Vet Clinic Employer of Choice: VetsOne - Hawke's Bay NZ - Dr Anna - Veterinarian New Grad - ep. 1016

Julie South [00:00:04]: Welcome to Veterinary Voices Employer brand conversations that help veterinary clinics hire great people. I'm Julie South and this is episode 1016. Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs. Build your employer brand. Do your own recruitment. Better.

Dr Anna knew nothing about New Zealand before she left Dublin in Ireland, just thinking the weather would be bad. A year later, she's looking into residency, not because she came here planning to stay, but because she doesn't want to leave.

This is the final episode in our VetsOne Employer of Choice series. Today you'll hear what the first year as a new graduate actually looks like from someone who arrived knowing nobody and nothing about the place she'd be living.

VetsOne in Hastings is currently looking for their next small animal veterinarian, someone with leadership potential. If that's you, I'll put the direct link in the show notes for you. Now let's meet Dr Anna.

Dr Anna [00:01:21]: Hi, my name's Anna. I'm 27 and I'm a new grad from Dublin, Ireland. I started working at VetsOne September 2024. So I've just been here a year now and yeah, a year in New Zealand.

Julie South [00:01:33]: What did you know about New Zealand before you left Dublin?

Dr Anna [00:01:40]: Absolutely nothing. I had an idea in my head that the weather here was just as bad as Dublin. So initially I didn't really fancy coming. And then I was speaking to someone who told me about the weather in Hawke's Bay and how it was unreal and sure enough, she was right and it was a cracker of a summer last year.

So, yeah, I knew very little, to be honest. I just knew it was kind of similar to Ireland in terms of landscape. But since coming here, I have felt more at home in New Zealand than I have in the UK.

Julie South [00:02:11]: Are you actually from Dublin, born and bred, or you just went to the university there?

Dr Anna [00:02:16]: I'm from Dublin.

Julie South [00:02:17]: Let's look at big city life in Dublin where public transport is great, to coming to the wonderful sunny Hawke's Bay where you actually need a vehicle to get around. Did you know that before you came? And what kind of a culture shock was that for you?

Dr Anna [00:02:43]: Sharon had told me that I would need a car to be on call, but they didn't really emphasise that I would need it for day to day life as well. So when I got here, I did attempt to get the bus one of the days and I quickly realised that, you know, you can only get so far on a bike and on a bus and you need to get a car, which was fairly easy. To be fair, because there's always people coming and going here, always something on Trade Me or, you know, Facebook Marketplace for really reasonable prices.

Definitely a huge culture shock. You know, there's no late night transport, taxis are expensive, buses are rare and wonderful. But I suppose, you know, it's not a major city. If you go to Wellington or all the rest, it's going to be a lot better. But I actually adapted quite well, I think, to it.

Julie South [00:03:33]: I will say it will be marginally better in bigger cities in New Zealand, maybe not.

Dr Anna [00:03:38]: Okay, okay.

Julie South [00:03:40]: I could say that it would be wonderfully better in Wellington because Wellington has worked on its public transport system very well. Auckland is still working on it, but pretty much anywhere else in New Zealand, when I'm talking with overseas vets and nurses, is you have to get a car straight up because we just don't have those services.

I realise that this is your first job, but how have you found practising medicine in New Zealand compared to what you learnt at university?

Dr Anna [00:04:20]: I feel from my experience in the clinics at home in Dublin and from what I've heard of the clinics here, and from my own experience, it does tend to be a slower pace of life, which is not a bad thing because, you know, it's more sustainable.

You know, people get their lunch breaks here, they get a tea break, sometimes they get two tea breaks, which, you know, is really good for quality of life. And, you know, you get a lot of time for appointments, personal appointments, if you need, it's never an issue.

They are big on mental health and if you need help, you should ask for it. And it's not something that you should keep to yourself. Sometimes I do struggle with that because I'm so wired to being busy all the time. And so that is honestly something I found quite difficult at the start, having that kind of structure of, don't do too much or here's your break and here's your lunch.

So that is something to get used to. But, you know, there are always going to be days when it's quieter and when it's busier. So it does come in waves.

Julie South [00:05:24]: Just for the record, not every clinic in New Zealand unfortunately looks after its staff the way VetsOne does. How many minute consults are you on?

