How to hire an animal health technician

How to hire an animal health technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step animal health technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an animal health technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new animal health technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the animal health technician you need to hire. Certain animal health technician roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an animal health technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an animal health technician that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of animal health technician salaries for various roles:

   Type of Animal Health Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Animal Health Technician	Veterinary technologists and technicians perform medical tests under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian to assist in diagnosing the injuries and illnesses of animals.	$11-27
   Registered Veterinary Technician	Registered veterinary technicians work under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The technicians must control and prevent zoonotic diseases... Show more	$14-25
   Certified Veterinary Technician	A certified veterinary technician is in charge of performing laboratory tests, participating in medical procedures, and performing clerical support tasks at veterinary clinics, zoos, and private laboratories. Their responsibilities often include collecting information from pet owners, studying the patients' medical histories, gathering and analyzing samples from the patients through various laboratory procedures, operating equipment and machines, and monitoring the patients' conditions... Show more	$14-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Animal Handling
   • IM
   • Laboratory Animals
   • Medical Procedures
   • Husbandry
   • Euthanasia
   • Surgical Procedures
   • IV
   • USDA
   • IP
   • SQ
   • PET
   • Patients
   • AHT

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage tech appointments, suture removal, bandage removal and placement, CPR and emergency care when need.
   • Blood draws, lab work, suture removal, catheter placement.
   • Prepare media and other analytical processes in compliance with FDA regulations guidelines.
   • Inspect and maintain facilities organization and operations according to FDA and clinical standards.
   • Administer drug, fluid and respiratory therapy to critically-ill patients in an effort to provide optimal support during anesthesia.
   • Perform various administrative support functions including answering telephones, checking patients in/out and responding to any inquiries and taking appointments.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your animal health technician job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. An animal health technician can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, animal health technicians' average salary in arkansas is 50% less than in maryland.
   • Seniority. Entry-level animal health technicians 60% less than senior-level animal health technicians.
   • Certifications. An animal health technician with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in an animal health technician's salary.

   Average animal health technician salary

   $37,267yearly

   $17.92 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level animal health technician salary

   $23,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

4. Writing an animal health technician job description

   A good animal health technician job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an animal health technician job description:

   Animal health technician job description example

   Responsibilities
   
   Under direction of the Management Services Officer, AHT IV and/or the Clinical Veterinarian, provide a wide variety of paraveterinary health care duties that are directly related to all research conducted at UCLA. Major duties include conditioning & quarantine, campus health programs, clinical management, procedures training, and laboratory specimen handling.
   
   Qualifications
   
   Required:
   
   + Ability to recognize abnormalities in behavior of laboratory animals and signs that indicate disease.
   
   + Ability to effectively communicate with faculty and staff who have varying degrees of veterinary medical training.
   
   + Ability to lift animals up to 50 pounds.
   
   + Skill in administering oral (including gavage) and parenteral (ID, SQ, IM, IP) medications including fluids to different species.
   
   + Skill in handling and restraining laboratory animals.
   
   + Skill in the collection of animal body fluids, feces and urine. And, knowledge in sample submission
   
   + Ability to complete tasks in an orderly and timely fashion.
   
   + Skill in writing health reports and other records with legible handwriting, or using computer systems
   
   + Skill in prioritizing assignments in a timely and accurate manner.
   
   + Skill in medical procedures including treatment administration and follow up, post operative care, and bandaging.
   
   + Skill in preparing and sterilizing instrument packs.
   
   + Skill in preparing animals for surgery and necropsy.
   
   + Skill in cleaning laboratory, surgery and necropsy rooms.
   
   + Ability to euthanize animals using CO2 chambers. Knowledge of appropriate disposal of the animals, including bio-hazardous animals.
   
   + Skill in teaching and assess proficiency of personnel conducting biomedical procedures including animal handling, restraint, oral and parenteral administration of substances, specimen collection, aseptic technique, and/or surgery
   
   + Ability to follow safety procedures.
   
   + Familiar with local, state, and federal regulations governing Animal Research: The Animal Welfare Act ( 9 CFR, Sub.Ch A), Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies ( 21 CFR Part 58), The Guide 8th Ed., and Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
   
   + Knowledge of and ability to accurately follow SOPs.
   
   + Knowledge of the institutional environmental enrichment program(s), and skills to implement and assess it.
   
   + Knowledge of proper documentation practices with the skills to perform this task.
   
   Preferred:
   
   + Ability to assist in class preparation and delivery.
   
   + Bachelor in science or RVT + 1 years of experience in laboratory animals. Or, High school diploma + ALAT AALAS Certification + 3 years of experience in laboratory animals.
   
   UCLA is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.
   
   UCLA Health welcomes all individuals, without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin or disabilities, and we proudly look to each person's unique achievements and experiences to further set us apart.

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5. Post your job

   To find the right animal health technician for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with animal health technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit animal health technicians who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   To find animal health technician candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit animal health technicians, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new animal health technician

   Once you have selected a candidate for the animal health technician position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new animal health technician. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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