Veterinary Voices

"You're not hiring staff. You're trying to bring back awareness from the dead", that's the point Julie South makes today.

Most vet clinics think they have two options: advertise when hiring, or do nothing when fully staffed. 

But that "doing nothing" phase is costing you more than you realise — and it's not just the job board fees you see on invoices.

When you go dark between hires, four things are quietly draining your budget. Most clinics never add these up. When they do, the number is shocking.

There's a third option you didn't know you had. It doesn't require you to always be in recruitment mode, it takes less time than you think, and it stops the expensive start-from-scratch pattern for good.

Julie South - Australasia's Culture Storytelling Thought Leader and Hosts - walks you through what's actually costing you, shows you how to calculate your own number, and gives you something to do this week that changes the pattern.

LINKS:

Linkedin

Email

VetClinicJobs

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

What Support Actually Looks Like: Two Vet Nurses on Corporate vs Private Practice 

Brooke and Abi are both veterinary nurses at VetsOne. One's been there two years, the other nearly two. Both came from clinics where they felt unsupported. Both found something different.

In this episode:

• What "support" actually looks like when teammates pick up the slack on rough days
• How Brooke discovered a passion for palliative care she didn't know she had
• Why Abi's weight management clinic idea sat in her head for months before she finally mentioned it
• The difference between corporate and privately owned clinics from nurses who've worked both
• Weekly role rotations that pair nurses with different vets daily—and why they like it
• What it's like when directors actually say "yes, you've got my full support"

Worth listening for:

Brooke: "At my first clinic job, I didn't have a lot of support, but at VetsOne, I've noticed a big step up. There's been a lot of support, a lot of good banter as well."

Abi: "I was a little bit scared and intimidated because my way of thinking was, what if it's a flop? Or what if no one signs up and then it's embarrassing... I just wish I actually started sooner because it turned out better than I expected."

On the team culture: "We get the job done but we give each other a hard time, but in a good way."

If you're a veterinary nurse wondering what genuine support looks like, or a vet wondering what kind of team actually backs your ideas, this conversation shows you.

Coming next: Episode 1014 with Dr Sharon Marshall, one of VetsOne's three directors. She knew at age 5 she'd be a veterinarian—now she's choosing to step back from clinical work to build the team.

Links:

• Position details: https://vetclinicjobs.com/vetsone
• Episode page: https://veterinaryvoices.com/1013
• Contact Julie: [email protected]

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Most responsible for recruitment in a vet clinic, think they're building their employer brand when they post a job ad.  They've written a detailed description, listed benefits, maybe mentioned their culture.  They hit publish and wait for applications.

Then nothing happens.

So they rewrite the ad, add more platforms, spend more money. Still nothing.

They're advertising without marketing. And advertising without marketing is just shouting into a void where nobody's listening.

In this episode Employer Brand Marketing Specialist, Julie South walks through why posting job ads - no matter how well written - isn't employer brand marketing, and why most clinics are stuck in a false choice that keeps them starting from zero every single time they recruit.

Most clinics bounce between two options their entire existence:  ON (actively advertising, spending money across multiple platforms) or OFF (fully staffed, spending nothing on recruitment).   Sadly, they don't see a third option.

But there is one.

Tune in - you'll get a simple yes/no question this week that instantly tells you whether you're doing marketing or just advertising.

This is Episode 3 in our Employer Brand Marketing 101 series.

If you've been stuck in the on/off start/stop pattern for years and don't know how to break it, email Julie directly at [email protected].

Next week: what the on/off start/stop pattern is actually costing you - far more than just subscription fees.

Julie South is a Vet Clinic Employer Brand Marketing specialist.

Links mentioned in episode:

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements? The VetClinicJobs platform is the place to post your next job vacancy - get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Dana relocated 1300 kilometres from Central Otago to Hawke's Bay specifically for this veterinary nursing position at VetsOne. 

In this episode:

• Why she moved 800+ miles for a nursing role—and what it took to build a new life knowing only 3-4 people
• Corporate vs. privately owned clinics: "You feel more like a family member rather than just a number"
• Weekly role rotations that pair nurses with different vets daily—creating variety for everyone
• The Lincoln programme: Learning to navigate difficult conversations at work and home
• What kind of person fits: "Someone that can banter with us, wants to be social, and wants to be a part of the team"

Worth listening for:

"The whole team has ideas we bring to management and the directors. They're quite open to ideas and suggestions. It's just really nice that we feel heard and seen."

On leaving corporate for private: "I feel a lot more seen and valued rather than just a number, which is how I felt in the past. I feel a lot more valued because we're a smaller knit group."

If you've ever wondered whether relocating for the right veterinary role is worth it—or what privately owned actually feels like compared to corporate—Dana's story will answer those questions.

Links:

• Position details: https://vetclinicjobs.com/vetsone
• Episode page: https://veterinaryvoices.com/1011
• Contact Julie: [email protected]

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Your clinic's website, social media and team page were built to attract pet owners. When you send job seekers to that same content, you're asking consumer marketing to do employer brand marketing's job.

It simply can't.

