Veterinary Pathologist Interview Questions And Answers

We assume most people have experience with dogs and cats, but if your practice provides services to an assortment of “pocket pets,” (animals like hamsters, sugar gliders, etc.), you want to know the answer to this question. If you do see other species, it may be a big advantage if an interviewee has experience with reptiles, birds, etc.

This is a good question for any interviewee, so we certainly want to ask it during interviews for a veterinary assistant. Build more specific questions off of their answer to this inquiry.

This is essential to any position in the veterinary practice, but up front it must also be done while “on stage” in full view of the lobby audience, so the receptionist has to do it with grace. Give them a typical scenario: You are on the phone scheduling an appointment, you have a doctor waiting for you to bring back a chart, another phone lines start to ring and a client walks through the front door and comes to a stop right in front of you. What do you do? How do you prioritize these tasks in the heat of the moment?

Know what answer you want to hear. Perhaps it's, “I make eye contact with the approaching client and either mouth the words ‘I’ll be right with you,’ or hold up an index finger to indicate ‘just one minute.’ Then I put the second call on hold, finish the first, address the needs of the client in front of me, run the chart back to the doctor…” or however you would want them to handle the situation.

In veterinary medicine you’ve got to do two things: you treat the animal, and then you’ve got to use psychology on the owner. Everyday I put up with people like that. And I make the joke that one end of the leash is easy to deal with. The other end of the leash is very difficult to deal with. If a person can’t deal with these individuals that are very demanding, that read the Internet too much, that think they know everything, if you can’t look past those people, and, bite your tongue at times, you won’t get very far.

You know, in a single-man practice like mine that’s established, grossing a half a million dollars, is probably going to take home $100,000…..These multi-million dollar practices, multi-practice, some of them are making $250,000. But that takes a long time to get that and you have a lot of people working for you.

Personally, all I take off is one week a year. And I’m not the normal. Most veterinarians today that go into a group practice, they will get probably a month off a year. I would say that’s going to be pretty well normal. But not for somebody that’s a single-man practice. You don’t get to take off a week here, a week there, you know. People get tired of you not being around and go someplace else, because it’s very easy for them to just go across the street or down the road. Here in this town we have seven or eight clinics.

Although this may seem like a silly question, it really isn’t. At this point, you do not know this person’s motivation to become a veterinary assistant, or to seek out a job working with animals. You want to see their eyes light up when you ask this question, a smile come over their face as they remember the animals in their life, and hear them talk in a positive way about their own pets.

You may have several different positions open in your practice, and you also never know when an opening might appear, so ask about other positions as well. You may also learn that this person is just hoping to get their foot in the door, and they really want to work in a different area at some time in the future. This may be just fine with you, or it may be that you truly need someone who will happily stay put in an assistant’s position for the foreseeable future.

A receptionist is well-suited to work at any type of front office, truthfully. The basic tasks — answering the phone, greeting clients, scheduling appointments, data entry — are all things that are done in many types of businesses. In fact, you should remain open to candidates that have front-office experience, just not in a veterinary practice. Find out what attracts them to a place where contact with animals is essential and expected. Nine times out of 10, they will simply reply, “I love animals,” but dig a little deeper, and find out what significance animals have had in their life.

You are hoping to hear things like compassion, friendliness, empathy, active listening, multitasking and others that hopefully are listed on your job description as well. What type of person fits best at the front desk, and do they have those qualities?

There is perhaps no more critical a position to fill then one at the front desk. These team members are the first and lasting impression for every client that calls or comes in the door, so selection must be taken seriously. But also realize until you get them into the position and get a little training under their belt, it may be very difficult to know if they are a good fit. The front office is not for everyone, and you will likely know whether or not they will be successful within those first few weeks. Take that “introduction period” for all it is worth, and use that time to see if you’ve created a good fit. There is a saying that goes something like this, “hire slow, and fire fast.” Take your time with your interview process, but when your gut tells you it is not going to work, make a change. These people are too important to the practice and the team to not ensure a good match of person-to-position!

Disease prevention, vaccinations, routine healthcare is probably where most of the income is generated. Surgery can be a source of income. The sale of healthcare products: flea products, heartworm preventions, even prescription dog foods is another source of income. Probably the thing that you get least for your time is in diagnostic and treating sick animals, as far as your percentage of time you spend with an animal, compared to what you do with the routine things: the vaccinations and healthcare¦But, those are your areas where you make money.

It’s to be able to slow down in five years and to work part-time. I don’t ever foresee completely retiring unless I am unable to perform. This has been my life work, so I’m not going to give it up that easily. I don’t want to give it up that easily.

Well, of course, you have to have four years of college. With the right classes, the right grade point average, having an advisor that gets you down the right path, being in a state that has a veterinary school has a lot of advantages. This state does not have a veterinary school, so they have to rely on contracts with other surrounding states to take so many veterinarians a year. Some people even if they don’t get into a veterinary school on their first application, they have to continue on with maybe a masters in some field, or just continue on with some more education. And then there is four years of veterinary school. There is no internship unless you want to specialize in something, and go and have an internship with a qualified veterinarian that is a specialist in his field. And that’s it on education. That’s it. You know, really, if you get in and go out and practice, it takes eight years.

