“We’ve tried social media. It didn’t work.”

It’s something Julie South hears often from clinics that have already put time and effort into posting, sharing, and trying to build some form of presence online.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, she continues the Where Vet Clinics Get Stuck series by looking at why social media so often disappoints — even when clinics are doing what they’ve been told to do.

Posting regularly.
Sharing updates.
Trying to show a bit of team life.

Because the issue isn’t usually effort.

It’s what that effort is being asked to do.

A vet or nurse doesn’t decide to apply because of a post in isolation.

They’re trying to answer a bigger question.

And when they go looking for that answer, what they find — or don’t find — matters far more than the post that first caught their attention.

This episode looks at four distinct reasons social media keeps falling short — from what candidates actually see, to how algorithms filter content, to why disconnected posts don’t build trust over time, and why many clinics are investing effort into the wrong platform entirely.

Stay to the end for a question about what your social media activity is really being asked to do.

In This Episode

00:57 – “We’ve tried social media. It didn’t work”
01:57 – The first problem: what vets and nurses actually find
03:54 – The second problem: algorithm filtering and reach
05:43 – The third problem: sound bites vs serial stories
06:26 – The fourth problem: platform (Facebook vs LinkedIn)
07:34 – What clinics can and can’t control
08:20 – A question about what people find when they look you up

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

“We’ll just update our careers page.”

It’s a common response when recruitment isn’t working.

It feels like progress.
It’s visible.
It can be done in an afternoon.

BUT! A careers page sits inside a website built for a completely different audience.

Pet owners.

Not vets or nurses who are trying to decide whether your clinic is worth the risk of leaving where they are now.

That’s a different decision.

They’re not looking for polished claims.

They’re trying to work out:

What’s the team really like?
What happens on a hard day?
Are these my kind of people?

If they don’t find that, they don’t stay.
They keep scrolling. Looking.

In this episode Julie South looks at why updating a careers page rarely changes that — and what’s missing when someone lands there.

In This Episode

01:32 – “We’ll just update our careers page”
02:26 – Who your website is actually built for
05:03 – What vets and nurses are trying to work out
06:00 – What happens when there’s nothing to stay for
06:56 – Why updating a careers page feels like progress
09:45 – The difference between a door and a destination
10:41 – Two questions about what your careers page is really saying

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

“But isn’t this just employer branding, Julie…?”

It’s a question that comes up when clinics start looking beyond job ads and into how they’re seen as a place to work.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South answers that question directly.

Because while employer brand marketing and what she’s describing can sound similar, they’re designed for different situations.

Employer brand marketing comes from large organisations — built to manage perception across multiple locations, roles, and audiences.

Veterinary hiring decisions don’t usually happen there.

They happen at clinic level.

A specific team.
A specific place.
A particular way of working — on an ordinary day.

Julie explains why that difference matters, and what clinics risk missing when they reach for a solution that wasn’t designed for how hiring actually happens in their world.

Including something less obvious:

What changes inside a clinic when its own people start telling its stories.

Stay to the end for two questions about what someone actually finds when they look up your clinic.

In This Episode

01:33 – “But isn’t this just employer branding, Julie?”
03:59 – What employer brand marketing is designed to do
06:22 – Where hiring decisions actually happen
08:12 – Why one approach can’t replace the other
09:06 – What changes inside a clinic when stories are told
10:16 – Two questions about what vets and nurses find when they look you up

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

Front Desk, Full Team: Stacey Deacon on How Energy Vets Works Day to Day

Stacey Deacon didn’t train as a veterinary nurse.

She’s a dedicated receptionist — and part of a reception team that sits at the centre of how Energy Vets runs day to day.

In this final episode of the Energy Vets REAL+STORY series, Stacey shares what working on the front desk actually looks like inside a busy mixed practice in Taranaki.

The reception team works across both the Inglewood and Waitara clinics, coordinating appointments, managing client expectations, and supporting vets and nurses through busy periods — including seasonal peaks like farm scanning alongside small animal demand.

Stacey talks about the role reception plays in keeping the day running, how the team works together to manage urgent cases, and the constant balancing act of diaries, client needs, and clinical priorities.

She also describes the team environment — where there’s no hierarchy, and vets, nurses, reception, and management all step in to help when things get busy.

When asked what makes the difference at Energy Vets, Stacey points to the people — the way the team checks in on each other, works together, and supports one another through demanding days.

And when it comes to fit, she’s clear: someone positive, who works with the team and can see the bigger picture.

In This Episode

00:01 – Introduction to Stacey Deacon and the Energy Vets reception team
01:46 – Size of the reception team and working across two clinic locations
03:07 – The role of a dedicated veterinary receptionist
03:32 – How Stacey entered the veterinary industry
03:59 – What’s different about working at Energy Vets
04:34 – Busy periods: small animal demand and farm scanning season
05:30 – How the team supports each other day to day
06:02 – Reception’s role in managing diaries and urgent cases
07:16 – The type of person who fits at Energy Vets
08:18 – Energy Vets’ “best kept secret”
09:35 – Three words to describe the team
09:45 – What working at Energy Vets is like day to day
10:27 – Why Stacey joined Energy Vets
11:07 – Team environment vs expectations before joining
11:24 – No hierarchy: how vets support reception when it’s busy

Hiring Link

Energy Vets is currently looking for an experienced small animal veterinarian to join a genuinely team-oriented clinic.

