Move from a vacancy to a hiring decision
A usable brief lets the employer evaluate candidates consistently and resolve scope questions before interviews.
- Separate essential requirements from preferences.
- Set compensation and obtain approval for the role.
- Choose interviewers and decide who can approve the offer.
Prepare the role brief
Write down the information a candidate needs to evaluate the position before the search begins.
- Specify the surgical discipline and credentials required.
- Document theatre access, imaging, anesthesia support and equipment.
- Clarify case ownership, referrals and perioperative responsibilities.
Plan the work location in Memphis.
Name the street address, municipality and county. Memphis is the large central city, while Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Lakeland, Arlington and Millington are separate Shelby County municipalities, and Atoka, Munford, Covington, Oakland, Somerville and Piperton are separate Tipton and Fayette county places. Cordova, Raleigh, Hickory Hill, Whitehaven, East Memphis and Midtown are neighborhoods inside the City of Memphis. The Memphis metropolitan statistical area also reaches into Mississippi and Arkansas, and coverage on this site is limited to Tennessee, because a hospital in another state falls under a different licensing authority.
Give the hiring team one brief for each facility, with clinical work, technician delegation, weekend duties and location commitments stated together. Tennessee asks veterinarians for 20 hours of continuing education each calendar year, so state the support the practice provides. O*NET OnLine, using Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, lists a Memphis-area median annual wage for veterinarians slightly above the Tennessee median and below the national median, which is context candidates may bring to an offer. The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville and Lincoln Memorial University’s veterinary college in Harrogate are Tennessee-based programs, and the Lincoln Memorial site hosts a job board for its graduates. This site describes employer hiring coverage without claiming a Memphis recruiting office.
Review Memphis-area recruiting coverage →Local context for this role
Bluff City Veterinary Specialists describes on its own site a private referral practice in Memphis focused on hard tissue (orthopedic), neurologic, soft tissue and oncologic surgery, and lists cranial cruciate rupture among its procedures. Memphis Veterinary Specialists & Emergency lists surgery among the specialties at its Cordova hospital. A Memphis surgeon brief should say how many operating days the role holds, how referring practices send cases and what anesthesia, imaging and technician support the surgeon will use, and a surgeon coming to Memphis from another state should ask about the Board’s published practice-history and continuing education tests.
Plan Tennessee credential checks before the start date.
Tennessee licenses veterinarians and Licensed Veterinary Medical Technicians through the Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners within the Department of Health. The Board’s application instructions list the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination score for the examination route, and proof of recent practice and continuing education for a veterinarian licensed in another state. Assign a person to verify license status and the expiration date, record the verification date and resolve questions with the Board. Check any specialty credentials the employer requires with the issuing organization.
Tennessee Department of Health license verification · Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners applications and rules page
Confirm the service and terms with BEGHR.
Prepare a veterinary surgery recruiting brief with a defined credential requirement, procedure mix, facilities and referral support.
Read the service scope · Review the recruiting process · BEGHR veterinary placement