How to hire a mixed animal veterinarian

How to hire a mixed animal veterinarian, step by step

Here's a step-by-step mixed animal veterinarian hiring guide:

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

Post a mixed animal veterinarian job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The mixed animal veterinarian hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A mixed animal veterinarian's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, mixed animal veterinarians from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of mixed animal veterinarian salaries for various roles:

   Type of Mixed Animal Veterinarian	Description	Hourly rate
   Mixed Animal Veterinarian	Veterinarians care for the health of animals and work to improve public health. They diagnose, treat, and research medical conditions and diseases of pets, livestock, and other animals.	$13-61
   Doctor Of Veterinary Medicine	A Veterinary Medicine Doctor is responsible for studying animal nature, diagnosing animal illnesses, and developing treatment plans and medications. They analyze an extensive scope of animal conditions to identify care programs that would keep them healthy... Show more	$31-133
   Emergency Veterinarian	An emergency veterinarian is responsible for providing quality care services for animals at veterinary clinics and hospitals. Emergency veterinarians diagnose the animal's condition and administer treatment plans and medications... Show more	$22-90

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • DVM
   • PET
   • Emergency Services
   • Internal Medicine
   • Dental Care
   • Computer System
   • Private Practice
   • Animal Practice
   • Animal Hospital
   • Client Education
   • Herd Health
   • Emergency Care
   • General Care

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage wildlife rehabilitation program for native species, including state and federal rehabilitation licenses for the practice.
   • Educate community in responsible pet ownership and care.
   • Provide dietary and nutritional counseling to pet owners and dog breeders.
   • Manage wildlife rehabilitation program for native species, including state and federal rehabilitation licenses for the practice.
   • Supervise laboratory testing, reagent selection and flock management staff for in-house SPF poultry operation.f.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your mixed animal veterinarian job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A mixed animal veterinarian salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, mixed animal veterinarians' average salary in oklahoma is 58% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level mixed animal veterinarians earn 77% less than senior-level mixed animal veterinarians.
   • Certifications. A mixed animal veterinarian with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a mixed animal veterinarian's salary.

   Average mixed animal veterinarian salary

   $61,280yearly

   $29.46 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level mixed animal veterinarian salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

4. Writing a mixed animal veterinarian job description

   A good mixed animal veterinarian 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 a mixed animal veterinarian job description:

   Mixed animal veterinarian job description example

   Tieton Drive Animal Clinic, in Yakima, WA is seeking an Associate Veterinarian to join our growing practice.
   
   Tieton Drive Animal Clinic in Yakima, WA, is seeking a full time Associate Veterinarian to join our 6-doctor team. We are a well-established progressive practice with a stellar reputation throughout our community. We are looking for excellence and place great value on finding our next teammate. We offer a competitive salary, paid CE and time off allowance, paid fees, dues and license, comprehensive Health Benefits, 401K Retirement Plan, terrific support staff, and a positive and professional environment.
   
   We strive to provide the highest quality of services possible, including: a variety of surgical opportunities, comprehensive dental care, and diverse medical cases. We are humbled to be supporting a wonderful client base and place customer service and client satisfaction at the top of our priority list. A newer graduate would find themselves in an attractive position to learn and be mentored at a high level. Our veterinarians work 36-40 hours a week, some Saturdays. We take pride in mentoring new doctors and embodying a family and value oriented environment. We believe that a healthy and happy work environment is key to give our clients and patients superior care. We have tenured doctors, trained support staff and 8 licensed Technicians.
   We are well-equipped with the following:
   
   -Ultrasound
   
   -Digital Dental Radiography
   
   -Surgical CO2 Laser
   
   -Digital Radiography
   
   -Advanced Orthopedic Equipment (including TPLO kit, bone plating and ESF equipment)
   
   *We use an Ezyvet and Smartflow paperless integrated hospital management system.
   
   About Yakima, WA
   
   Yakima is a city about 60 miles southeast of Mount Rainier in Washington. Referred to as "The Heart of Central Washington," Yakima Valley is best known for its apple, wine, and hop production. Because of Yakima's ideal location (a little over 2 hours to either Seattle or Portland) and small-town coziness, newcomers to the area relish in the high quality of life at a reasonable cost. Outdoor enthusiasts and recreation lovers are drawn to the area for the water and snow skiing, fishing, boating, hiking, horseback riding, and white water rafting... and of course, the multiple craft breweries and wineries make Yakima an attractive home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right mixed animal veterinarian for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your mixed animal veterinarian job on Zippia to find and recruit mixed animal veterinarian candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting mixed animal veterinarians requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   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 mixed animal veterinarian

   Once you've found the mixed animal veterinarian candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new mixed animal veterinarian. 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a mixed animal veterinarian?