Lets see...
First I would advise you to take a job with this company only if you are totally desperate. They will start you off at $8.00 or $9.00 an hour but will promise you a raise if you manage to stay for a year. Believe me, they will get their money's worth out of you. VCA is very impressed with "Certified Vet Techs". They will hire prima donna's who are above filling mop buckets, emptying trash and performing the normal cleaning that goes with working at an animal hospital. Guess who gets to do it all? You. The insurance plan is insulting. For the minimum plan you pay about $158.00 a month but no one gets it because they simply can not afford it. VCA blithely turns a blind eye to this fact. You will get a great big insurance packet chock full of "plans". Mine went into the recycle bin. You will clear @ $1,300 per month after taxes so you will make about 15,000 a year. That is considered poverty wages and the only good thing is that you will probably qualify for food stamps and gov't assistance. Don't hold your breath on the raise. If you manage to make it for a year then you will hear raise freeze. I am also told that often a raise consists of .10c per hour. Whoppee! As a VetTech you must be respectful of the vets at all times but that courtesy is not expected of the vets. In other words they can treat you like dew-dew on their shoe and you have no recourse. In short you will work like a dog (no pun intended), and be treated like one too. Oh, training? You are on your own kid. They will take you just so far and then stop. The established techs do NOT want you to ever get to where they are. Management? If you have a problem management will listen very nicely then do precisely -- nothing. I got into this field because I really have a feeling for critters but trust me, with VCA it is ALL about the money and how you can squeeze every last penny out of the the client till he squeals. I could go on and on but that is enough..I'm starting to break out in hives just thinking of the stress level!
