Is being a vet a good job

[Woolywolf]

Daughter has an offer to study at vet school and has deferred for a year to earn some money/maybe travel a bit if covid allows. She has worked hard to get an offer and has dreamed of this career for a long time but is having a bit of a wobble/some doubts. She couldn’t do as much work experience as planned due to coronavirus but did some. She has read online and heard from vets that it is not a good job and pay is awful. I think it’s good she is considering the downsides but worry she may be having an overly negative view.
Is anyone here a vet or know one? Could you give some feedback on your job I can pass on to her-would you recommend the career? What exactly is the pay for a new graduate and what does it increase to? What are the working hours? What are the positives/negatives and is it worth it?
Thanks

I know a few.
It’s a lot of studying and constant learning with very long hours.
It’s pretty stressful too and can be emotionally very hard. My friends earn ok but they are SE so have overheads to pay, it’s not all profit
My DD was interested in being a vet and one of my friends advised her to do something else and have animals as a hobby

Placemarking, I will come back and give a more detailed answer. It is not a simple yes/no.

Is she interested in domestic or farm animals?

Of course it is a good job. It is interesting, varied, academically stretching and emotionally taxing. Pay is decent. You won't get rich. There are opportunities in teaching, to be your own boss and to be part time if you wish. You can work any where. There are animals, if that is your interest. It really depends on what she is looking for in a job or career. She is obviously very able academically so could do whatever she wanted; medicine, law, accountancy , dentist, etc. Is she motivated by money? If so veterinary science leads to a comfortable but certainly not wealthy lifestyle. Hard work is a given for any profession that pays well. Outside the professions she could earn well in business but has to be of a mindset to follow that path. It is good that she is having a gap year. She can think all this through, get work experience etc.I certainly wouldnNt advise any young person to go into vet science or medicine without knowing what they are letting themselves in for as they are careers with a lot of positives but they both require huge amounts of resilience.My vet relation had a good career as an academic, lived abroad for a while and worked during the long holidays with his passion, horses. He had a good lifestyle by most people's standards but as I said above, it depends on what she wants out of life.

I would say it's no longer a good job- particularly for women, who seem to have been dumped with small animals, while male vets have moved more to large animals only, which command a premium in pay.
Small animals are seen as more of a caring role, particularly as a lot of owner support is often required, hence it becoming female vets field, and subsequent worsening pay and conditions.
I was told this by a female vet btw!

Hi there. I am a vet and have been for 7 years. Its a hard job. Its very satisfying, but generally work/life balance is poor, and its very stressful. But I think this is the same for most professional jobs? (Doctor/lawyer etc). Pay is not as high as many people think. I started on 19K a year working 12 hour days 6 days a week, one night on call a week and one in 6 weekends. Now I'm on 44K and work 5.5 days a week 9am-7pm + Saturday morning and no on call. Ive probably reached my ceiling in terms of pay unless I want to retrain to specialist level or own my own practice (I don't want to do either of those). I know from talking to others that I'm paid very well for my age. Others the same are on 32-35K per year.

We suffer a significant amount of abuse from the public and disputes about the cost. People often blame me when they can't afford it, saying I must hate animals/I dont care/how do I sleep at night. Actually not very well as im always exhausted. The workload during covid is insane. We are so so bust. I sometimes end up in tears at work from the stress, workload and how the public treat us.

I care so very deeply about doing my job well. I really care. I cuddle your animals, I sit with them whilst I eat my lunch. I come in early and go home late without being paid for it. Take work home, call owners on the way home etc. I spend the weekends looking up things and researching cases. I cry when I have to put animals to sleep, I send the owners personal cards that I buy myself. I love my job but its very hard in ways I didnt expect. Its a lifestyle. I am not sure I would do it again if I had my time again.

Thanks everyone who has answered. I think she’s interested in small animals, but hasn’t been able to get work experience with a large animal vet so has less of an idea of what the role is

Its extremely hard for a women as a farm vet. Sadly the farmers can be so prejudiced. I did the first 18m as a farm vet and lost count of the ones that said "wheres the real vet" when I got out of the car. I loved being an equine vet, but it can be dangerous - going out on call in the middle of the night to a field with no address to meet a stranger! I got out of farm animal as fast as I could. But for a man it seems to be a premium job

A close friend is a vet on a hugely good salary and very happy. I must say she is extremely emotionally resilient, of a very calm demeanour and has a hugely practical outlook. For anyone more highly strung, it would be a challenge. Her academic abilities are only part of the question. I would also add she has a terrible habit of bringing home the healthy cats owners want put down and they can't remove...she has seven!