Future veterinary technicians and assistants recently had the opportunity to get a jump start on their careers at Georgian College’s Orillia campus this week.
Close to 150 students from both college programs had the chance to participate in Georgian’s first career fair in their field on Wednesday, featuring guest speakers from the industry and representatives from a variety of animal care agencies both nearby and further afield.
The college occasionally hosts career fairs for a variety of programs, connecting students with prospective opportunities, and officials said they wanted to extend the same opportunity to veterinary technician and assistant students.
“I often host events for the different program areas specific to their related campus, and there was never one hosted for vet tech or vet assistant programs,” said Tammy McDowell, a career consultant with the college. “I wanted to be inclusive, and that's where it was born.”
Ten organizations showed up to the event, hosting information booths for students to learn about different career opportunities.
According to program coordinator, Susan MacNeal, one of the goals was to show students how many different opportunities there can be in the field.
“They don't just have to go to work in general practice, even though that's a great opportunity for students,” she said. “There's referral centres, there's emergency centres, they can work in shelters, with wildlife research, sales, there's all kinds of opportunities that are animal related.”
One veterinary technician student, Jocelyn Williams, said she already has her sights set on working with big animals, like cows and horses, but said it’s a great opportunity for students to learn more about work opportunities.
“It's nice to see open opportunities for other students,” she said. “This is a lot easier for the new students who probably don't know which direction they want to go to, and this is a little bit more eye opening for them.”
Dr. Jacqueline Pankatz, who runs Mountain Vista Veterinary Hospital in Collingwood, said she attended Wednesday’s event to help recruit for her independent animal hospital.
“We're growing, so we need more technicians,” she said. “We're just hoping to talk to some of the new up-and-comers and graduating (students) and hopefully inspire a couple of them to come and work for us.”
Pankatz said there currently is a lot of opportunity in the field.
“Everybody is hiring, so I think they're in a really good position to really do their research and find the practice that's going to suit their needs and, also, the wages are better than ever because it is such a competitive market right now,” she said.
The pandemic brought some issues to the field – such as burnout, and heightened demand – but Pankatz said it’s still a "great career path" for young people to consider.
“We all got into this industry because we love animals. I think we love science,” she said. “There can be a lot of doom and gloom these days about what's going on in the world and in the industry, but I still think this is probably one of the best career choices that we can have.”
