Veterinary Recruitment Agency
Saturday, 2 December 2023 12:38 GMT
UK Vacancies for Veterinary Pofessionals
UK Immigration is not a hurdle if you arrive from an EU member state
If you are new to the UK, or new to locum vet work within the UK, you are unlikely to be on any practice`s wish-list of preferred locums, so are strongly advised to register with an online locum veterinary recruitment agency. It stands to reason that if a temporary vacancy arise suddenly, through sickness or accident for example, that the practice will want a replacement locum vet immediately and won’t have time to advertise in the normal way.
A recruitment agency will likely have a list of practices with which they maintain contact, and from which they will receive notice when a vacancy arises. For pre-planned holidays or pregnancy and maternity leave, the practice will have more time to arrange a temporary replacement, and recruitment agencies are often used for this type of vacancy in addition to the emergencies.
Using Locum Vet Recruitment Agencies for a Vet Job UK Vacancy
Being on a locum vet agency`s list will enable you to land temporary jobs that others will miss. As explained, such work is not often advertised due to the time-scales involved, and the agency can get you good positions. Once you have worked for a while as a locum vet, and a variety of practices has had experience of your work, you might get onto one of their wish lists yourself and bypass the agency. Until then, the agency may be your best bet for work.
Veterinary practice managers know that such agencies will already have checked out your qualifications and other details, and will be confident that you are registered with the RCVS and have the necessary two years practice experience generally required before a vet can undertake locum work.
It`s significantly easier for a practice manager to lift a telephone and call the agency than for them to advertise, and often even easier than ringing round their own list of vets that have done locum work for them in the past. Some practices use their wish list of contacts only in emergency, and prefer to try the agency first. Then they are not personally responsible for the locum!
Vet Job UK Vacancy: How to Register
Registering with an online locum veterinary recruitment agency is easy: visit the site online and follow the registration instructions. Before you can work as a locum vet or veterinary nurse in the UK in any capacity, you must first be registered with the RCVS. You must have qualified at a recognized UK veterinary school or have gained a qualification in your own country that is acceptable to the RCVS for registration purposes.
You will also likely require two years practice experience before being accepted for locum work. The agency will take details of any special qualifications, such as in exotic animal or equine work, and any experience you have had in stables, zoos and so on.
Once you have been accepted onto the agency`s register, you will be informed when a suitable vacancy arises. You will obviously be offered more work the farther you are prepared to travel and more varied experience in veterinary work you have.
Personal Indemnity Insurance and Income Tax Issues
There are one or two issues that may arise when you get a UK vet job - UK tax and insurance will be your personal problem, and will not be handled by the practice. Only rarely will a veterinary practice add a locum vet to their PAYE system, and then only for very long term locum work. Generally, whether you are a locum veterinary surgeon or a nurse, you will have to arrange your own tax payments and buy your own professional indemnity insurance. The latter is fairly simple - most locums pay annually for their indemnity insurance, so they don’t have to continually buy temporary insurance for each job. Tax, however, is a larger issue.
This is where a veterinary recruitment agency can help you. They can advise you on the best type of arrangement for you - whether you declare yourself a limited company, self employed or work for an umbrella company that is paid by the practice, then pays you after deducting tax and their commission. Many people make bad decisions where tax is concerned, and it`s advantageous to be registered with an agency that has experience of such issues.
Locum veterinary work is good when you have it, and many people prefer to work as a locum than to take a permanent post. However, there are some issues involved in this type of vet job, UK tax laws being confusing to UK nationals let alone those from overseas. An online locum veterinary recruitment agency can help you with many of these issues in addition to finding you temporary work in a rewarding profession.