Veterinary Graduate Programme
Shaping The Future
What you'll get out of our veterinary graduate programme
Do you believe that all sick pets deserve access to good veterinary care? Do you want to work for a company that cares about making veterinary care more environmentally friendly? Do you want to develop your skills quickly so that you can be confident treating animals?
Designed by our own senior vets and in-house CPD team, our Graduate Programme will help you develop your skills and gain confidence to be the best vet you can be.
Structured development plan
Work alongside highly experienced vets
Competitive pay and benefits
Sick pet biased caseload
Networking days with other graduates
Big teams and no sole-charge
Work for a mission-driven organisation
As a CIC, our business aim is not just to make a profit, but to do good for society. It also means we have an asset lock so the majority of any profits we make are re-invested to benefit our mission, rather than distributed to shareholders.
Working for a CIC
Animal Trust is the only veterinary company in the UK to have Community Interest Company status and our mission is to improve access to veterinary care for pet owners who earn the real living wage. We don’t believe that pet ownership should only be a privilege for those who can afford it. At Animal Trust, we want to make a difference to sick pets by providing accessible veterinary care while also minimising our environmental impact.
Our caseload is heavily geared towards sick pets so it’s an amazing place to upskill and put what you’ve learned into practice. You’ll have the opportunity to take on cases, supported by our amazing team of vets and nurses who’ll coach you not just through the basics, but also on more advanced choices and techniques like when to use our CT scanner.
Some of our previous new graduates have progressed into senior roles in management or through technical progression. We take on complex cases for pets whose owners can’t afford referral care, and have highly experienced certificate holders in all of our surgeries.
We are strongly guided by our values around balancing purpose and profit. In everything we do, we consider the impact of our decisions on our workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment?
Hear from our vets
Hear from some of our vets about their experiences, how our graduate programme supports newly qualified vets and what advice they'd give to a new graduate vet starting out.
Clinical Director
Daniel Boni
Graduate
Gracie
Graduate
Georgie
How does it work?
Our graduate programme supports veterinary surgeons who have recently completed their degrees to complete veterinary training at one of our surgeries across the North West, North Wales, Shropshire and Yorkshire. As a Junior Vet, you are supported by our dedicated team and your host surgery throughout, ensuring you have the best start to your veterinary career.
You’ll see lots of sick pets, so you’ll gain experience and skills? in managing your own first-opinion cases quickly. But don’t worry, we’re not going to throw you in at the deep end. Your working day is structured with lots of admin time and breaks. Your consult time and the number of operations that you’ll be expected to complete will gradually increase over time, and you’ll be supported by an experienced team around you, as well as your VetGDP Advisor, along the way.
About the programme
Our programme supports you in completing your junior vet training by giving you the opportunity to work and train at one of our surgeries who partner with the RCVS VetGDP. The training completed whilst on the programme counts towards your CPD allowing you to continue towards general practice or specialisation.
Our Shaping the Future programme offers you the unique opportunity to begin working in a veterinary surgery or hospital through a safe, supported route, whilst receiving further training and veterinary experience. You’ll gain invaluable insights from our workshops and hands-on experience in a broad range of areas, with a focus on:
- Neutering
- Efficient and effective consulting
- Dentistry
- Internal medicine
- Emergency and critical care
- Clinical governance
- Fast imaging
- Basic orthopaedics
We operate three 24/7 sites with large teams of vets, specialising in a surgical or medical bias. Our hospitals work closely with our branch practices each with around 7 vets or more. Our graduates will rotate around these environments, to give you the opportunity to up-skill in emergency and critical care. We take on at least one graduate in each of our sites and our team of new graduates will have opportunities to network at our in-house CPD and Grad Team events.
What we offer
Right now, we’re looking for Junior vets to help us tackle the veterinary industry’s biggest challenges of increased pet ownership across the country and a subsequent shortage of vets. To focus on what matters when it comes to providing veterinary care.
To be part of the next chapter in our story.
You’ll receive a competitive starting salary of £35,000 in your first year. Then during your second year, with our support, if you achieve your key skills and behavioural milestones, you can expect to earn £38,000.
At Animal Trust we have a structured pay framework which is designed to acknowledge and reward our teams throughout their employment with us.
We also have a range of other benefits, including…
- UK and International CPD funded to certificate level
- Private Health Care, 52 Weeks sickness benefit and free Employee assistance program — awarded after qualifying period
- Contributory pension scheme
- Access to counselling support, including mental health, financial and life counselling after 12 months of service
- Cycle to work scheme
- Refer-a-Friend bonus
- The satisfaction of working with a not-for-profit employer
- Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits
Our Values
The most important thing that we look for in all of our new employees is a shared belief in our mission and values. We want to make veterinary care more accessible to those who need it.
Breaking Down Barriers
We do everything we can to help the wider population of pets access care, and we’ll always find a solution to allow a sick animal to be seen. We give owners a straightforward choice and are transparent in our pricing.
One Community
Social inclusiveness and poverty reduction matter to us. We are efficient with the resources we have, and care about environmental protection and climate change.
Trust
We build trust through responsible actions and honest relationships. We treat every person and pet as we would want to be treated ourselves. We trust our colleagues and have their backs – we can only succeed as a team.
Never Stop Learning
We want to keep improving, and to help others be the best version of themselves.
What do we look for in you?
We want to see examples of what our values mean to you. To us, here are some examples of how these might look in a new graduate.
- We’re interested in your EMS but we think you’ve probably had part-time jobs working with customers – for example, in a bar, restaurant, shop. That experience has taught you how to work with a diversity of people, and you have learned the importance of clear, straightforward communication.
- Some of this work experience might have been fast-moving or busy. That has taught you to be calm under pressure and understand that you can always go to others for advice. Think about the challenges you faced in your part-time jobs. How did you overcome them?
- You might have done some voluntary work in the area of animal welfare or other charitable organisations.
Like the sound of our graduate programme?
If you think you'd be a great fit for Animal Trust, we'd love to hear from you. Take a look at our current opportunities, or apply for a new graduate position using the button below.If you have any questions, you can get in touch with Careers team.
Animal Trust is a trading name of Animal Trust Vets CIC, a community interest company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration No: 07938025
Registered Office: Animal Trust Administration Centre, Cedab Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 4FE