As they recount the duties of his or her past employment in veterinary medicine, pay attention to any nonverbal communication to see if you can determine which tasks they enjoyed, and which they did not. Build questions off of their response with inquiries about specific tasks, and take some time describing the tasks they would perform in your practice as a veterinary assistant.

☛ Example when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
☛ Have you done this kind of work before?
☛ Are you planning to continue your studies?
☛ How long would you stay with our company?
☛ What are you looking for in terms of career development?

Start with the present and tell why you are well qualified for the position.
Answer Veterinary Pathologist interview questions pertaining to job qualifications and skill sets honestly.
Discuss any attributes that may set you apart from other job candidates.

☛ What do you see yourself doing within the first days of this job?
☛ What have you done to support diversity in your unit?
☛ What's most important to you in a new position?
☛ What major challenges and problems did you face?
☛ What support training would you require to be able to do this job?

☛ What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you deal with it?
☛ Situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise.
☛ Give some examples of teamwork.
☛ What were the responsibilities of your last position?
☛ How would you weigh a plane without scales?

☛ What are you expecting from this firm in the future?
☛ What are your long-term goals or career plans?
☛ What is your greatest achievement outside of work?
☛ Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
☛ Who was your favorite manager and why?

☛ Please tell us a little bit about yourself and why you want to become a vet?

☛ What made you apply for this post?

☛ What other veterinary schools have you applied to?

☛ What other practices have you applied to?

☛ Why are you leaving your current veterinary post?

☛ Why do you want to work as a locum vet?

☛ Tell us about your veterinary degree course at XXX — what aspects of your training did you enjoy / not enjoy?

☛ How would you describe yourself as a vet — what special qualities do you bring to the profession?

☛ If you were to ask your friends to describe you, what would they say?

☛ What are your hobbies, and what have you learned from participating in them?

☛ What makes you a good veterinarian?
☛ What do you think a veterinarian’s role is in the community?
☛ What made you decide to be a veterinarian?
☛ How do you feel about euthanasia? Why?
☛ What would you do if there are obvious signs that an animal you are treating has been abused?
☛ What would you do if a client comes in with an injured animal that will surely die without medical attention, but they only have a few dollars and the cost for animal care, and extended care, will be much higher than what they are able to pay?
☛ If a client brings in a perfectly healthy animal and wants to euthanize it because they no longer want the dog, what do you do?
☛ If you make a mistake and cause the death of an animal, what would you do?
☛ What is the most difficult situation you’ve been faced with since you got in veterinary medicine? How did you handle it?
☛ Describe any previous experience. What did you like and dislike about it?
☛ How do you do stay up to date in the field of veterinary medicine?
☛ What do you do in your free time? Any hobbies?
☛ What was the last book you read?
☛ Do you have any volunteer experience?
☛ Do you have any questions for us?

☛ What were your annual goals at your most current employer?
☛ If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?
☛ Did you feel you progressed satisfactorily in your last job?
☛ What are your expectations regarding promotions and salary increases?
☛ What was the most stressful situation you have faced?

Discuss any attributes that may set you apart from other job candidates.
Just try to stay focused on the job you're interviewing for.
Make sure to tell the interviewer about the positive results your actions produced.

☛ What do you like and dislike about the job we are discussing?
☛ Describe a situation where you had to plan or organise something.
☛ What kind of events cause you stress on the job?
☛ Has anything ever irritated you about people you've worked with?
☛ Give an example of a time you successfully worked on a team.

☛ How do you feel about being asked to perform duties that aren’t listed in your job description during hectic times?

☛ Are you okay with cleaning up after animals?

☛ What was the most helpful performance feedback you received during your training?

☛ What kinds of animals are you experienced handling/caring for?

☛ What is your opinion about mandatory spay/neuter laws?

☛ What would you say to a client who came in to request her healthy pet be euthanized because she was unable to afford to take care of it?

☛ If the office was understaffed and we asked you to come in on your day off, would you come in?

☛ How do you relieve stress?

☛ What is the biggest mistake you have made? What did you learn from it?

☛ What kind of pets do you own/have you owned?

☛ Are you interested in a particular specialty?

☛ What do you imagine will be the most difficult part of this job if we hire you?

☛ How did you become interested in veterinary medicine?

☛ Tell us about a time you had to help an unhappy customer.

☛ What would you do if a client was unable to afford to pay for services?

☛ What would you do if you saw a fellow technologist make a mistake?

☛ What appeals to you most about being a vet tech?

☛ What would you do if you felt an animal you were treating had been abused?

☛ What is the difference between animal rights and animal welfare?

☛ What would make you happy in a job?
☛ How do you think you can make a contribution to this company?
☛ What is the difference between a good position and an excellent one?
☛ What have you been doing since your last job?
☛ What attracted you to this company?

☛ How do you see your job relating to the overall goals?
☛ Your greatest weakness in school or at work?
☛ What do you believe are your key strengths?
☛ Who else have you applied to/got interviews with?
☛ When was the last time you were in a crises?