- Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.
If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.
Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.