Dr Anna [00:05:37]: 15 or 20 here, standard is 20 minutes for everything. And then anything that's a bit more complex, we do extended, which is 30 minutes. And then typically euthanasias, we give 40, which I really like about here because I think there's nothing worse.

You know, I still remember the vet who I was lucky enough to have, who put my dog to sleep because, you know, he gave us, oh, probably an hour and a half, you know, and we needed that. And if it had been a 30 minute, 20 minute consult, I would have remembered that for all the wrong reasons.

So that's something I really, really like about here is they are really big on the last goodbye. It's really nice. And you see it here, people are so grateful, you know, the cards, the gifts that they bring in. It shows, it really does. Yeah.

Julie South [00:06:25]: 20 minute and 40 minute consults, is that triaged? As soon as somebody makes the appointment on the phone so you as the vet, you go in knowing that you're going to be into a 40 minute or a 20 minute consult. You don't end up running over a 20 into a 40.

Dr Anna [00:06:50]: Well, sometimes that will happen anyways, but mostly if someone rings up and if it's not routine. So if it's not a vaccine or if it's not something like maybe they need to be wormed or maybe they have a cat bite abscess, they can all be done in 20 minutes.

If it's anything skin related or a lame dog or an ear problem, they're all put in for the extended time so they are already triaged. Sometimes it will obviously go over. You'll have clients who say, oh, it's just a vaccine. And you get in and they say, oh, now that we're here, actually one of the legs is falling off. So there will always be exceptions, but it's pretty good most of the time.

Julie South [00:07:26]: You came into VetsOne as a really fresh, brand new graduate. Tell me how that has been as a new grad. What sort of induction process did VetsOne have in place for you?

Dr Anna [00:07:43]: The first day I had with Sharon and she went through all the employee handbook, you know, some protocols, just the general bog standard things that I had to know. That was a whole day of induction. They also had a bit of a morning tea for me as well when I got here and drinks in the afternoon, really, really welcoming.

And then I started, I think I did two weeks of shadowing, maybe a week and a half of shadowing. And then I was put into consults and it was just vaccines and then I was put into surgery, but with someone, you know, helping me. And yeah, it was probably like that for the first maybe seven weeks. So that was probably seven weeks, six, seven weeks.

And then it was more like I still got help with the spays when they came in, but then I started being fine for cat spays, cat neuters. I maybe only needed help sometimes with a dog neuter or a spay and now I'm fine for all of them. Sometimes there will be still a tricky one which I'll have to call someone for. But in general, yeah, there was always someone to ask if I needed someone.

Obviously some days it was a little bit more difficult if people were already stretched thin. But I do think those days are also the days where you probably grow more as a vet. You know, you have to just make a choice, make a decision. Obviously nothing that is going to be unfair to the animal, but you have to be thrown in the deep end a bit to just to learn, I guess you can't be taken by the hand forever.

Julie South [00:09:13]: Can you tell me, could you take me through, like a usual, what might look like a usual day or a usual week?

Dr Anna [00:09:22]: Typical I'll. So we start at 8 o'clock in the morning. So depending on kind of what roster you're on, you can kind of either if you're in surgery or if you're in consults, you'll be in at 8 o'clock. So if you're on consults, you have a huddle. So we get together with the nurses, the vets, and we just kind of all start at 8 o'clock. We go through, okay, who's got a chronic ear today or who's got a seizure dog or who's got a lame dog?

And we just kind of go to the, all the cases because they all booked in. And we do an all, you know, an after hours. So we just go through all the after hours cases and who's got them. And if there's a handover or anything. Then we go, okay, here's the nurses for the day. Who's going to be on which vet?

And we kind of run through all the like, if anyone has any personal appointments, if anyone needs to leave early or if anyone's coming in a bit later, we just kind of all decide who's going to be covering for each other. And then we kind of start the consults at half eight. So it's really nice that we get that half an hour in the morning to just kind of have a chat with each other, get a cup of tea and, you know, that's. And we have another one at 2:45 in the afternoon as well, which is before our evening consults.

So it's the same kind of thing. It's maybe more just kind of a handover again or if there's anything coming in the afternoon or if there's any wards or. Yeah, any updates from the morning. So there's usually just a cup of tea and biscuits and just a bit of a chat. So really nice.

Julie South [00:10:41]: On average, when are you getting home?

Dr Anna [00:10:45]: If I'm on the early, I could be home at like 4 o'clock, which is really nice. If I'm on the late, I'm finishing at 5:30, latest six. If I'm on the surgery, I typically finish at six or whatever. And then if I'm on a Saturday, it would be between, maybe between half twelve, one, something like that. Sometimes even earlier.

Julie South [00:11:04]: Are there any downsides to being a vet that you've experienced so far?

Dr Anna [00:11:11]: I think maybe for me the biggest one is maybe you're seeing really sick patients. So I'm sure that's always something. Just the worry, the anxiety. Like I have one of my patients at the moment in hospital who, you know, is not looking great. And you go home and you think of them. And obviously you do. That's not, that's nothing to do with the clinic. That's just kind of you as a person you're going to think about the patients.

That's probably the most. That's the biggest thing I would say is, you know, you have euthanasias that are very, very sad. You have patients that are sick and you're not sure if they're going to make it and they're quite young. That's the kind of thing. And that's just the nature of being a vet, you know. Yeah, so that's probably. That's the hardest part.

Julie South [00:11:51]: What's the hardest thing you think for you about working in New Zealand and in Hastings specifically?

Dr Anna [00:12:02]: I have no complaints about the Hawke's Bay. I do think the reason I'm saying that is just because I was lucky that I had my friend with me. I think if you were in the winter months, if you don't know people, it can be quite difficult. You know, I don't. I won't say it was easy because there were days I was quite lonely, but I'd already had known someone over here, a friend of mine from university who I met in Dublin and she came out last year.

So I. Once she told me she was moving, I thought, right, well, maybe I should look at New Zealand as well then. Because at least I had a friend. Because I think the thought of going somewhere where I didn't know anyone was much scarier. Not to say I wouldn't have done it and I wouldn't have met people. I have met other people, to be fair, but it does take, it is quite tricky.

There's. You'll get your kind of people who are very social butterflies, but even then, like, it can be difficult to kind of plant yourself. If you are someone who is willing to kind of take yourself to the gym or like kind of do things and then maybe even.

Julie South [00:13:00]: We can cut that if you want and use up the 14 seconds. Give yourself some thinking room because I want, want an honest answer from you of what the hardest thing about, is about working in New Zealand, not just in Hastings?

Dr Anna [00:13:19]: The hardest thing about working in New Zealand is that so, you know, we're on the other side of the world and, you know, the time difference and I'm not at home, which. And sometimes that can be very hard because it's hard to speak to people. You know, you've got to factor in time difference. If you can. If it's easier to WhatsApp or if it's easier to call. Even FaceTime sometimes doesn't work half the time. Just that kind of thing. And then, you know, sometimes, you know, you'll miss something from home or you know, someone's gotten engaged or someone had a baby and you're not there.

You know, that's a hard thing. That's. It's just not at home. Homesickness, to be honest, I've been lucky because I've come home twice now. My parents came out once as well, so I haven't felt it as much, but that's still the biggest thing is just homesickness. And even just like, you know, I would love to just get a chipper from home, you know, a late night bag of chips. We don't have that here. Small things like that.

Julie South [00:14:06]: Can you give me the best thing about New Zealand?

Dr Anna [00:14:12]: The weather, for sure. The weather. And probably just, you know, how friendly people are. You know, even if you're going to the supermarket or, you know, people will stop and chat to you. Like, it's a lot smaller place. Like, if you go to the shop, you know, you might spend 10 minutes chatting to someone, you don't really know. You kind of know them.

So I like that. And, you know, a lot less kind of. Everyone's a bit slower paced here as well. You know, compared to home, everyone's always rushing. It's always busy. It's always loud. So here I enjoy it. I really enjoy the weather and I enjoy just how friendly people are and how slow paced it is.

Julie South [00:14:50]: I've looked at your LinkedIn and I noticed that you have a very impressive track and field background.

Dr Anna [00:14:58]: Oh, thank you.

Julie South [00:14:59]: Have you been able to carry any of that on here?

