Corporate or independent — does your job ad say? - ep. 282
Everyone in veterinary has an opinion about corporate versus independent ownership. Strong ones, in both directions.
But almost nobody says which one they are in the job ad.
In the seventh episode of The Elephant In The Room, Julie South looks at the question that sits in the back of every vet and nurse's mind when they're reading a job ad — and gives you one practical check that takes about thirty seconds.
Episode notes
Research VetStaff undertook with Unitec Te Pukenga in 2023 found that ownership type is roughly a fifty-fifty issue in the veterinary profession. Slightly more respondents said it mattered to them — but plenty had positive and negative experiences in both corporate and independent environments. This episode is not about which is better.
The elephant is about disclosure.
Some corporate groups advertise with their brand loud and clear — transparent, straightforward, and attracting the vets and nurses who want exactly what a larger group offers. Others make a deliberate business decision to preserve the local identity of their acquired clinics, for good reasons that serve both clients and teams.
The result is that vets and nurses who care about ownership type may not know what they're looking at from the ad alone. They find out through their own due diligence — checking whether the contact email matches the clinic's URL, Googling the group name, asking at interview.
When it matters to them and they didn't know earlier, it can feel like something was left unsaid.
The episode argues that clinics — corporate or independent — have something to gain by being upfront. The vets and nurses who want what you offer can find you faster. The ones who don't can rule themselves out before anyone wastes time finding out three interviews in.
This is the seventh episode in The Elephant In The Room — a series examining the things everyone in veterinary knows and almost no one says out loud.
About your host
Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs.
Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons.
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
Corporate or Independent — Does Your Job Ad Say?
The Elephant In The Room — Episode 7/8
Why don't vet clinic job ads say whether they're corporate or independently owned?
[00:00]
Hello — I'm Julie South, and you're listening to Veterinary Voices — culture storytelling conversations for forward-thinking vet clinics.
This is Episode 282, the seventh in the Elephant in the Room series.
Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs — helping vet clinics get applications from Their Kind of People.
[00:31]
Everyone in veterinary has an opinion about corporate versus independent ownership. Ask a room full of vets and nurses and you'll get strong views in both directions.
Some have had a great experience in corporate — career pathways, equipment investment, structured training, the stability of a larger organisation. Others have had the opposite. And then the same number of people can probably say they've had very similar experiences at independent clinics — stability, career development, equipment, structured training, the whole works.
[01:21]
But here's what almost none of those clinics do in a job ad — they hardly ever say what they are, loud and proud.
Please stay to the end, because today I'm going to give you one practical check that takes about thirty seconds and tells you something most job ads won't.
What does research say about whether vet clinic ownership type matters to vets and nurses?
[01:50]
Research VetStaff undertook with Unitec Te Pukenga in 2023 asked vets and nurses whether clinic ownership type mattered to them. The result was approximately fifty-fifty.
Slightly more said it was an important factor — but plenty had worked in both corporate and independent environments and had good and bad experiences in each. So each side kind of outweighed the other.
[02:18]
This elephant in the room isn't about which is better. The profession itself is genuinely split on that.
This elephant is about something else entirely. It's about the clinics that don't tell you which they are — and what it feels like when you find that out for yourself.
Do all corporate vet clinics disclose their ownership in job ads?
[02:40]
Some corporate groups advertise with their logos loud and proud. Their name is on the ad, their brand is clear, and a vet or nurse reading it knows exactly what they're considering. One hundred percent transparent.
[02:53]
Others make a deliberate business decision to preserve the local identity of their acquired clinics. The clinic name stays the same, the branding feels the same — and there are good reasons for that. It serves the community, it serves the team, and it maintains continuity for clients. That's a legitimate choice.
[03:11]
The result, though, is that a vet or nurse reading the ad may not know they're looking at a clinic that's part of a larger group. And if ownership type matters to them, they'll need to find that out themselves.
How can vets and nurses find out if a vet clinic is corporate or independently owned?
[03:31]
They usually do find out — through their own due diligence.
The clinic's website, for example, is often customer-facing and looks completely local. But check whether the contact email address matches the clinic's own URL. If it routes to a corporate domain instead, that tells you something about who owns the business — information the ad may not have included, for whatever reason.
[03:52]
Or the group name comes up in a Google search. Or a colleague mentions it. Or it comes up at interview.
[04:01]
However they find out — if it matters to them and they didn't know earlier, it can feel like they've been duped. Like something was left unsaid. It wasn't deliberate. It was just unsaid.
[04:20] (mid-roll)
Shameless plug with an interruption here. If you want to know what a vet or nurse finds when they search for your clinic right now, how about you book a one-hour consult with me? We'll look at it together and you'll be able to see what's showing up through completely fresh eyes.
Now let's get back to today's show.
Why do some vets and nurses prefer corporate clinics while others prefer independent ones?
[04:48]
Some vets and nurses actively want corporate. They want the structure, the scale, the career pathway, the equipment, the training, the investment that larger groups can offer.
[04:56]
Others actively want independent — to know the owner, to talk directly with the decision-maker, to work somewhere where the person who answers the phone also sets the culture.
[05:19]
The VetStaff and Unitec Te Pukenga research showed both groups exist in roughly equal numbers. And if you'd like a copy of that research, email me and I'll send it to you.
What happens when a vet clinic doesn't disclose its ownership type in a job ad?
[05:36]
When a clinic doesn't disclose its ownership type, it's leaving half its potential applicants without the information they need to decide whether to apply. And it leaves the other half to find out some other way, at some other point in the process — wondering why it wasn't just said upfront.
[06:00]
The clinics that are straightforward about who they are give vets and nurses something to go on. They're not trying to be all things to all people. They know what they are, they say it, and they attract the people for whom that's a reason to apply.
[06:17]
That's what this whole series has been about. Not better job ads. Honest ones. Open ones.
Whether you're corporate or independent — say so. The right people will find you faster. And the wrong fit will rule themselves out before anyone wastes time finding out a couple of interviews into the process.
Email me. julie@vetclinicjobs.com.
What is coming up next in The Elephant In The Room podcast series?
[06:44]
Thank you for listening this far — I really do appreciate it.
Next week in The Elephant In The Room, we're going to bring the series together. We'll wrap it up, talk about everything we've covered over the last seven weeks, and look at what it all adds up to.
[07:08]
This is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self — because you are working with Your Kind of People.
And remember — vets and nurses who are your kind of people can only find you if you tell them who you are.
Until next week.