Why Claiming "Great Culture" in Job Ads Doesn't Work Any More (and what to do instead) - ep.253

Vet Clinic Culture That Can Be Easily Recognised - ep. 253

[00:00:04] Welcome to Veterinary Voices—culture storytelling conversations for forward-thinking vet clinics. I'm Julie South, and this is episode 253.

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

Last week we talked about location advantages. Why vets and nurses considering relocation default to what they already know when real location stories just don't exist.

This week? Your culture made visible. Easily seen online. And why claiming you have a great team and a supportive environment in job ads just doesn't make vets and nurses believe you anymore.

Stay with me to the end. I want to leave you with a question about the gap between the culture you claim and the culture vets and nurses can actually see.

The Scrolling Problem

[00:01:39] Right now, somewhere in Sydney, a vet is scrolling job ads looking for a better workplace culture.

They see a position that lists: great team, supportive environment, collaborative approach, work-life balance.

Sounds fine.

They keep scrolling.

Not because they think you're lying. But because they've read those exact same words in 15 other job ads this week.

They've worked at three clinics that promised "supportive environment" where nobody spoke to each other during lunch breaks.

They've learned that what clinics claim and what clinics are can be two very different things.

So they scroll past your ad. Not because your culture isn't actually great. But because the words have lost their meaning through overuse and under-delivery.

The Quiet Decision

[00:02:47] Six weeks later, they accept a position at a clinic they've been quietly following for months.

Not because that clinic's job ad was better written. But because they'd already seen what that team was actually like.

A vet once spent three months deciding between two clinics. Same salary. Same city.

One had been sharing team stories for months. How they actually handle emergencies. What Friday afternoons look like. Life generally on the floor.

The other had a job ad that said "great team."

The vet chose the one where they could actually picture working.

And your clinic wonders why good vets never seem to apply.

When the Real Decision Happens

[00:03:34] Most clinics think the problem is their job ad wording.

Actually, the decision didn't happen when the vet reads your job ad. It happened months earlier when they were trying to figure out what working at different clinics was actually like.

And yours was silent.

They couldn't see. Couldn't hear. Didn't know.

Your clinic was invisible beyond generic claims.

Post and Pray Recruiting

Most clinics are still using post-and-pray recruiting.

They list "great team" in the job ad. Then they pray people believe it. They wait for applications that never come.

When vets and nurses are looking for better culture, they're not just reading job ads. They're doing their own due diligence. Trying to answer real questions.

Questions like:

• Do people actually help each other, or is everyone siloed?
• What happens when someone makes a mistake?
• How does the team handle a crazy Friday afternoon?
• What's the vibe really like at lunch?
• Do people genuinely like working together, or are they just professionally polite?

[00:05:02] Culture stories answer these questions. Not through claims. Through real moments.

How the team handled Friday afternoon's chaos. What lunch breaks actually look like. Real veterinary voices telling real veterinary stories that show culture, not claim it.

Your job ad says "supportive environment" and "great team."

So does everyone else's.

Those words answer nothing.

Why the Words Stopped Working

[00:05:51] Vets and nurses have learnt to be sceptical. They've seen too many ads claiming culture that didn't actually exist.

When you try to compete on culture through job ad claims, you're using words that have lost their power through overuse.

You're not being dishonest. The system just changed underneath you.

The words lost their meaning in three ways. It happened gradually.

First: Everyone uses the same vanilla language.

You've probably seen it yourself. Great team. Supportive environment. Collaborative culture.

When every clinic is saying the exact same thing, the words become invisible. Job ad wallpaper that vets and nurses scroll past without reading.

[00:06:42] Second: Vets and nurses have been burnt.

You've probably heard it at your clinic as well.

They've worked at clinics that promised work-life balance where consults ran 90 minutes over most days. Sometimes every day.

They've been promised "supportive environment" where asking for help was seen as weakness.

The disconnect between claimed culture and lived culture taught them not to believe words in job ads.

[00:07:37] Third: They've learned to look elsewhere for truth.

They check social media. They ask around their networks. They watch what teams actually share when they're not recruiting.

Because real culture shows up in the unguarded moments. Not in the polished claims.

What's Working Now

When you claim culture in a job ad, vets and nurses don't automatically believe you anymore.

You're not doing anything wrong. The system changed.

Here's what works differently now:

When vets and nurses see your culture before you advertise. When they've already watched how your team handles a chaotic morning. When they've seen what happens when someone's running late. When they understand how your team actually communicates on a normal Tuesday.

They're not reading your job ad looking for proof.

They already know. They've already decided you're their kind of people.

The job ad just confirms you have a vacancy.

That's not competing on culture claims. That's attracting people who've already seen—over months—that your culture is real.

Making Culture Visible

[00:09:02] When culture stories are seen regularly—not just when you're recruiting, when you've got a gap, when you're advertising—culture stops being something you claim.

It becomes something people can verify.

These aren't culture benefits to list in a job ad. They're culture stories.

Real veterinary voices telling real veterinary stories. Showing what working at your place actually looks like.

But their stories only work when they exist somewhere permanent. Somewhere permanently discoverable. Not quickly buried on social media.

[00:09:50] Somewhere where vets and nurses can find them months before you need to post a job ad. Somewhere that builds evidence over time. Not one post that disappears in a feed.

That's the infrastructure culture stories need to work.

The Infrastructure

VetClinicJobs gives culture stories a permanent, discoverable home.

Your team's real stories. Your actual culture. Visible. Findable. Searchable over time.

So when vets and nurses search, they find you. Not just a job ad. Months of evidence about what working at your place is really like.

[00:10:43] Without it, you're back to job ad claims that no one believes.

What's Happening Right Now

Right now, as you're listening, two things are happening.

One clinic is still using post-and-pray recruiting. They're adding "great team" and "supportive environment" to their job ad, hoping this version will work.

It won't.

Not because those things aren't true. But because claiming culture through job ads keeps you invisible among identical claims. Same old, same old. Everyone's vanilla.

[00:11:35] Another clinic has been making their culture visible for months. Telling culture stories. Not through job ad claims. Through real moments.

How the team handled yesterday's emergency. How everyone actually communicates on manic Friday afternoons.

They've built this while fully staffed. Discoverable. Publicly findable.

So when they do advertise a vacancy, vets and nurses already know what working there actually looks like.

The Question

I promised you a question.

Instead of asking "How can I write better culture claims in my job ads?" ask yourself this:

If I were a vet or nurse quietly watching our clinic from the outside for the last three months, what evidence would I actually see of the culture we're trying to describe?

Because vets and nurses don't choose clinics based on culture claims.

They choose based on culture they can verify.

And when they can verify it before you advertise, they're not comparing claims anymore.

They're choosing their kind of people at their kind of clinic.

Next Week

[00:12:51] In episode 254, we'll talk about network expansion. How culture storytelling amplifies connections you already have.

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

Because when you work at a clinic where the culture is real and visible—not just claimed—you show up differently.

And when vets and nurses can see that culture before you advertise, when they already know you're their kind of people at their kind of clinic, you're not recruiting anymore.

You're welcoming people who've already decided they belong.