Dr Anna [00:15:02]: I have, actually. So I probably didn't expect to because I had. I'd already decided before I came that I wanted to retire after I finished my degree. So I'd done 17 years of running, like national level, international level. I'd done everything I wanted to do, so I was happy that. That's. That's fine. And then I came out here. I joined the gym, and a few people were like, oh, do you not run anymore? And I was like, yeah, actually, no, I was like.

And I saw the Hawke's Bay marathon, and I was like, oh, I'll just sign up for that. And then I kind of entered the night 'n Day Park Run as well. That was fun. And I do parkrun in Hastings now every week. So I have been running a little bit. I'm not doing the insane kind of training. It's more so just, like, social running to meet people. But, yeah, definitely.

Julie South [00:15:43]: That's a lifestyle thing.

Dr Anna [00:15:45]: Yeah. Yes.

Julie South [00:15:47]: If I was a small animal vet looking at applying for this job at VetsOne, what questions do you think I should ask?

Dr Anna [00:16:00]: I'd ask about the training, for sure. I think that's a big one. I'd probably ask what the after hours is like. I'd definitely ask about what the culture is. And I think probably pay as well. I think pay is a big one. Because I would imagine if you're coming from, say, Ireland or the UK and you don't have your residency and you kind of see yourself maybe staying here for a while, you probably would want to know, am I going to be paid the same as someone who's here?

And because I was lucky enough that I was paid the same as someone who is a resident vet, I didn't. Which is very, very nice. If, you know, you're coming here to a country where everything is expensive. Everything is very expensive, especially compared to Ireland. So I think pay is a big thing just in general, you know, so you can. You have some kind of idea of what you're going to earn, you know, after tax or whatever. I think those would be big questions.

Julie South [00:16:50]: What do you wish I'd asked you?

Dr Anna [00:16:54]: I would say maybe kind of what I dislike about VetsOne. I think that's a good one.

Julie South [00:17:01]: What do you dislike about VetsOne?

Dr Anna [00:17:03]: Not a lot. I would say one of the only, one of the hardest things I found was if you had an issue with maybe, you know, one of your team members or one of your colleagues or you know, that maybe you didn't feel comfortable saying it to them or. That's, that's always a tricky thing. And I think sometimes it's kind of like, well, I don't. It's not really that big of a deal. I'll kind of just let it go. So that's, that's something I've, I do have to say on the clinic, the Lincoln Institute thing that we do is really good for that because you're all taught the same kind of values and the same kind of things, and it's really like difficult conversations and all the rest. So it teaches you to have those.

But it's still like, even if you're taught, it's still kind of, is it worth having that conversation or is it not? And then like I've said to my manager before like, oh, you know, this happened or, you know, would you not be happy with that? And it's, oh, you should probably just talk to them. But if I wanted to talk to them, I wouldn't be coming to you. So it's a bit of a double edged sword. But at the same token it's good because you kind of have to learn how to kind of talk through things with team members. And I've.

I've been lucky that I haven't had much of those issues, to be fair. But, you know, there will always be situations where, you know, maybe someone said something to you and you don't like it or, you know, it's those sort of scenarios, but I think it's pretty good because management are very receptive to things. I think management is very receptive as well. Like, they're very good on, like, hearing things and. I think if it is something that is quite serious, they are quick to kind of act. So I wouldn't say there's. It's not that there's anything I massively dislike, but maybe those situations. I felt maybe difficult, but that's in every workplace. You know, you're always going to get that.

Julie South [00:18:45]: What would you say to a new graduate? Cause I know you're looking for an experienced vet, a new graduate who's been. Just graduated. You've been there, experienced it. What would you say to somebody?

Dr Anna [00:19:01]: Come out here and give it. Just give it a go. You won't know until you try. You probably won't get this chance again unless you just take it. And the worst thing that can happen is you hate it and you go home. You'll actually be no different to anyone who maybe stays at home and then goes over. The only thing is you'll have a bit more money in the bank because you'll have probably saved a bit more because you're paid a bit more. You haven't spent as much at home. Like, there's no reason not to come out.

Literally, the worst thing is you don't like it and you go home. And the best thing is you do like it and you stay. So for me, I'm really glad I came out. I feel like I've grown up a lot in the last year, and that's in a lot of aspects. You know, I'm a bit more confident now as a vet. I've really kind of come into my own. You know, I've learned how to kind of drive on the opposite side of the road and get around myself. And, you know, I've kind of learned how to live a bit more independently without, you know, my parents or my friends or my family being around.