The person visiting your website to book an appointment is looking for completely different information from the veterinary nurse deciding whether to apply for your position. 

Your consumer marketing answers questions pet owners have - but when a veterinary professional considers their next career move, they're asking entirely different questions your consumer content wasn't designed to answer.

Today Julie South walks through three fundamental differences between marketing to pet owners and marketing to veterinary professionals, and why one piece of content can't do both jobs.

You'll get a practical action step to take this week that will show you exactly where the gap is between what pet owners need to see and what job seekers need to know.

This is Episode 2 in our Employer Brand Marketing 101 series.

If you don't have any employer brand marketing content at all and don't know where to start, email Julie directly at [email protected].

Next week: the difference between advertising and marketing, because posting job ads - even really good ones - isn't employer brand marketing.

Julie South is a Vet Clinic Employer Brand Marketing specialist.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

In Part 1 (ep 1009), you heard Dr Mia's journey as a mature student to veterinary medicine, her transition from mixed to small animal practice, and how VetsOne supported her herbal medicine side hustle. You also heard why she left—and what drew her back 18 months later.

In Part 2, Dr Mia walks through the practical day-to-day realities of working at VetsOne.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• After-hours arrangements: How joining the Hawke's Bay after-hours clinic changed everything (latest finish: 6pm once a week, no on-call)
• Weekend roster: One in four, 9am-1pm Saturday and Sunday
• Twice-daily team huddles: How 10-minute check-ins at 8:30am and 2:45pm help coordinate across vets, nurses, and customer care—especially important in a multi-storey building where you can't just yell down the hallway anymore
• What makes their nursing team exceptional: "My favourite veterinary tool is a nurse because I can't do my job without them"
• The difference between hard days and bad days: "Every day, even a bad day, it's a good day coming here because you come to friends"
• How Lincoln Institute training transformed team communication: Learning to ask "Do you have capacity for me to vent right now?" and understanding how people work under stress
• Why she came back after leaving: "100% the people. I would get upset if I think about leaving the people that I work with"

What's worth listening out for from Dr Mia:

"It's a feeling of being completely accepted for yourself and being safe here—physically safe, which is a big deal in our job, but emotionally safe and supported in a workplace. It's a pretty tricky place to want to leave when you feel happy here."

And on the directors: "They've got the most beautiful hearts. They're the kindest, most selfless people. Their focus is people and having a good business."

The Lincoln Institute impact: Understanding that 50% (or more) of veterinary work is dealing with people—clients, colleagues, personalities under stress. Learning communication skills that take away stress rather than add to it.

If you're a small animal veterinarian wondering what genuine team support and emotional safety looks like in practice, this conversation shows you.

Position details: vetclinicjobs.com/vetsone

Links:

• Position details: https://vetclinicjobs.com/vetsone
• VetClinicJobs: https://vetclinicjobs.com
• Veterinary Voices: https://veterinaryvoices.com
• Contact Julie: [email protected]

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Dr Mia describes VetsOne as her "forever home" - and after hearing her story, you'll understand why.

In this first part of our conversation with Dr Mia, you'll discover how a new graduate found a clinic that not only supported her transition from mixed to small animal practice, but actively championed her interest in herbal medicine when she could have been dismissed as "witchy" or "alternative."

What you'll hear:

• How Dr Mia came to veterinary medicine as a mature student after trying (unsuccessfully) to make the desire go away
• The interview she did in leggings with no makeup on the day her dog died - and why the directors still offered her the job
• Her transition from mixed animal to small animal work, and how VetsOne made it happen without resistance
• Why she's nicknamed "Witchy Poo" and how the team embraced her complementary herbal medicine interests
• How VetsOne supported her developing a separate herbal medicine business while working part-time in clinic
• The reality of burnout, perfectionism, and why she left for 18 months before choosing to return
• What it means to work in a team where diverse clinical interests aren't just tolerated - they're celebrated

About VetsOne's current opportunity: VetsOne in Hastings, Hawke's Bay, is looking for a small animal veterinarian with leadership potential or experience to help guide their companion animal team. If you're drawn to a clinic that genuinely celebrates diverse clinical interests and supports professional growth in unconventional directions, this episode will show you what's possible.

Part 2 coming next, where Dr Mia shares the practical realities of working at VetsOne - from after-hours arrangements to team huddles to what makes nurses her "favourite piece of kit."

About This Series

This is part of the VetsOne Employer of Choice series on Veterinary Voices. When you hear multiple team members sharing genuine stories about what it's actually like to work somewhere - that's employer brand marketing in action. It's why VetsOne attracts veterinary professionals who genuinely want to be there, not just people responding to generic job ads.

Resources

Position details: https://vetclinicjobs.com/VetsOne

Contact for Employer Brand Marketing support: Julie South, Tania Bruce, Lizzie Swanson

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Someone resigns. You advertise. Months pass with no suitable applicants. You spend thousands across multiple platforms. Eventually you fill the position, turn everything off, and breathe a sigh of relief.

Then 18 months later, someone else resigns and you're back at square one, starting the entire exhausting cycle from scratch.

