By month five of job advertising, most vet clinics and their teams are exhausted.

Posting everywhere didn’t work. Rewriting didn’t work. Spending more didn’t work.

But the vacancy hasn’t just stayed a vacancy — it’s started affecting the people who are still there.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores what happens when a role has been open for four to six months and the pressure inside the clinic starts to build.

Teams have been covering the extra work. The goodwill that carried the first few months begins to wear thin. Quietly, people start weighing their options.

That’s when the conversation inside many clinics shifts.

Instead of searching for the right fit, the thinking becomes: we just need someone.

Julie unpacks why this “warm body” thinking feels responsible in the moment — but often creates a far more expensive problem when the wrong hire lands in an already exhausted team.

This episode also looks at why the five-month recruitment cycle doesn’t end when a role is filled. In many clinics, it simply resets — except the team begins the next cycle already depleted.

And Julie explains the alternative: building recognition before you need to advertise, through Culture Story Centre infrastructure that allows vets and nurses to get to know your clinic long before a vacancy appears.

Because clinics that build recognition first rarely reach month five in their advertising at all.

Stay to the end for two simple questions that reveal which type of clinic you want yours to be.

In This Episode

00:00:06 – Introduction and the five-month recruitment cycle
00:01:16 – When more advertising and spending still doesn’t work
00:01:55 – What happens when a vacancy drags on for months
00:02:43 – The shift in team morale when “temporary” becomes permanent
00:03:44 – Quiet decisions exhausted team members begin making
00:04:49 – The arrival of “warm body” hiring thinking
00:05:51 – How desperation reshapes recruitment briefs
00:06:43 – When the wrong hire lands in an already stretched team
00:07:37 – The Job Application Decision Gap explained
00:08:45 – Why the five-month cycle simply resets
00:09:52 – Building recognition before you need to advertise
00:11:01 – Clinics that fill roles in month one or two
00:12:19 – Two questions every clinic should ask itself

Mentioned in This Episode

Cultural Visibility Stress Test

A short eight-question exercise designed to help clinics see whether the Job Application Decision Gap might be affecting their recruitment.

It takes about three minutes and is free to complete.

careers.vetclinicjobs.com

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to move beyond reactive job advertising by building recruitment infrastructure that creates recognition before a vacancy appears.

When vets and nurses can see that a clinic is their kind of place, recruitment stops being a start-from-scratch exercise every time a role opens.

Struggling to get results from your job advert

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements? 
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.   

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs