Skills
Veterinary Assistant Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in veterinary assistants, and how to build and show them.
What skills do veterinary assistants need?
Veterinary Assistants need technical skills such as animal restraint, kennel sanitation, and instrument sterilization, plus people skills like compassion and reliability. They also use tools such as Leashes and muzzles and Cleaning supplies.
Technical (hard) skills
- Animal restraint
- Kennel sanitation
- Instrument sterilization
- Basic animal care
- Patient monitoring
- Client service
People (soft) skills
- Compassion
- Reliability
- Teamwork
- Calmness
Tools, equipment and technology
- Leashes and muzzles
- Cleaning supplies
- Autoclaves
- Scales
- Kennels
- Practice software
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how veterinary assistants put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Animal restraint” and “Kennel sanitation.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “compassion,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as NAVTA Approved Veterinary Assistant (AVA) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our veterinary assistant glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Veterinary Assistant training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.