And I've kind of learned how to just kind of be by myself. I've made new friends and. Yeah, just give it a chance. Like, the worst thing. Worst thing that can happen is you don't like it and you go home. But most of the time, I don't think that would. You probably would like it a lot more than you think you would. So it'd be a shame if you don't give it a shot.

Julie South [00:20:08]: What don't you like about New Zealand?

Dr Anna [00:20:13]: I will say the one thing I have noticed is that New Zealanders are very much on the, you know, quite nice people. Quite like Irish people don't want to have conflict. And sometimes you might find that you have a client that you know has issues, but they won't really voice them. They'll say, oh, it's, you know, it's okay. But they'll actually be quite annoyed or upset and it may come out afterwards because they'll call someone and say, I wasn't happy with this or I wasn't happy with that. And you say, well, you said it was fine.

So there's a little bit. I know that's in a lot of countries, but I think I've seen it here more than anywhere else.

Julie South [00:20:46]: Are you used to people saying it more how it is?

Dr Anna [00:20:50]: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Julie South [00:20:52]: Yeah. We don't like to offend people.

Dr Anna [00:20:55]: Yeah, yeah.

Julie South [00:20:55]: Or say things as direct.

Dr Anna [00:20:58]: But yeah, everything else, there's nothing else I dislike about New Zealand. I dislike sometimes that, you know, in Dublin during summer it might be bright until literally 10pm at night, but that's where we are in the globe. So here it gets dark maybe at half eight, nine. That's it. But that's not much of a complaint.

I think it's a really beautiful country, really underrated. I don't think if anyone, you know, was moving from Ireland or whatever, they probably don't know how great it is because everyone just goes to Oz. It's definitely got so much going for it.

And I actually think it's really sad that a lot of the young people here aren't staying. I understand, economically and things, that's why they're not. Which is just such a shame because it's such a cool place.

Julie South [00:21:42]: I think New Zealand. I'm actually originally from London and you never hear it from my accent. I know. I think New Zealand is the best place on earth to live. And I am so grateful that I came out. Did my primary schooling in London and my secondary in New Zealand and then went back and did my OE and worked back in the UK, but so, so grateful that I am able to call New Zealand home.

Dr Anna [00:22:10]: When I started here, I thought, oh, well, I love it now, but it will die out within a few months. It always does, you know, that kind of feeling. And then six months came and I said, I still really like it. And now I'm here a year and now I'm like, oh, no, I don't want to go home.

And if anything, I want to get my residency set up and things because I just. Yeah, you're dead right. It's such a cool place and I'm delighted I came here.

Julie South [00:22:35]: Let's talk about the process, immigration. New Zealand law says that only licensed immigration consultants can talk about visas and things like that. What was your experience with Immigration New Zealand and the support that VetsOne gave to you or didn't to get your working visa here?

Dr Anna [00:22:58]: So it was kind of between. I got help from my recruiter and VetsOne. So they paid for the business aspect or the working aspect of my visa and I paid for the rest, which, to be honest, as far as I'm aware, I think the onus is on you, whoever is taking the job, I think you will have the brunt of that visa to pay, which is fair enough.

And in terms of support, it was a little tricky. I did have to ring New Zealand Immigration because of the time difference. When I had questions, it was midnight here. So I did have to ring immigration a few times. They pointed me in the right direction.

There was a lot of, you know, onus on me to go to my police station, to go to my bank to do all this. And then in terms of the visa application, it was quite straightforward on the website. The issue was, you know, it said it could take up to three months for it to be processed. It took a week.

But at the time I told Sharon this and, you know, she got back to me straight away and said, what can we do to expedite this? So they were really willing to help whenever they could, which was great. So, yeah, really straightforward process. I know people who have applied for visas in Oz, it's taken them an awful lot longer. For vets, it's very straightforward in New Zealand.

I'm not sure if you were, you know, an accountant, would it be as easy for New Zealand. But I know as a vet with the accredited workers visa, they get you in straight away because they're supposed to need you.