Learn more here: careers.vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

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

When veterinary clinics start looking at changing how they approach recruitment, certain phrases come up in conversation.

They’re usually said under pressure.

And they often stop things before they really get going.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South continues the Where Vet Clinics Get Stuck series by looking at one of the most common:

“We don’t have time for this.”

For clinics already stretched — covering vacancies, juggling rosters, and trying to run recruitment campaigns that aren’t working — that response makes complete sense.

But what clinics picture when they say it… and what’s actually being asked of them… are not the same thing.

And that gap matters.

Stay to the end for two questions about where your clinic’s recruitment time is really going.

In This Episode

00:58 – “We don’t have time for this”
01:54 – What clinics think “this” means
03:14 – What it actually looks like
05:28 – Where time is really going
07:39 – Two questions to rethink time and effort

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

Leadership, Succession, and Coming Home: Kylie Lindsay on Growing People at Energy Vets

Kylie Lindsay began her journey with Energy Vets answering after-hours phones. More than twenty years later, she’s Clinic Services Manager, shareholder, and now a director of the Taranaki practice.

In this second half of Julie South’s conversation with Kylie, the focus shifts to leadership and the kind of veterinarian Energy Vets is looking for as the clinic grows its companion animal team.

Kylie describes the senior vet role as someone who enjoys teaching, builds relationships across the whole practice — including large animal vets who rotate through the companion animal team — and can bring both clinical and business thinking to the role.

The conversation also explores how Energy Vets develops people over time. Kylie shares stories of nurses and vets who have left to work elsewhere — including Australia and overseas — and later returned to the clinic with new experience that benefits the whole team.

Kylie also talks about becoming a shareholder and director in the business — an opportunity the existing directors created by changing the clinic’s constitution so a non-vet could join the ownership group.

She reflects on how ideas from the frontline have shaped the clinic — including the team workshop that led to the name Energy Vets and the creation of a dedicated call-handling hub behind reception to improve client service.

In This Episode

00:04 – Introduction to part two of the conversation with Kylie Lindsay
01:25 – The kind of veterinarian Energy Vets is looking for in the senior role
03:27 – Life outside the clinic: family, horses, and becoming a grandmother
04:25 – Why people often return to Taranaki after time away
06:07 – Staff leaving for opportunities and later returning to the clinic
07:48 – How returning staff bring new experience back into the team
08:24 – Examples of nurses who left, developed their careers, and returned
10:34 – Kylie becoming a shareholder and director in the business
10:59 – What it means to be invited into ownership as a non-vet
12:24 – “Skin in the game” and the open-door culture at Energy Vets
13:33 – Developing a shareholding pathway for future leaders
14:56 – How leadership listens to ideas from the team
15:27 – The team workshop that led to the name Energy Vets
16:39 – Creating the reception call-handling hub
18:45 – How the hub works day to day across both clinics
20:33 – Julie’s closing reflections on Kylie’s journey and leadership

Hiring Link

EnergyVets is currently looking for an experienced small animal veterinarian ready to co-lead the companion animal team and mentor the next generation of vets.

Learn more here:
careers.vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

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

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

From Client to Clinic Leader: Kylie Lindsay on Energy Vets’ Growth and Team Culture

Kylie Lindsay didn’t originally join Energy Vets as a staff member — she joined as a client.

Growing up in rural Inglewood with horses and other animals, the clinic (then Inglewood Veterinary Services) cared for the animals on her family’s lifestyle block. One day, while a vet was visiting one of her horses, Kylie asked whether there might be any work available at the clinic.

Her timing was good. A role had just opened on the after-hours phone team.

More than twenty years later, Kylie is now Clinic Services Manager, overseeing reception, companion animal services, and stock across Energy Vets’ Inglewood and Waitara clinics in Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island.

In this conversation with Julie South, Kylie reflects on the growth of the clinic over the past two decades, how teams rotate across both clinics so clients receive consistent service, and the professional development opportunities available across the whole team — including reception and support staff.

She also shares one of the clinic’s quieter success stories: the number of kennel hands who have gone on to train in the veterinary industry, with several returning to work at Energy Vets after completing their studies.

When asked to describe the team in three words, Kylie chooses: welcoming, supportive, and professional.

Next week, Kylie talks about the type of veterinarian who fits the EnergyVets team and her own journey from answering after-hours phones to becoming a shareholder and director in the business.

In This Episode

00:04 – Introduction to the REAL+STORY episode with Kylie Lindsay
01:33 – Kylie’s role and how long she has been with the clinic
02:02 – Joining the clinic after originally being a client
03:45 – Growing up in the Hutt Valley, Rotorua, and settling in Taranaki
04:34 – Raising children and schooling in rural Taranaki
08:19 – Sporting opportunities and life in the region
08:49 – Growth of the clinic since 2005
10:41 – Professional development and leadership training
12:34 – Rotating teams across the Inglewood and Waitara clinics
15:27 – How Kylie’s role evolved as the clinic grew
17:10 – Examples of team members stepping into leadership roles
19:16 – Energy Vets’ “best kept secret” — the culture
21:14 – Kennel hands entering the veterinary profession
22:57 – Former kennel hands returning to work at the clinic
23:31 – Three words Kylie uses to describe the team

Hiring Link

Energy Vets is currently looking for an experienced small animal veterinarian ready to co-lead the companion animal team.

Learn more here:
vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

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