What Makes Mascotte’s Talent Best-in-Class: The Key Attributes We Hire For

A newsletter breaking down the business and money behind veterinary practice operations. Powered by Mascotte — Integrated support for modern vets.

Before starting Mascotte, our founder worked in the venture capital world, where he learned that no matter how promising the numbers look, it’s the founder’s qualities that truly matter. That ethos has always guided how we hire for Mascotte’s customer experience (CX) teams. We track down talent to find people with veterinary experience and the skills to handle the life-or-death situations that veterinary practices face every day.

When building our CX teams, we focus on finding candidates with the right combination of skills, empathy, and flexibility. We’ve also found that many top veterinary professionals are connected to other high performers in the industry, which has been a valuable avenue for us to identify experienced talent. This network, combined with our rigorous hiring process, ensures that we bring on only the best.

Drawing from his experience in venture capital, where picking winners is all about identifying the right entrepreneurs, our founder has developed a proven playbook for hiring. We know exactly what traits and skills to look for in CX candidates to inspire confidence in your clients and build trust effectively.

Unlike recruiting agencies, we don’t just find candidates for you to hire. All candidates who go through our rigorous process are hired full-time by Mascotte, continuously managed, and up-skilled by our team. These aren’t temporary hires—they become integral members of our team, trained to support your practice in delivering exceptional care.

Here are the attributes that make our talent so desirable and among the best in the world, and why they matter when building the right team for your practice.

Let’s get into it!👇🏼

HARD SKILLS
Experience and Efficiency That Can Be Relied On

Clinical Experience 🧑‍⚕️
First and foremost, we only hire candidates with at least three years of professional experience as veterinary technicians, nurses, or receptionists. This not only ensures they can handle the life-or-death situations clinics face every day, but also allows them to understand the high-stress environment at a practice, empathize with the staff, speak the same medical language, and truly visualize the physical operations and workflow of a practice.

Technical Proficiency 💻
Multitasking is an everyday requirement for a busy veterinary practice, so candidates must possess strong technical skills and be able to operate practice management tools and online pharmacy software seamlessly, almost as if they could do it with their eyes closed. When we assess tech savviness, we’re also looking at things like typing speed, overall reaction time, and their ability to switch between different tabs & windows while staying focused and engaging with clients.

SOFT SKILLS
Building Trust Through Authentic Compassion

Communication Skills 🗣️
Effective communication is on par with veterinary experience when recruiting for CX teams. Clients want to talk to people who understand how they communicate, from the tone of voice to the subtle use of slang, phrasing, and regional accents. Most of our clients are US-based, so we only hire native English speakers to ensure that nothing is lost in translation, either culturally or linguistically. The result is smooth conversations that build trust quickly, especially in urgent situations when the client wants reassurance from a familiar voice.

Empathy 🫂
Good communication skills go hand-in-hand with empathy, which is why we exclusively hire pet parents. We believe in practicing what we preach, and as pet parents ourselves, we know how to put ourselves in your clients’ shoes. When clients call in during stressful situations, our staff understands the urgency and emotional weight on the other end of the line. They provide a calm, compassionate response that makes clients feel understood—honestly but delicately—especially during difficult moments.

Cultural Context 🏈
We recognize that communication preferences can vary based on a veterinary practice's location and the cultural context of its clients. While many pet owners prefer clear and direct communication, there are times when more detailed, nuanced explanations are necessary. Our candidates are skilled at adapting to these cultural nuances, ensuring that no matter where your practice is located or how your clients prefer to communicate, our team can adjust seamlessly while keeping the focus on what truly matters: their pet’s health.

OTHER ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES
The Details That Make a World of Difference

Attention to Detail 🔍
When a pet’s health is on the line, the slightest mistake can lead to big problems, which is why we introduced a process designed to test candidates’ attention to detail. Each applicant gets an intentionally challenging case study with clear instructions. If they miss any of these details, it tells us they’re not capable of handling the precision and care that veterinary clients expect.

Resourcefulness 🧰

Our CX teams work 100% remotely, so they need to be self-sufficient, with a self-starter mentality and the ability to manage their time independently. 

We’re looking for proactive professionals who can solve problems independently, handle quiet moments or busy periods responsibly, and operate in that gray area where the “rules” may not always crystal clear, but good judgment is essential.

Decision-Making Ability ✅
Hesitation can cost valuable time, so when clients call in with uncertain or high-stress situations, we need staff who aren’t afraid to make a decision quickly. To make sure they can make the right call when necessary, we’ll ask specific questions to understand a candidate’s thought process, like “How do you solve a problem when you don’t have all the information?” or “What steps go through your head when faced with an uncertain situation?” The idea is to figure out how they work through uncertainty, whether they rely on a framework or gut feeling, and whether they can think critically and make sound decisions on the fly, which is essential for the fast-paced demands of veterinary customers.

Flexibility 🏋️
When we screen candidates, we look for a strong foundation of skills, but just as important is their flexibility. We prioritize people who are easy to work with, eager to learn, and motivated to continuously upskill themselves. At Mascotte, being open to new ways of working and quickly adapting to evolving demands is essential, especially in a role where not everything follows a clear-cut playbook. If a candidate is rigid in communication or struggles to adapt and learn, it's an immediate red flag—and a dealbreaker for us.

How are you searching for talent? If you’re struggling to recruit and retain client care staff, we’d be happy to share more advice. Just reply to this email, and we’ll get back to you.