Congratulations on your recent job offer! As a new veterinarian, the invitation to join a practice can be simultaneously exhilarating, validating, and intimidating. This is everything you hoped for—but now, it’s time to ensure your employment terms include everything you need.

Successful contract negotiation is key to ensuring you can truly thrive in your first practice. Here are some tips and insights from the Family Veterinary Care of Oakdale veterinarians.

Prepare 

After four years in veterinary school, the business side of medicine can feel like uncharted territory. Prepare yourself by learning as much as you can about the practice’s offer by understanding the local and national veterinary market. This includes:

  • Researching salary information
  • Understanding different pay scales (e.g., straight salary versus production-based salary)
  • Researching the cost of living 
  • Knowing state-specific employment laws 
  • Identifying common benefits, incentives, and sign-on bonuses

Although tedious, proper research and preparation will help you avoid common contract mistakes that may have frustrating long-term consequences or delay your professional growth.

Know your contract non-negotiables

Map out exactly what you need from your employer. Knowing what you can and can’t negotiate will prevent you from unwittingly compromising on critical factors, such as income, benefits, or your core values.

Before entering formal contract negotiations, ensure your terms are well-defined. These include:

  • Financial needs — Determine your minimum acceptable salary based on your financial needs, loan repayment, and market rates for the position and your experience.
  • Benefits and incentives — Consider your own or your family’s health needs and other wellness benefits. 
  • Career goals — What do you need from this job to help you achieve your long-term goals?
  • Values and priorities — Identify your most important factors in a job (e.g., salary, flexibility, advancement opportunities).
  • Work-life balance — How much flexibility do you need? How much personal time is necessary to maintain your well-being and accommodate other obligations?
  • Culture — What values and pillars would align with or complement your own? What energy would you hope to feel in the workplace?

Once you’ve identified and defined these terms, prioritize them. This ensures you can have some room for negotiation—without leading to compromise—during talks with your potential employer.

Talk to a professional

After you receive the first draft of your contract or offer letter, ask an employment specialist or attorney to review the terms and conditions. These experts can pinpoint unclear language or vague clauses that you may not notice. They can also advise you on negotiating for better terms.

Maintain open communication

Contract negotiation can involve a lot of back and forth as both parties work on a suitable agreement. Ensure you preserve your reputation as someone whom the practice would like to work with, no matter your final decision, by keeping communication lines open, maintaining professionalism when proposing contract amendments, and being open and receptive to the other party’s expectations and proposed solutions. If you have questions or concerns, especially about your compensation or any restrictions, don’t be shy—the negotiation period is the time to thoroughly understand the proposed terms, so you can make the best possible decision.

Look for ways to achieve mutual benefit

Viewing your acceptance as a relationship, rather than a business transaction, can help you see both sides and become a more effective negotiator. Understand that every negotiation will require some compromise and work toward benefits for you and your potential employer (e.g., your employer agrees to pay for advanced training after a certain number of years at the practice). 

Know when to walk away

While you may be tempted to accept certain offers, despite that negotiations aren’t moving in the right direction, you must know how and when to withdraw. Knowing your values and your non-negotiables can help you feel confident in your decision and protect you from a commitment based on fear or a scarcity mindset. Rest assured, you’ll have plenty of other job opportunities and the right one is out there! 

Look again: Review the final contract before signing

Once everyone agrees and you have the revised draft of your first contract, review each line carefully to ensure all the agreed-upon terms are included in the terms you discussed. If possible, include your employment or legal counsel to ensure nothing is missed.

Successful contract negotiation is an art and a science and requires diligent research and personal finesse. You’ll know your preparations have paid off when you sign on the dotted line with a sense of excitement, with no hesitancy. As for the intimidation you may feel, the only solution is experience. So, get to work!

Ready to realize your potential in a positive, progressive practice that feels like family? Check out the Family Veterinary Care of Oakdale careers page and submit your application to join our team.