A vet in Melbourne is scrolling job ads, actively looking to relocate.

She sees a position in Hamilton, New Zealand. Good clinic. Competitive salary. Sounds fine.

She clicks through, reads the job description, then keeps scrolling.

Three weeks later, she accepts a position in Melbourne. Not better. Just known.

What happened?

The decision didn't happen at the job ad stage. It happened earlier — at a moment most clinics never see.

In this episode, we're looking at why relocating vets and nurses so often default to what they already know, even when they're actively looking for change. And what's actually happening in that invisible moment where they close the tab and keep scrolling.

I'm Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond build Culture Centres through Culture Storytelling. I've seen hundreds of clinics add better location descriptions to their job ads, wondering why relocating vets and nurses never apply — while their competitors attract people who've already decided they could live there.

Listen if: you've ever wondered why relocating vets and nurses never seem to apply — or why your location advantages don't seem to translate into applications.

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

CareVets Gisborne's Clinic Coordinator Rhonda moved from London to Gisborne five years ago.

In London, her commute was 90 minutes. In Auckland, she never got out of second gear in traffic.

In Gisborne? Five minutes. Through "5 o'clock traffic" means waiting for half a dozen cars at a roundabout instead of going straight through.

"I go home for lunch," she says. Like it's nothing.

But here's what made me want to record this conversation: Rhonda isn't a vet or a nurse. She came from corporate backgrounds in big cities. And she's the clinic coordinator at CareVets Gisborne — the person who keeps the machine running, who checks in with locum vets before they leave, who listens when the team says "we need to tell people what it's really like here."

So when Rhonda talks about what makes someone stay five years, or what locums say about the nursing team, or what happens when things get busy — you're hearing it from someone who sees how the whole clinic actually works.

At the time of recording, CareVets Gisborne is recruiting for a small animal veterinarian.

But whether you're looking or not — listen to what a five-minute commute actually means when you've spent years in traffic.

I'm Julie South. This is Veterinary Voices.

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

You list protected meal breaks, no weekend work, and flexible hours in your job ad.

So does every other clinic in your city.

How do vets and nurses decide? They can't tell you apart. So they don't apply. Or they apply everywhere and mean nowhere.

Meanwhile, down the road, another clinic fills their position in three weeks. Same benefits. Same salary. Same city. But vets and nurses already knew their team actually gets lunch breaks - because they've been watching it happen for months before that clinic even advertised.

That's not luck. That's visibility before vacancy.

I'm Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond build Culture Centres through Culture Storytelling. I've seen hundreds of clinics add more benefits to their job ads, wondering why nobody applies - while their competitors show their Quality of Life at Work year-round and attract people who've already decided.

This episode shows you why competing on Quality of Life through job ads keeps you trapped, how the system changed in three ways most clinics haven't noticed, and the one question that changes everything about how you think about Quality of Life at Work.

I'd love to help you, if you'd like that - email me or connect with me on LinkedIn.

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

What does a locum vet who's worked at five different clinics across New Zealand think when she walks into CareVets Gisborne? "I've actually loved it."

Dr Camille Bonini is an English vet on a working holiday visa with absolutely no reason to sugarcoat anything. She's seen what good looks like and what doesn't. So when she talks about a nursing team that's always two steps ahead, surgical schedules that actually finish on time, and a head nurse who stays calm when things get chaotic, you know she's telling it straight.

This is what a well-run clinic looks like through genuinely fresh eyes.

If you're from the UK or Ireland considering New Zealand, or you're responsible for recruitment and wondering what "Culture Storytelling" actually means in practice, this conversation shows you exactly that. No marketing speak. Just a locum vet sharing what she found when she arrived.

CareVets Gisborne is looking for their next permanent small animal vet. Details at vetclinicjobs.com/carevetsgisborne

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

The $5,000 professionally produced video gets 50 likes. The blurred photo of your team laughing at closing time gets 20 shares.

Why?

Most clinics think polish equals professionalism equals hires. They're wrong.

Shares trump likes because shares reach extended networks - the thousands of vets and nurses you'll never reach from your clinic account alone. But getting shares requires something most clinics aren't doing.

I'm Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond build Culture Centres through Culture Storytelling. I've seen hundreds of clinics invest in professional content that sits there gathering digital dust while their competitors' imperfect posts travel.

This episode shows you what makes Culture Stories shareable, why making yourself look good backfires, and how to tell if your posts will travel or sit there. You'll get a simple audit to run on your last five posts and know exactly what to change.

I'd love to help you, if you'd like that - email me or connect with me on Linkedin.

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

Dr Ross Milner has worked everywhere from Antarctica to Fiji — but chose Gisborne as the best place in New Zealand for a vet to settle.
In this episode, he explains why, and what day-to-day life as a vet there actually looks like.

Dr Ross talks about:

• what surprised him most about living on the East Coast
• the kind of caseload you can expect in a regional clinic
• how the nursing team works (and why he’d trust them with his own dog)
• what the after-hours roster really feels like
• the community moments that made him feel welcome
• why he’s usually home by 5pm
• and how he often gets to go home for lunch

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to live and work as a vet in Gisborne — or you’re considering your next move as an experienced small-animal vet — this conversation gives a grounded, honest view from someone who’s lived and worked all over the world.

Check out CareVets Gisborne

I’m Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond attract vets and nurses by showing what working there genuinely looks like through culture storytelling.

If lifestyle matters to you as much as the medicine, check out the full position details.

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 Sarah shares a Culture Story from her personal profile, her vet school friends believe her. When your clinic posts the same thing, it's marketing.

Sarah has 338 Facebook friends, 500 LinkedIn connections, 264 Instagram followers. Jake and Emma have similar. That's thousands of vets and nurses you'll never reach from your clinic account alone.

But most clinics haven't asked their team to share because you're worried about control, don't know what to give them, or don't know how to ask.

Six months of doing nothing = 180 days of lost reach.

I'm Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond build Culture Centres through Culture Storytelling. I've worked with hundreds of clinics who say "our team should share" but don't know how to make it happen. This episode shows you how.

You'll learn how to start with your three most engaged people, what to give them to share, and how to make it easy so sharing becomes normal instead of forced.

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

Dr Loren Cribb has been calling Gisborne home since 2014. She started as a nervous new grad from the South Island and stayed for the trauma cases, the hunting dogs, and a nursing team that's always "one step ahead."

This is what it's actually like to work at CareVets Gisborne.

The variety: "If you're only wanting to do vaccinations and dentals, it's not the clinic for you. If you like a little bit of a challenge and excitement, then you can definitely get it."

The team: "You go to ask for something and someone's already done it. Someone's already setting something up. You really just get to focus on what's happening with your patient."

The roster: Currently 1-in-4 after hours (shared with another clinic), about to become 1-in-6 when they hire their next vet.

The opportunity: "There is a lot of underutilised orthopaedic equipment in the clinic because we currently don't have anyone doing orthopaedics."

The location: "I like to be not on the way to anywhere. It's a perfect balance between semi-rural and still accessible."

I'm Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond build Culture Centres through Culture Storytelling. This episode is part of CareVets Gisborne's REAL+STORY series - showing what working there genuinely looks like through real veterinary voices.

If you're an experienced small animal vet considering your next move - especially if ortho interests you - check out the full position details.

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