How To Become A Licensed Veterinary Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a licensed veterinary technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Donna Bouley DVM, PhD

Veterinary Technicians, also known as Licensed Veterinary Technician or LVT, work for veterinary practices, hospitals, zoos, and research laboratories where they draw blood, assist with medical procedures and administer medications.

In this role, you will discuss treatments and disease processes with clients, systematize and track patient diagnostics, and communicate with clients, veterinarians, and pharmacies regarding patients' needs.

To succeed in this role, you need to be meticulous and compassionate to provide patients with the highest care. Preferred applicants are motivated, empathetic, and detail-oriented. The individuals who gravitate towards this field end up laying claim to annual earnings at $35,320. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience, skills, and academic qualification.

What general advice would you give to a Licensed Veterinary Technician?

Donna Bouley DVM, PhD

PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE MEDICINE, Stanford University

In addition to everything scientific and technical that they learn in vet school, they will need to have good people skills, patience and understanding (pet owners may not be able to afford to treat their animals and this can be stressful for vets), therefore a creative mind - especially if there are alternative ways to treat an animal if the proposed treatment is beyond the owner's reach. A vet must have a strong work ethic, be willing to work in a team, should be willing to give back (ie - volunteer to work with the homeless community's pets), be a lifelong learner (vets must attend continuing education to maintain their licenses). And the passion to still want to work as a veterinarian, despite the fact that they most likely have tremendous debt due to the outrageous tuition costs of veterinary school, and this debt will impact their lives for decades after graduation. Since veterinarians in general will never make the salary that MDs do, this potential financial burden can lead many young people to decide against going to vet school in the 1st place.

ScoreLicensed Veterinary TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,369

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.7

Growth Rate 20%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 2.06%

Black or African American 2.66%

Hispanic or Latino 10.86%

Unknown 6.84%

White 77.31%

Gender

female 80.53%

male 19.47%

Age - 31

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 31

Stress Level

9.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.9

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a licensed veterinary technician

Explore licensed veterinary technician education requirements

Most common licensed veterinary technician degrees

Associate

63.9 %

Bachelor's

25.8 %

High School Diploma

5.4 %

Start to develop specific licensed veterinary technician skills

Skills	Percentages
PET	16.39%
Patients	14.09%
Anesthesia	7.84%
Patient Care	7.34%
Catheter	6.85%

Complete relevant licensed veterinary technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New licensed veterinary technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a licensed veterinary technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real licensed veterinary technician resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed licensed veterinary technician usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed licensed veterinary technician in most of states. 30 states require licensed veterinary technicians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License Url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Veterinarian Technician
Kansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technicians
Kentucky	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technologist/Technician
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technician
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Veterinary Technician

Research licensed veterinary technician duties and responsibilities

Place intravenous catheters manage iv lines and medication administration.
Perform venipuncture for catheter placement, urinary catheter placement and lab diagnostics.
Induce and monitor anesthesia during surgery and diagnostic procedures.
Perform venipuncture from various sites for necessary laboratory tests.

Prepare your licensed veterinary technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your licensed veterinary technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a licensed veterinary technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Licensed Veterinary Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Licensed Veterinary Technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Licensed Veterinary Technician resume.

Apply for licensed veterinary technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a licensed veterinary technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average licensed veterinary technician salary

The average Licensed Veterinary Technician salary in the United States is $40,369 per year or $19 per hour. Licensed veterinary technician salaries range between $31,000 and $52,000 per year.

Average Licensed Veterinary Technician Salary

$40,369 Yearly

$19.41 hourly

How do licensed veterinary technicians rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Licensed Veterinary Technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

Working with animals

Cons

Low wages for the amount of work we put in Angry / disrespectful clients Long and unpredictable hours of work