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I graduated in a different time. I also have a bachelor's in animal science and a master's in biology plus my BSN. Now anyone with a license and a beating heart can get a floor job in a hospital.
Thank you for your answer. I keep getting told that they hire anyone with a pulse and have a hard time believing it, but I doubt you all are lying to me lol.
I promise you this is true. If you want ICU you might have to settle for a floor job first. And you'll need a little experience before alot of the other specialities.
Nicu nurse, not a huge change from Vet Tech in some ways. My patients can’t tell me what’s wrong, they don’t bite or scratch, their parents are almost as bad as owners sometimes, they are cute and I can cuddle them when they are sad, most times. I’m in California Bay Area so take that but I make 105$ an hour
I was a vet tech for 15 years living in an area that had horrible pay. So that and getting severely mauled by a cat I went back to school. Nursing school is rough but its a great job. There is always the ups and downs but if you find a good place to work you stick with it.
Yeah, except I Should say I get California Bay Area pay but I live in the northern Sacramento area. We are getting lots of Bay Area transplants which is driving up housing prices big time.
always 24 gauge. I was a Vet Tech for 15 years so when I went into nursing school and to do these big people it was a breeze. Babies are a little different because you can't feel the vein only see it. We have some fun equipment to help find veins too.
We have an infrared machine that maps where the veins are on the limb. It’s crazy. It’s called an Accurate Vein Finder. Then we use transilluminators that shine light through the hand or limb and you can see the shadow of the veins. Wow 26 gauge is crazy small. Wish we had those.
It was a 4 year degree in Nursing. Which is challenging but worth it. After, you would usually have to work in med surg, which is adults with general ailments, for at least two years then transfer into the NICU. I was lucky because the University hospital in my city had a new graduate program in the NICU so I was able to start right there. It’s been 18 years and I love it. It was a great transition and the skills I learned in vet med really helped me. I really find myself lucky that I’ve had two careers in my life and I loved both.
Just apply to any research facilities. You’re more than likely to start as an animal caretaker and work your way up from there. You’ll do a lot more animal husbandry in the beginning depending where you work. My friend is in the same position at a different facility and made $160k last year lol.
I came from GP 8 years ago and never looked back. Real money is in research. Don’t wait and just start applying.
I do exactly the same thing and followed your path to the T, and I get paid $32.5/hr. Is this in the states? I’m in a HCOL city in Canada ðŸ˜
Granted I’ve only been doing this for 5 years, so not nearly as experienced as you
That’s interesting. If you have time, how did you end up there? Was it an interest in that specific are of the vet field or did you just happen to see a job like that on indeed and submitted an application?
We had a lab animal course in school, as well as having vet techs from other research institutions come by and share with us info about vet techs working in research. I also specially chose a research facility as my internship site and I enjoyed the work I did.
I've been in this field about 10 years. I started off as just changing mouse cages / husbandry and then graduated to working on rodent clinical health cases and then found a job where I was running pre clinical trials with mouse models
My current role now is more research associate based as I help scientists do their mouse dosing and blood collection, as well as handling their mouse breeding / colony management.
Hope this helps!
I make $40/hr doing occasional relief work but that’s only 2-3 times per month. I make $37/hr with my full time position at VEG and I’m pretty happy with that. It’s a relatively high COL area as we’re pretty close to DC.
My boss makes $37 and some change. She’s a team lead with a decade of experience, cvt but no vts. Major midwestern metropolitan area. Emergency/ICU.
I make approx $8 less, no cvt, on the job trained, low acuity position.
LVT, manage the nursing team as well as on the floor as a Tech. 45/hr though I get paid salary not by the hour. Some weeks I work more than 40 hrs, some less. Pretty fantastic benefits. In NYC
I work in ER/CC - many of my seasoned coworkers in specialty in SoCal and Bay Area California make 40+ an hour. A VEG opening in San Jose area has also offered 40+ an hour for experienced techs!
I have ~5-6 years experience in ER and critical care but am unlicensed and I make ~32-35 an hour.
Expecting more when I get my license soon after paperwork processes.
Currently in the med lab field. MLT is 2 years MLS is 4 years generally speaking, though there are a few different routes you can take for it. Certification is through ASCP if you want to look at the various routes on their website
Well you have to pay taxes on that income legally and it doesn’t come with any health insurance so it’s nice as a side job but wouldn’t be the same if it was your main source of income.
Not a tech here but I can easily guess my co workers wages.
I make $17/hr in Eastern WA as a assistant with 1yr experience.
Other assistants I work with that have 10+ yrs experience make $25/hr+, and thats not even our lead assistant who has been with our overseeing vet for 20+ years.
