Your wellbeing is really important to us, on starting the Graduate Development Programme, you will receive a tailored Wellbeing Guide and a gift as a little reminder to look after your own health and happiness.

Throughout the non-clinical part of the programme, wellbeing is highlighted regularly.

Vets for Pets and Companion Care want to create a community that takes a really proactive approach to Mental Health and for all colleagues to feel like they have the support needed. We have over 600 colleagues trained as Mental Health First Aiders across the business and this number is growing weekly.

All graduates on programme will receive a subscription to the Headspace App, this is an invaluable tool to support you in lots of areas including managing anxiety, struggling to sleep, low self-esteem and much more!

Our structured CPD is delivered by specialists and covers a range of clinical, wellbeing, leadership and professional development subjects, over the course of two years you’ll have access to over 180 hours CPD. A number of these events include networking dinners, giving you some much needed downtime with fellow grads and presents an opportunity for networking with other colleagues. You will also benefit from paid CPD events including reimbursement of any travel costs.

Once we receive your application, we will invite you to have a chat with someone from our team so we can find out more about you and what makes you get out of bed in the morning. We want to learn about your experiences and understand what is the most important factor for you in finding the right practice.

Our priority is to find out about you as a person so we can help our Practice Partners best support you. We’ll also tell you more about our programme and answer any of your questions. 

The next stage will be interviews with the Practice Partners. These could be face-to-face interviews or virtual interviews or both. No two practices are the same so these interviews are an ideal way for you to find the best fit for you and of course, for our Practice Partners to find the right grad for them. If you’d like any support with your interview, our graduate team are on hand to help.

Yes, absolutely! As long as you are eligible to register with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and can work in the UK as a vet, you can apply to the programme. We currently employ vets who come from 43+ countries and counting! We love the diversity our vets bring and actively encourage vets of all nationalities to apply. 

If you’re from outside the EU, you will need to apply for a sponsorship visa. We have lots of experience supporting vets with sponsorship applications. Feel free to contact us on vetgraduates@vets4pets.com with any questions.

You will be employed directly by the practice on a permanent basis. The two-year Graduate Development Programme runs alongside your job in practice, and is designed to support and compliment your role in your practice. Importantly, there are no financial tie-ins for you, and if you chose to leave your practice, you will work your notice period the same as any other vet. We hope that doesn’t happen, but we’re on hand to support you if you are considering moving on.

Absolutely!  We understand that location is very important, and for some people location is their number 1 priority. We will work with you, in understanding which practices you wish to consider, and be open and honest about the opportunities available within those practices. 

With almost 450 practices across the UK, we have a wide range of practices up and down the country that each year are looking to support a new graduate. 

Whatever your preferences when it comes to your practice, we will work with you in putting you forward to the right practice. 

Because of the nature of our business model, no two graduates will have an identical benefits package, as this is agreed by each individual Practice Partner.

The minimum starting salary for a graduate on programme is £34k, this will be uplifted each year on the programme.

You will be entitled to at least 28 days holiday pear year (including bank holidays), a competitive pension contribution, income protection and a number of other benefits that come with being part of a large group!

You have lots of support available to you across the group, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of this huge network of people that are here and want to support you!

You have access to our dedicated Graduate Development Team, who are always here to support you right through from the point of application and beyond the programme. 

You will be part of a community of other Vets that we be embarking on this journey with you! You will have the opportunity to catch up regularly at CPD events, and we encourage you to keep in touch via our closed Graduate Facebook page. 

You will be assigned a graduate buddy and talent ambassador upon starting programme - these colleagues are volunteers because they want to support you!

We have an online clinical community of more than 1,000 vets, which means you’re never more than a click away from clinical support and advice, an extensive mentoring network, which lets you tap into clinical and non-clinical expertise. 

Vets for Pets and Companion Care are both part of the Pets at Home Vet Group. Prior to 2014, they were two separate businesses, but in 2014, Pets At Home (who already owned Companion Care) bought Vets for Pets, and they became part of the same group. Since then, all new surgeries have been Vets for Pets surgeries.

If you join our programme, you may work in a Vets for Pets practice or a Companion Care practice, but you will receive the same CPD, support and benefits regardless of where you work!