Veterinary Technician (Vet Tech) Jobs

A vet technician job is the credentialed clinical role in an animal hospital: inducing and monitoring anesthesia, taking radiographs, running lab samples, assisting in surgery, performing dental cleanings and nursing patients through recovery, all under a veterinarian's supervision.

VeterinaryHires lists veterinary practice jobs only, so the veterinary technician jobs above are at general-practice clinics, emergency and specialty hospitals, and veterinary groups.

The listings are a mix of jobs posted directly by practices and jobs gathered from employers' public career pages, and they change daily.

Browsing is free with no account, and Apply takes you to the employer's own application.

For the full picture of the role and the career behind it, see what does a veterinary technician do.

The standard route into a vet tech job is an associate degree in veterinary technology from a program accredited by the AVMA's Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA).

CVTEA is the only accreditor of US veterinary technology programs, and it does not accredit veterinary assistant programs.

Every accredited program requires at least 60 semester credit hours and 240 hours of hands-on clinical experience, including online programs. The associate degree takes about two years; see how long vet tech school takes and how to become a vet tech. Studying online? Check which online vet tech programs are accredited.

Employers add their own requirements on top, such as years of experience, specific clinical skills or weekend availability.

The skills postings ask for mirror the job's duties: anesthesia and patient monitoring, catheter placement and blood draws, radiography, dental cleanings, and clear communication with pet owners and the medical team.

Read each listing's requirements before you apply.

Some postings focus the role on one area of veterinary medicine, such as surgery, anesthesia, dentistry or emergency and critical care.

A surgical technician, for example, is a vet tech working in the surgery suite rather than a separate job.

The formal step beyond that is the Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) designation.

NAVTA recognizes 16 specialty academies, 11 fully and 5 provisionally, covering areas including emergency and critical care, anesthesia and analgesia, dentistry, surgery, internal medicine, clinical practice, behavior, nutrition, clinical pathology, diagnostic imaging and ophthalmology.

Each academy sets its own bar, typically years of logged specialty hours, a case log, written case reports and an exam. Compare them in VTS specialties compared.

A veterinary assistant generally needs no program, exam or state credential.

A credentialed vet tech has typically completed an accredited program and passed the VTNE, though a few states also allow experience-based routes, and holds a state credential where the state issues one.

The national median is $47,380 for technicians against $38,150 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, a combined BLS occupation (SOC 31-9096).

Neither may diagnose, give a prognosis, prescribe or perform surgery: state practice acts reserve those to the veterinarian. Which other tasks a technician may perform depends on the state; see vet tech scope of practice by state and vet tech vs vet assistant.

Veterinary technologist jobs are the same role: technologist refers to a four-year bachelor's degree, not a different scope, and both sit the same VTNE (technician vs technologist). Browse veterinary assistant jobs or veterinarian jobs for the roles on either side.