A locum temporarily fills the position of a permanent member of staff. Locums can be all types of vets, nurses, and sometimes non-clinical staff too. Paid daily or hourly, locums choose the days and times they work, along with their preferred practice(s). Some locums travel across the country, taking advantage of accommodation offered with employment at veterinary practices, while others stay closer to home, working with 1-3 local practices.

Locuming works differently for everyone. One often overlooked benefit of locuming is the chance to meet new people. Whether you combine locuming with traveling around the country or stay within your local area, you’ll work with new teams regularly. It also allows you to meet new clients and, of course, new animals. Working as a locum helps you become more involved in both the local and wider veterinary community. With the distinct lack of locums currently available, your presence in a new practice and team will be greatly appreciated, which is incredibly rewarding. In smaller practices, it may even allow the owner or lead vet to take some much-needed time off.

Locuming also offers flexibility in hours that you won’t find with a permanent role. Don’t want to work Saturdays? That’s fine. Need to pick up your kids from school early every Tuesday? The practice will likely accommodate that. Whether it’s life commitments, hobbies, or just wanting to take things a bit slower, locuming allows you to regain control of your schedule. While it’s important to honor any commitments you make to a practice, being upfront about your preferences and hours from the outset can lead to an incredibly flexible work arrangement. Some people choose to work full-time, others just the odd day, and everything in between. What’s becoming more popular is working for a few months followed by taking some time off.

When working full-time as a locum, it often has a financial edge over permanent work. Some choose to work less, usually for similar money, freeing up time for other projects and achieving that elusive work-life balance. Many of our locums have started branching out into blogging or launching their own online businesses while supplementing their income by locuming.

Locuming is also a great way to evaluate a practice before deciding if you want to take on a permanent role there. Performing well as a locum can lead to offers of permanent positions or repeat locum opportunities at preferred practices.

Locuming isn’t for everyone, and we understand that. Keep an eye out for our next piece, where we’ll discuss some of the challenges of locuming and why it might not be the right fit for you. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about locuming and joining The Webinar Vet Jobs, please get in touch at [email protected].