Q&A With Banfield Pet Hospital Employees

The shifts are long, makes it hard for daily work/ life balance but short workweek gives you an extra day off. It's a trade-off, as a young mother I would prefer to have daily work/life balance as my role as a mom can't wait until my day off.

nonexistent. The only people who are properly allowed to take time off with their families are those who work in the home offices where it is closed on the weekends. Call center and front end employees do not enjoy any work/life balance.

Banfield attempts to make this great, but when assessing needs of front line employees, they tend to ignore these needs.

For DVMs it is a multi-step process. A screening call is done by the talent team, followed by a phone or in-person interview with the DVQ or Field director Many of the questions asked in the interviews are behavioral based. Surgical skill is also crucial.

Study up on the company, be prepared for emotional quotient questions

It is a little bit intimidating initially. It starts with a phone interview, then progresses to an in person interview with department leaders. The team leads are a tad intimidating during this process.

FT benefits include, FSA/HSA, health, dental, vision, disability long term and short term, employee discounts, paid time off, holiday pay, mental health, 401 k

Extensive benefit package, health, dental, vision, 401k, pet discounts, paid time off, CE, paid holiday time.

there are quite a lot of benefits. Medical, dental, 401k, vision, and many discounts to take advantage of. It is a wonderful company to work for. Just doesn't pay enough imo

Never. Rarely yearly. Always lowball you.

Quarterly reveiws of production are done for DVMs and increases can occur up to 4 x yearly. Typically though, increases are done twice yearly and are production based. For para staff, evaluations are yearly with merit raises given based on performance.

New hospital openings and aquisitions are growing, however existing hospitals are struggling with dvm/staff shortages, poor maintenance, equipment and supply shortages.

The retail side of the business is growing so quickly that associates are having trouble keeping up. The team that I was on was responsible for so much that it was impossible to complete all tasks throughout the day. If one person was gone, the entire team suffered greatly. This indicates to me that the team sizes need to be increased proportionately with the retail locations.

Focus more on the pets and less on the number of pets we are required to see. Look at the quality of care, not the number of pets seen. Provide more training for new DVMs and more mentorship.

CEO not really in touch with the day to day workings. We constantly hear just see one more pet, but there is no understanding of the challenges we face to squeeze one more pet in. CEO should do an undercover boss experience to really get a true feel of what we face every day.

Well, the CEO has changed since I was there. As far as I was concerned, the CEO contributed to the general horrifying culture when it came to the higher ups. Don't get me wrong, the benefits were amazing, but the directors never conveyed any care or concern for the little people. We almost never had department meetings, and team meetings were extremely rare.

What do you know about our company? Tell me about a time when...

Generally, they'll ask about strengths and weaknesses. And remember to be specific in your experiences. I've been in a few interviews, and the most important thing is to be yourself.

Varies from hospital to hospital. For the most part supportive to your development, but lacking in leadership in many locations

Treat it as any professional interview and wear your best. If you are doing a working interview, wear appropriate shoes (closed-toes) and slacks (no dress) as you may be bending down.

It is very easy to do an internal transfer and is done frequently.

No difference, same amount of time is given for maternity and paternity leave

Client communication, interaction with peers

Wine tasting, holiday party, egg decorating, happy hour after shift

Discouraged to bring pet just to bring it to work but ok if your pet needs treatment or visit

Scrubs for most of the team, business casual for DVMs with white coat or scrubs

Depends on the hospital and location but every team does a volunteer activity every year. Examples include spay day at a shelter, cleaning up at a wildlife refuge, a haunted house to support the local animal shelter, pet food drives, pet fairs, adoption days

Yes, you can ask your line manager for a transfer or you can apply for an open position on another team through an online portal

They ask alot of emotional intelligence questions which are hard to prepare for.

Depends on your role and mentor. Could be great or could really be terrible. DVMs have a 12 week onboarding

8 hours per every workweek worked (8-9 day workweeks)

Relocation expense are sometimes provided

Happy hour, holiday parties, fund raisers, depends on the team and the individuals

My team and the dedicated people I work with