If this pattern sounds familiar, you're stuck in a cycle that most vet clinics don't realise they can actually break.

In this episode, Julie South walks through:

• the three stages of the recruitment cycle that keeps you stuck, 
• what it's really costing you beyond job board subscriptions, and 
• why turning everything off when you're fully staffed guarantees the next cycle will be exactly the same.

You'll get one action step to take this week: identifying where you are in the cycle right now, because you can't change a pattern you haven't recognised.

This is Episode 1 in our Employer Brand Marketing 101 series - a framework for breaking the recruitment cycle and building sustainable hiring capability.

If you're currently in the desperate middle stage, email Julie directly at j[email protected].

Next week: why your consumer-facing website and social media can't do the work of recruitment.

Julie South is a Vet Clinic Employer Brand Marketing specialist.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

VetsOne: 34 Years of Evolution - Amanda

What does 34 years of loyalty to one veterinary clinic tell you? When Amanda started at VetsOne in 1990 as the last on-the-job trained veterinary nurse, she couldn't have imagined she'd still be there today—now as operations manager, leading a team through floods, growth, and transformation.

In this episode, Amanda shares what generosity of thought and generosity of time actually look like in daily practice. You'll hear the real story of what happened during the 2023 cyclone when Jason couldn't cross the washed-out bridges and Amanda had to "man the ship" for a week. You'll discover how the team evolved from yelling down hallways in the old building to implementing comprehensive protocols across multiple floors in their modern facility.

What you'll hear:

• How VetsOne's three directors made significant changes when they took ownership—starting with raising veterinary nurse wages above industry average
• The impact of Lincoln Institute training on team communication, with modules on social styles helping team members understand why "drivers are blunt" and "amiables struggle with decisions"
• What it means when a clinic asks "what is the how?" and genuinely wants team input on protocols
• The transition to Fear Free practices with dedicated cat-only spaces—waiting room, consult room, and hospital
• Why clients have stayed with VetsOne for 35+ years and know staff by first name
• How Mental Health Awareness Week became a team-driven initiative
• What keeps a diverse team—from 21-year-olds to experienced professionals, from local Kiwis to Irish and Malaysian vets—genuinely connected

About living in Hawke's Bay: Amanda describes the Sunny Hawke's Bay lifestyle—vineyards, cycling tracks, beaches at Waimarama and Ocean Beach, and those spectacular sunrises over the river that make 5am dog walks worthwhile even in winter.

About VetsOne's current opportunity: VetsOne is looking for a small animal veterinarian with leadership potential or experience. Someone who wants to work where operational systems genuinely support rather than constrain the clinical team, and where "who you are" matters more than just "what you are."

Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs - Build your employer brand. Do your own recruitment. Better.

Resources

Position details: https://vetclinicjobs.com/VetsOne

Contact for recruitment support: [email protected]

About This Series

This is part of the VetsOne's Employer of Choice series on Veterinary Voices. When you hear multiple team members sharing genuine stories about what it's actually like to work somewhere—that's employer brand marketing in action. It's why VetsOne attracts veterinary professionals who genuinely want to be there, not just people responding to generic job ads.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

This is the final episode in the VetsOne Employer of Choice series where Dr Sharon Marshall brings it all together—the philosophy, the practical support, and the vision for where this 80-year-old practice is heading.

In Part 2, Dr Sharon gets into the specifics of what stepping into leadership at VetsOne actually looks like day-to-day.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How VetsOne supports first-time leaders (3-month induction, monthly leadership meetings, direct support from someone who's been in the role)
• What success looks like: being respected, making teams work together, being the voice for your team
• The team structure: 7 nurses, 5 small animal vets, 3 production animal vets—and how they coordinate across consults, surgery, dentistry, and hospital areas
• Clinical capabilities that set VetsOne apart: TPLO surgeries, BOAS procedures, I-131 radiation treatment for cats, advanced dentistry—because their ethos is being the veterinary home for clients' animals, not a triage service that refers everything
• How their four values (professionalism, advocacy, communication, teamwork) were developed WITH the team—not imposed by management—and how they're revisited monthly
• Why the name "VetsOne" emerged from their rebranding (spoiler: it's about being one team, one with the owner, the one place providing all services)
• The equipment they've invested in: in-house chemistry, IDEXX ImageVet AI, Bionet anaesthesia monitors, video microscopes—provincial New Zealand with big-city capabilities

What's worth listening out for from Dr Sharon: "I don't need a team of robots. I want a team who are thinking for themselves and acting for themselves, but using the ethos of VetsOne as their backbone so they're not just floundering around in the dark."

Over this VetsOne series, you've heard from directors, veterinarians, and nurses. Mountain bike mishaps, palliative care passions, herbal medicine side hustles, relocating 1,300km for the right role. 

What's consistent? People who feel genuinely seen, supported to pursue their interests, and part of something bigger than themselves.

If you're a small animal vet with 8-10 years experience ready to step into leadership, this episode shows you exactly what that could look like—without the corporate machinery.

Position details: vetclinicjobs.com/vetsone

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics