When and Why Big Numbers Don't Matter For A Job Ad To Be Successful - ep. 256

When Big Numbers Don't Matter For Job Advert Success - ep. 256

Julie South [00:00:00]: Welcome to Veterinary Voices—culture storytelling conversations for forward-thinking vet clinics. I'm Julie South, and this is episode 256.

Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs, helping forward-thinking vet clinics tell their culture stories naturally, not just post job ads.

Over the last few weeks, we've talked about why culture stories build recognition, how they amplify through networks, and why recruitment momentum changes absolutely everything.

This week we're talking about the numbers that everyone's chasing. And why they might not be measuring what actually matters.

Stay with me to the end. I want to leave you with a question about what you're actually measuring when you choose where to advertise.

The Numbers Game

Julie South [00:01:13]: Right now, somewhere in Brisbane, a clinic needs to advertise.

Not because they want to. But because someone resigned. Or they decided to reduce their hours. Or they went on parental leave. And somehow the workload didn't magically disappear with them.

Before they post the job ad, they do what most clinics do. They compare platforms. They look at the numbers proudly displayed on the websites.

100,000 registered vets and nurses. 50,000 website hits per month. 200,000 newsletter subscribers.

On the surface, all these numbers make sense. And if you're tired and stretched like most practice managers are, bigger feels safer.

So they choose the platform with the biggest numbers.

Julie South [00:01:56]: They post the job ad. They wait.

A few weeks pass. Then a few more.

They tweak the wording. They refresh the listing. They're told their job ad's response rate is lower than average from the platform automagically.

So they upgrade. They spend more.

And somewhere along the way they realise they're not actually asking: "Are we attracting the kind of vet or nurse we want on our team?"

They're just hoping that enough people will see it.

Julie South [00:02:56]: Three months later, the ad is still live. The workload is still heavy. And the big numbers that felt reassuring at the start somehow just don't feel very relevant anymore.

Not because the platform is broken. But because reach alone doesn't create recognition.

What Those Numbers Actually Mean

Here's what you've possibly noticed about those impressive numbers.

Big databases and high traffic sound good. But they don't always translate into the right person applying.

You might have seen this yourself. A platform with massive subscriber lists. Yet your job sits there for weeks. Months and months and months.

Julie South [00:03:29]: And recruitment agencies make similar claims. "We have vets and nurses on our register who are perfect for you."

Sounds promising. Until time passes and those perfect matches never materialise. Or they're not the right fit.

Website hits sound impressive too. But what actually matters, according to Google, is user behaviour.

It's not how many people land on a page. It's what they do when they get there.

Do they scroll past your ad? Do they even notice it? Or do they stop and read and think, "Yes, that's my kind of clinic"?

Newsletter subscribers can number in the hundreds of thousands on some platforms. But what about open rates? What about people actually clicking through to your job ad?

Julie South [00:04:53]: Big numbers make platforms look credible, sure. But you've probably noticed they don't always make finding the right person any easier. Or any faster.

And the thing is, most practice managers and owners are so head down, tail up right now that they don't get time to step back and ask whether those metrics actually matter.

Platforms compete on numbers. Clinics assume bigger must be better. And the cycle continues.

What You Actually Need

But here's what might be worth considering.

You don't actually need 100,000 registered users. Clinics don't need 50,000 monthly hits. And they don't need 200,000 newsletter subscribers.

Clinics need one vet or nurse who already knows you are their kind of clinic. And this vet or nurse is your kind of people.

Just one. The right one.

Julie South [00:05:44]: Because when someone already knows your clinic—when they've been paying attention before you even advertised—the conversation is completely different.

They're not asking "What's it like there?" They already know.

They're not weighing you against a dozen other options. They've already decided.

How Recognition Actually Happens

So how does that recognition actually happen?

Vets and nurses are already out there. Watching. Noticing. Forming opinions long before they ever apply anywhere.

They're paying attention to the clinics that feel familiar to them. The ones whose stories they've already seen more than once. The ones where they can imagine themselves fitting.

Not because of a job ad title. But because of how the team actually operates day to day.

Julie South [00:06:54]: When they've been reading about how your team works on a day-to-day basis. Hearing real veterinary stories from real veterinary people. Seeing what support really does look like. Understanding what matters to you.

They're building a picture over time. Not from claims in a job ad. From evidence that they've been following.

So when you do advertise, they already recognise you immediately.

And that's got nothing to do with database size. That's recognition. And that's momentum.

What Recognition Actually Looks Like

Julie South [00:07:45]: And here's the thing about recognition. You can't measure it in the traditional way. Not in hits. Not in subscribers. And not in database size.

But you can see it in clinic staff who stay longer because they knew what they were getting into. Teams that work well together because new hires already understood how things work.

Recognition doesn't show up in vanity metrics. It shows up in your clinic actually working better together.

Some clinics solve this by building a culture centre. A permanent home for their culture stories. Built for vets and nurses. For careers. Not buried in client noise or dependent on algorithms.

So when they do advertise, applicants don't arrive cold. They arrive with recognition.

What's Happening Right Now

Julie South [00:08:56]: Right now, around the world, a few things are happening.

One clinic posted a job ad a while back. They're too busy covering the gap to remember the impressive numbers that convinced them right at the beginning.

In the meantime, some very sophisticated job boards are telling them that their response rate is lower than average and they need to reach more people. Spend more money. Go bigger. Go louder.

The clinic should upgrade their listing. Boost their post. Pay for premium placement. More money.

But the fundamental question doesn't change. Are the right people even noticing?

Another clinic isn't chasing those big numbers. They started building out their culture story centre about this time last year. They became recognised. Creating momentum.

Julie South [00:09:46]: When they advertise, they're not hoping a massive database will somehow deliver the right person.

They're inviting vets and nurses who've already been following their stories. Who already know this is their kind of clinic.

And when that one person sees the ad, they know: "Yes, this is my kind of clinic."

That's not about speed. That's about attraction.

The Question

I promised you a question. Here it is.

Instead of asking "Which platform has the biggest database?" or even "Is this helping the right person find us?" ask yourself this:

Are we actually attracting the kind of vet or nurse we want on our team?

Because those are not the same thing.

Julie South [00:10:56]: When recruitment relies on someone finding you, the work is outsourced. To platforms. To algorithms. To databases. To timing. To luck.

You're waiting to be discovered.

Whereas attraction works differently.

By the time vets and nurses see a job ad from a clinic they've been following, watching, noticing, they're not asking "What's it like there?"

Because they already know.

In that moment, that quiet, internal "Yes, this is my kind of clinic" doesn't happen because a job ad reached a lot of people.

It happens because the clinic became a magnet over time.

That's a shift from being listed to being recognised. From hoping the right person finds you to deliberately attracting them.

Big numbers can still look impressive on paper. But attraction doesn't show up in database size.

It shows up when the right person sees your ad. And that right person doesn't need convincing.

Next Week

Next week in episode 257, we'll be talking about what happens when clinics stop waiting for the perfect system and start building the one that works for them.

This is Julie South, signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self.

Because when you shift from hoping the right person finds you to deliberately attracting them through your culture story centre, recruitment stops feeling like a lottery. And it stops becoming really hard work.

Because you become the clinic the right person is already looking for.