Army · 68T
Your Animal Care Specialist experience maps to civilian jobs like Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers—and well beyond. Explore the specific roles below, see what each pays and requires, and build from there.
These are the civilian jobs the U.S. Department of Labor maps to 68T, plus the roles most closely related to them—ordered from the closest match. Think of them as a floor, not a ceiling: see what each role involves and pays, start where your Animal Care Specialist experience already fits, and build toward the rest.
$36,440/yr mediantypical $29k–$47k~116K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Feed, water, and examine pets and other nonfarm animals for signs of illness, disease, or injury in laboratories and animal hospitals and clinics.
Why it fits: A direct Department of Labor match—your Animal Care Specialist work maps straight onto the healthcare support side of this role.
$43,740/yr mediantypical $30k–$59k~122K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Animal Care Specialist occupations on the healthcare (clinical) side—a natural next step.
$31,200/yr mediantypical $23k–$45k~269K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race…
Why it fits: Closely related to the civilian jobs your Animal Care Specialist experience already matches.
$42,000/yr mediantypical $34k–$56k~763K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth; many openings
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Animal Care Specialist occupations on the healthcare support side—a natural next step.
$53,180/yr mediantypical $39k–$79k~99K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Administer basic or advanced emergency medical care and assess injuries and illnesses.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Animal Care Specialist occupations on the healthcare (clinical) side—a natural next step.
$59,160/yr mediantypical $37k–$101k~19K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons. May, in accordance with state laws, help surgeons to make incisions and close surgical sites, manipulate or remove tissues, implant…
Why it fits: Closely related to your Animal Care Specialist occupations on the healthcare (clinical) side—a natural next step.
$59,730/yr mediantypical $46k–$78k~630K U.S. jobs
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Animal Care Specialist occupations on the healthcare (clinical) side—a natural next step.
Source: O*NET / DMDC Military Crosswalk and O*NET related-occupations data, August 2024. Pay is BLS OEWS (May 2023).
Use the level that reflects what you actually did—not rank alone. Two people with the same code and very different experience should not submit the same résumé.
Lead with hands-on tasks, tools, equipment, qualifications, safety discipline, and the conditions in which you performed. Do not inflate supervisory scope.
Add team leadership, training, inspections, work allocation, quality control, readiness, and the people or assets you directly supervised.
Emphasize multi-team operations, schedules, resource forecasting, safety systems, policy enforcement, advising leaders, and organization-level results.
A translated title isn't enough. These four moves turn Animal Care Specialist experience into evidence a civilian hiring manager can act on.
List the systems, vehicles, equipment, and tools you personally operated as Animal Care Specialist—plus qualifications, certifications, and the recurring high-stakes tasks you owned.
Soldiers led, dollar value of equipment you were accountable for, workload, readiness rates, and safety or quality outcomes. Scope beats adjectives.
For any target role, name the license, degree, or software it requires and start now—your GI Bill and credentialing assistance can cover most of it.
Recruiters rarely search “68T.” Search job boards by the equipment, skills, and outcomes above as much as by “Animal Care Specialist.”
You don't have to make this jump alone. These programs exist specifically to move service members into civilian careers—most are free, and several pay you while you train.
Train or intern with a civilian employer during your last ~180 days on active duty—at full military pay.
Earn a paycheck while you train for a trade or technical role; USMAP can credit the military training you already have.
Corporate fellowships and hiring events that place transitioning service members and military spouses.
Free career training and nationally recognized certifications for service members, veterans, and spouses.
VA-funded high-tech training (IT, cyber, data, software) that does not touch your GI Bill entitlement.
Free local career centers plus certification and state-by-state license finders for any field.
How to use this: Treat these as targets, not limits. Your exact duties depend on your assignments, so lead with what you actually did—and remember that regulated careers require their own license, certification, or degree.