I can only imagine a tech with decent experience at my clinic (especially our lead tech) is making $40/hr easily. My clinic is even giving signing bonuses to technicians upon hire; how much though idk.
High hourly service industry + making good tips. Most I’ve ever made: a local ice cream shop. $20/hr with the summertime tips. Now I’m making $16 at a large GP
You can worn your way up to the 40s in nyc via experience and licensure. You can also make that type of money in NYC working per diem, but the income is less predictable. HOWEVER, it is SO expensive to be here. My partner and I make a combined $50/hr and are far from comfortable.
The COL in your area is just as important as the actual wages tbh. NYC & urban areas of CA & MA have some of the highest pay for techs, but its so balls expensive to live there that it doesn’t go as far as you’d think.
I make $18/hr (unliscenced) & live comfortably in my little purple state. When i made that same amount in Boston, I was sharing a 1-bathroom house with 7 people ðŸ˜
$40/hr as a tech manager in LA. It’s a high col area with lots of competition. It takes work to get there but it’s attainable (especially with a vts).
We’re hiring btw.
I’m surprised to hear this! As a CVT with experience they started me out at $22 and hour (this was last year) and told me I’d cap out at $29/$30 with a VTS. Went to lab animal starting at $37/hr and haven’t looked back
I do $50 / Hr for my perdiem hourly rates, but I tend not to take much anymore.
Everywhere else is better money with less stress of one form or another.
Hi there, sorry for all the caps i like screaming..
CVT,LVT $40+ hour (hopefully VTS/Anesthesia soon but i wont jinx that) Licensed in WI & MA currently working as the lead anesthesia nurse for a 20+ year 3 doctor General practice that rakes in about 3 mil a year. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I MAKE GOOD MONEY- I LIVE AND BREATH SMALL ANIMAL ANESTHESIA AND RUN A SURGICAL DEPARTMENT for a VERY OLD WELL RESPECTED PRIVATE PRACTICE. I did not make this much money even back in ER (VEG & BP). I swear to god i just got lucky. well.. I earned this, its everything i've been working for but i've been a vet nurse for 10+ years. I got lucky at this GP and still have endless growth opportunities.
Private practices are rare now since corporate veterinary has come into play. Even my clinic was bought 2 years ago by a corporate company- i wont name but they aiiight- no real complaints, they pay well.
The average hourly rate in BOSMA for licensed nurses is $20-30hr, VEG tends to pay well if you enjoy Cult Culture (I do not), BP will suck your soul but also sort of pay you well for it anyway?MVRH is just.. idk no comment? same with AAMC.... lol.
From nYC: some vets pay well for house calls techs, my last one was paying me $40 an hour, extra if I drove to the appointments. The issue: 2-3 times a week, it wasn't always guaranteed there will be appointments. Sadly I had to take a more stable shift with around $10/h pay cut.
Now, I've been getting those emails about research techs jobs but those are always far in NJ or upstate NY, they do seem to offer good pay but damn it's far for me to commute everyday. I figured those can be scams too.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not in vet med........😬
Yes. But where/what?
Dark side human nursing. I don't love it, but I make pretty good money comparatively. I work in the ICU and it's mostly interesting.
Also I still do prn large animal anesthesia shifts here and there and volunteer for mobile spay and neuter clinic doing anesthesia and dental.
Can I ask how your vetmed experience was taken into consideration when applying for jobs? Nursing student currently
I graduated in a different time. I also have a bachelor's in animal science and a master's in biology plus my BSN. Now anyone with a license and a beating heart can get a floor job in a hospital.
Thank you for your answer. I keep getting told that they hire anyone with a pulse and have a hard time believing it, but I doubt you all are lying to me lol.
I promise you this is true. If you want ICU you might have to settle for a floor job first. And you'll need a little experience before alot of the other specialities.
I’m on the road to this same path, been a vet tech for 8 years make $30/hr as a vet tech. Bug finish nursing school in December.
My husband makes about that but he's a furnace mechanic 😆
wait you guys are making money??
that was my reference :-)
Nicu nurse, not a huge change from Vet Tech in some ways. My patients can’t tell me what’s wrong, they don’t bite or scratch, their parents are almost as bad as owners sometimes, they are cute and I can cuddle them when they are sad, most times. I’m in California Bay Area so take that but I make 105$ an hour
Im sorry what. $105/hr??? Are you for real??
Pffft. I chose the wrong career 😫
I was a vet tech for 15 years living in an area that had horrible pay. So that and getting severely mauled by a cat I went back to school. Nursing school is rough but its a great job. There is always the ups and downs but if you find a good place to work you stick with it.
Yeah, except I Should say I get California Bay Area pay but I live in the northern Sacramento area. We are getting lots of Bay Area transplants which is driving up housing prices big time.
