Vet Tech is one career that is showing that there will be great demand for in the future. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects a 36% increase in need for people to fill this position. The median yearly wages for this job were $28,900 in 2008. Vet Tech offers job security and a decent pay check, but when choosing any career that should not be the only driving point.
The first requirement for this job is that you must love animals. You should have such a love for them that you would consider picking up poop, being bit, being scratched just another day at work. These are all situations you could face everyday in your career.
You will have to want to learn about caring for animals. Simply the love for them is not the same as knowing what you are doing. Graduating from a 2 or 4 year program and then passing the national board exam would be your first step in getting yourself educated to be a Vet Tech. After you become a Vet Tech it is a learning process everyday. You will learn things on the job that you were never taught in class. If you want to stay up to date with all the latest technologies and developments, there are classes you can take to keep up to speed.
Vet Tech is a very physically demanding job. It will require you to be on your feet for hours at a time. Because you are assisting with the animals, you also have to be able to lift 50 pounds or more. As well as being physically capable, you have to be emotionally capable. There will be many animals the come through the veterinary office that will have to be euthanized. Whether it is because they are unwanted, sick, or dying you will have to separate your love for animals from what is right for them. This is a major part of the job that you will need to desensitize yourself to.
The ability to stay calm in stressful situations and think clearly under these conditions is important. You have to have an understanding about how to deal with upset pet owners. It may be their pet needs to be unexpectedly euthanized, or an animal is obviously abused and the owner wants to deny it but these are stressful situation you will have to be part of on the frontline of vet medicine.
My last suggestion on how to know if being a vet tech is right for you is to volunteer at a local shelter or clinic. This will make you familiar with the setting you will potentially be working in. You will also be able to see first hand any of these points previously mentioned. To be surrounded by the environment is much better education about the workings of a Vet Tech than any class can teach you.
L. Lubel usually blogs about online veterinarian technician training as well as course requirements for these programs.