My tonic for a healthy veterinary hire

Before you choose your interviewees for a job, you'll want to develop criteria to sort the résumés you receive. I recommend looking back at old résumés of employees who've been successful hires. Then interview your team members to see what sort of co-workers they'd like to work with.

Team members, before you answer consider this: What's your practice's personality pool like, and who would fit your pool or improve it?

When I reviewed résumés for potential hires, the following criteria often caught my eye:

> Recently moved here from out of state. We are in Portland, Ore., and get a lot of influx from the South and East Coast.

> Some sort of college degree in a subject they were unable to find employment in, such as biochemistry, geometry, applied arts, and so on. There are many young college graduates with degrees they can't use.

> Worked some customer service jobs. I'm fond of folks who've worked for restaurants and caterers. It means they're used to doing their best to keep the client happy.

> Worked one brief veterinary job, maybe the front desk or in the kennel. This means they understand the industry. I tend to avoid interviewing team members who've jumped from job to job at several different practices over a short time.