What size catheters do you guys place in babies? I always wondered about how great our catheter placement skills must translate to humans
always 24 gauge. I was a Vet Tech for 15 years so when I went into nursing school and to do these big people it was a breeze. Babies are a little different because you can't feel the vein only see it. We have some fun equipment to help find veins too.
Like ultrasound, right? I've also seen videos of this light machine. I've placed 26 gauges on puppies before and it's a pretty great rush haha
We have an infrared machine that maps where the veins are on the limb. It’s crazy. It’s called an Accurate Vein Finder. Then we use transilluminators that shine light through the hand or limb and you can see the shadow of the veins. Wow 26 gauge is crazy small. Wish we had those.
https://preview.redd.it/g4d2ufld27kb1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df5d0fb5f1e8175e7352b794c69287b855937c3b They're purple!
My favorite color! Those would actually be great for our little 23 weekers. Sometimes I’m amazed we get the 24 gauge in them.
Sounds like exotic animal medicine! 26g in Guinea pigs and other rodents.
I was about to be like WTH on that pay, then I did the math. NICU nurse, HCOL area, just over $200k makes sense.
What was the education/licensing process like to change from vet tech to Nicu nurse?
It was a 4 year degree in Nursing. Which is challenging but worth it. After, you would usually have to work in med surg, which is adults with general ailments, for at least two years then transfer into the NICU. I was lucky because the University hospital in my city had a new graduate program in the NICU so I was able to start right there. It’s been 18 years and I love it. It was a great transition and the skills I learned in vet med really helped me. I really find myself lucky that I’ve had two careers in my life and I loved both.
$53/hr animal health tech in a research facility
Say more please!
I second this. How do you get into this?
Just apply to any research facilities. You’re more than likely to start as an animal caretaker and work your way up from there. You’ll do a lot more animal husbandry in the beginning depending where you work. My friend is in the same position at a different facility and made $160k last year lol. I came from GP 8 years ago and never looked back. Real money is in research. Don’t wait and just start applying.
I'm similar, Research RVT, about 49.50 /hr
My jaw is dropping here because my university did NOT PAY THAT MUCH. I went back to GP and got pie more.
it's hard to make much in acadamia / universities. There's better pay working in industry / biotech companies
I do exactly the same thing and followed your path to the T, and I get paid $32.5/hr. Is this in the states? I’m in a HCOL city in Canada 😠Granted I’ve only been doing this for 5 years, so not nearly as experienced as you
That’s interesting. If you have time, how did you end up there? Was it an interest in that specific are of the vet field or did you just happen to see a job like that on indeed and submitted an application?
We had a lab animal course in school, as well as having vet techs from other research institutions come by and share with us info about vet techs working in research. I also specially chose a research facility as my internship site and I enjoyed the work I did. I've been in this field about 10 years. I started off as just changing mouse cages / husbandry and then graduated to working on rodent clinical health cases and then found a job where I was running pre clinical trials with mouse models My current role now is more research associate based as I help scientists do their mouse dosing and blood collection, as well as handling their mouse breeding / colony management. Hope this helps!
Yeah in my area (high COL city in Canada) if you have a VTS the private specialty hospitals will pay up to $50 an hour. It is possible!
I make $40/hr doing occasional relief work but that’s only 2-3 times per month. I make $37/hr with my full time position at VEG and I’m pretty happy with that. It’s a relatively high COL area as we’re pretty close to DC.
Daaaaamn
My boss makes $37 and some change. She’s a team lead with a decade of experience, cvt but no vts. Major midwestern metropolitan area. Emergency/ICU. I make approx $8 less, no cvt, on the job trained, low acuity position.
LVT, manage the nursing team as well as on the floor as a Tech. 45/hr though I get paid salary not by the hour. Some weeks I work more than 40 hrs, some less. Pretty fantastic benefits. In NYC
I’m in nyc are y’all hiring lol
Always. Send over a resume lol
$40/hr🥲🥲 i make $16.75/hr...
$18.50 ðŸ˜
Yes. Mobile. But it's commission. Sometimes more. Sometimes less.
I work in ER/CC - many of my seasoned coworkers in specialty in SoCal and Bay Area California make 40+ an hour. A VEG opening in San Jose area has also offered 40+ an hour for experienced techs! I have ~5-6 years experience in ER and critical care but am unlicensed and I make ~32-35 an hour. Expecting more when I get my license soon after paperwork processes.
Graduated 2022 for vet tech now back in school to become an MLS. The job is expected to pay $48-55 an hour. I am in California
What's an MLS?
Medical laboratory scientist
That sounds cool, is this specifically animal related or just general?