Julie South [00:24:22]: I'm pleased that your experience was good because sometimes I have worked with vets and it's taken four months for a visa to go through the system. Even though it in theory is just a rubber stamp job. Yeah, four months. I'm pleased to hear that in your case, Immigration New Zealand delivered. That's good.

You've talked about some of the things that you wish you knew before you came out. What other things would you like to have known? Would you have found helpful?

Dr Anna [00:24:53]: I would have loved to have known maybe about the kind of transient nature of the bay and maybe that there's not a huge amount of young people here. But I think that's kind of like anywhere. No one is going to be able to tell you that. You take that chance yourself if you're not going to a major city.

That's kind of it, to be honest. Everyone had told me about the cost of living, the weather, the maybe dangerous parts of Hastings and Napier and all the rest. And it's not much of a nightlife place. So I did know all of that before I moved here.

I knew winter was going to be a little bit more challenging and it was because it definitely was a bit quieter, you know, the weather and all the rest. But I think, you know, if you are someone who is willing to go out no matter if it's raining or if it's dark or if it's a bit cold, you'll be fine over winter. You have to be fine with doing that because winter anywhere is going to kill you if you're not willing to just go out in it. Same thing here.

And there are always people. You just have to. There's people everywhere. You just have to really try and meet them. And if I can do it, anyone else coming over can do it as well.

Julie South [00:25:58]: Because they're looking for somebody with experience 8 to 10 years ish. I would imagine that somebody with that level of experience is probably not necessarily but likely to have got a family, they're settled, they're in a relationship, and this will be the career choice for them to bring up a family, I would imagine. I mean, it could be nothing like that at all, I think.

Dr Anna [00:26:25]: Yeah. That's the one thing I really noticed here, which is why I said about the transientness. You know, I had already known this, that Hawke's Bay is a real family place. People come back from Oz with their partners and this is where they come to raise a family. So I knew already from the get go that this is a good place to raise a family.

So if that is someone who's wondering where should I go, 100%. You know, you bring your kids fishing, bring them hiking to the beach, there's lots of schools, not a lot of traffic. Traffic's a big thing as well here. That's something new for me. I'm able to bike to work and go home at lunchtime and I could never do that in Dublin.

And even if I'm driving, you know, people complain about the drive to Napier. It's 20 minutes, you don't realise how good you have it. Yeah, definitely a great place to raise a family. That's a real thing for me. I love being able to just cycle into work if you're looking for a family.

The good thing about VetsOne in my opinion is that it's not one of these clinics that's open 8 to 9. You know, it's open 8 to 5:30. So if you do have a family, the latest you're gonna be out here is six, you know, if you're on a late or whatever. You know, weekends we're open till 1.

There are people who work here that do 4 days, they do a half day on a Thursday, blah, blah, blah. For whatever reason, their parents, they have kids. So they're probably better to speak about this than me. But they obviously got that time off, which is a good reflection on the business because they cared enough to give that to them.

Julie South [00:27:53]: Dr Anna arrived knowing nothing about New Zealand except thinking the weather would be bad. A year later: "I don't want to go home."

That's what you've been hearing throughout this VetsOne series. Not just from Anna, but from Dana who relocated 1300 kilometres. From Brooke and Abi who found support that's real, not just written in job ads. From directors who back ideas instead of blocking them.

Eight different people. Same pattern: this is a place people choose—and choose to stay.

A quick note about what you've been hearing in this series: this depth of employer brand storytelling—multiple team members, genuine stories, cultural specifics beyond just job requirements—this is what makes recruitment really work. When clinics struggle to get suitable applicants despite advertising for months, it's because they're posting job adverts without showing who they really are. Veterinary professionals can't choose you if they can't see whether they'd actually fit.

VetsOne isn't just posting a job ad hoping the right person sees it. They're showing veterinary professionals what working there genuinely looks like through real voices sharing real stories. That's employer brand marketing in action.

If you're responsible for recruitment at your clinic and thinking, yes, we have stories like that, but don't know how to capture them, email me directly: julie@vetclinicjobs.com.

And if you're a veterinary professional considering your next move, full position details are at vetclinicjobs.com/vetsone.

Until next time, this is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self. Because sometimes the place you knew nothing about becomes the place you can't imagine leaving.