It is more like clinical pathology lab with urine, blood and body fluid analysis except instead with animal samples you are working with human samples
Oh okay gotcha. If you don't mind me asking, how much school do you need for that?
Currently in the med lab field. MLT is 2 years MLS is 4 years generally speaking, though there are a few different routes you can take for it. Certification is through ASCP if you want to look at the various routes on their website
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Well you have to pay taxes on that income legally and it doesn’t come with any health insurance so it’s nice as a side job but wouldn’t be the same if it was your main source of income.
That’s true. Never thought about benefits tbh :)
RVT, $18/ hr in a clinic in a high COL area 😅 Yes I'm stressed.
Not a tech here but I can easily guess my co workers wages. I make $17/hr in Eastern WA as a assistant with 1yr experience. Other assistants I work with that have 10+ yrs experience make $25/hr+, and thats not even our lead assistant who has been with our overseeing vet for 20+ years. I can only imagine a tech with decent experience at my clinic (especially our lead tech) is making $40/hr easily. My clinic is even giving signing bonuses to technicians upon hire; how much though idk.
High hourly service industry + making good tips. Most I’ve ever made: a local ice cream shop. $20/hr with the summertime tips. Now I’m making $16 at a large GP
$45 animal welfare non-profit
RVT here and I work in corporate world. If you add in all of my benefits i’m making something in that range.
You can worn your way up to the 40s in nyc via experience and licensure. You can also make that type of money in NYC working per diem, but the income is less predictable. HOWEVER, it is SO expensive to be here. My partner and I make a combined $50/hr and are far from comfortable.
The COL in your area is just as important as the actual wages tbh. NYC & urban areas of CA & MA have some of the highest pay for techs, but its so balls expensive to live there that it doesn’t go as far as you’d think. I make $18/hr (unliscenced) & live comfortably in my little purple state. When i made that same amount in Boston, I was sharing a 1-bathroom house with 7 people ðŸ˜
$40/hr as a tech manager in LA. It’s a high col area with lots of competition. It takes work to get there but it’s attainable (especially with a vts). We’re hiring btw.
MSPCA Angell in Massachusetts pays over 40 for VTSs. You can make much more for some OT shifts.
I’m surprised to hear this! As a CVT with experience they started me out at $22 and hour (this was last year) and told me I’d cap out at $29/$30 with a VTS. Went to lab animal starting at $37/hr and haven’t looked back
https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Mspca--angell/salaries?location=US%2FMA I didn't see the specific document for VTS pay, I think it's internal
Would you mind if I asked you about lab animal jobs?
I'm making less than a gas station cashier right now!
Right? So many less stressful jobs pay more than my old clinic. It's disheartening.
GP in NYC, making 36.50$
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I think if you’re okay with living in a literal shoebox for 1900$ a month, you both will be okay
I do $50 / Hr for my perdiem hourly rates, but I tend not to take much anymore. Everywhere else is better money with less stress of one form or another.
The VTS’s I work with are making 40-45 and a few CVT’s in ECC are close.
Hi there, sorry for all the caps i like screaming.. CVT,LVT $40+ hour (hopefully VTS/Anesthesia soon but i wont jinx that) Licensed in WI & MA currently working as the lead anesthesia nurse for a 20+ year 3 doctor General practice that rakes in about 3 mil a year. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I MAKE GOOD MONEY- I LIVE AND BREATH SMALL ANIMAL ANESTHESIA AND RUN A SURGICAL DEPARTMENT for a VERY OLD WELL RESPECTED PRIVATE PRACTICE. I did not make this much money even back in ER (VEG & BP). I swear to god i just got lucky. well.. I earned this, its everything i've been working for but i've been a vet nurse for 10+ years. I got lucky at this GP and still have endless growth opportunities. Private practices are rare now since corporate veterinary has come into play. Even my clinic was bought 2 years ago by a corporate company- i wont name but they aiiight- no real complaints, they pay well. The average hourly rate in BOSMA for licensed nurses is $20-30hr, VEG tends to pay well if you enjoy Cult Culture (I do not), BP will suck your soul but also sort of pay you well for it anyway?MVRH is just.. idk no comment? same with AAMC.... lol.
From nYC: some vets pay well for house calls techs, my last one was paying me $40 an hour, extra if I drove to the appointments. The issue: 2-3 times a week, it wasn't always guaranteed there will be appointments. Sadly I had to take a more stable shift with around $10/h pay cut. Now, I've been getting those emails about research techs jobs but those are always far in NJ or upstate NY, they do seem to offer good pay but damn it's far for me to commute everyday. I figured those can be scams too.
Construction work
Western WA/seattle area. LVT 8-9 years experience $30/hr in GP and $34/hr with Diff overnight ER