Why Posting Your Job Ad Everywhere Doesn't Work - ep. 258

Episode 258: Why Posting Your Job Ad Everywhere Doesn't Work

Host: Julie South [00:00:04]:

Welcome to Veterinary Voices—culture storytelling conversations for forward-thinking vet clinics. I'm Julie South and this is Episode 258.

Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs—helping forward-thinking vet clinics build recognition before they need to recruit.

Last week we talked about the attraction gap. That's the space between knowing you should attract people and actually being able to attract them.

This week we're starting a new series about why the old system keeps failing. We're going to be walking through predictable attempts that clinics make to solve their recruitment problems and why each one fails.

Host: Julie South [00:01:02]:

This week we're talking about the first thing that most clinics try, which is posting everywhere or posting more than they are.

So stay with me to the end because I want to leave you with a question about how many platforms you're paying for that are all delivering the same result.

Right now, as I'm recording this—because I crunched the numbers earlier—there are currently 3,062 vet and vet nurse job advertisements live across Australasia. So all the states in Australia and New Zealand across 49 different platforms.

That's not 3,062 different clinics. Some clinics are posting the same role, but multiple times. Seek this month, perhaps their association job board the next month, maybe another association board the month after that.

Host: Julie South [00:02:07]:

They're casting a wide net across different platforms and different time frames and they're hoping that something sticks, that something catches.

Since July 2025, that number hasn't dropped below 2,698. 2,698 advertisements.

So when you think, maybe I'll try a different platform this time, you're doing exactly what hundreds of other clinics are doing and have done. You're not trying anything new. You're rotating through, unfortunately, the same broken system just in a different order.

Host: Julie South [00:02:40]:

And here's what that creates. Noise.

Over 3,000 job advertisements worth of noise, most saying the same things, making the same claims, all hoping that something sticks, all hoping that someone notices them.

Multiple platforms doesn't solve the recognition problem. It just means that you're unknown in more places.

Now, here's what happens when someone resigns and you need to advertise. You compare platforms. You read the numbers. This one has, say, 50,000 registered users. That one has 200,000 newsletter subscribers.

Host: Julie South [00:03:26]:

This one promises that your ad will be seen by the hundreds of thousands of people who click on their website every month or every year or every whatever.

Bigger feels safer, more reach feels like more chance. So you choose one or two or maybe three. Maybe you rotate them. You post the ad and you wait.

A few weeks pass and nothing. Maybe one or two applications from people who definitely aren't the right fit.

Host: Julie South [00:04:09]:

So you think, maybe you chose the wrong platform. Maybe you need to be on one with a bigger database. Maybe you need to post on the association board as well. Maybe you need to cover more ground.

All those thoughts are circling through your mind and while you're doing that, your team is asking you how everything's going, how's the job ad going?

So you add another platform, then another. Then you're paying for Seek and the association board, and maybe another one still, and perhaps another one that somebody recommended that you'd never even heard of.

You're probably spending 500, 800, maybe a thousand dollars a month across multiple platforms and you're still waiting.

Host: Julie South [00:05:22]:

All those platforms are reaching the same pool of people—vets and nurses who are actively looking, who are checking job boards, who are scrolling through listings.

And when they scroll, what they're doing is pattern matching. They've seen "great team culture" claimed hundreds of times before. Supportive environment, competitive salary, work-life balance, professional development opportunities.

They've read these exact same phrases in ad after ad after ad. So their brain does something automatic. It recognises the pattern, it filters out the noise.

Unknown clinic making familiar claims equals I'll keep scrolling.

Host: Julie South [00:06:09]:

And this isn't something that they're consciously thinking of. It's automatic. Your ad might appear on three different platforms, but to someone who doesn't know you, it's still just another unknown clinic using the same language that everyone else is using.

The platforms will tell you that your ad was seen by thousands of people. They'll send you analytics. Numbers, impressions, views, clicks, hits.

But here's what they can't tell you. Those numbers don't measure recognition, they measure exposure. And exposure without recognition is just noise.

Host: Julie South [00:06:49]:

Think about your own behaviour when you're scrolling through anything. Social media, perhaps, news sites, job boards. What do you actually notice? What makes you stop scrolling?

It's familiarity. It's recognising something. Recognising someone, recognising a name, perhaps, that you've seen before.

You don't stop for unknown things, you filter them out. Your brain does it automatically. It has to, because it would be an absolute overload if it didn't.

And unknown equals not relevant. Unknown equals keep scrolling.

Host: Julie South [00:07:21]:

The vets and nurses seeing your job ad are doing exactly the same thing. They're filtering, they're pattern recognising, and they're doing it all automatically.

And unless they already know you, they're filtering you out.

Platform size doesn't change that. Premium placement doesn't change that. Featured listings don't change that. Still unknown. Just unknown with a better placement.

Host: Julie South [00:07:56]:

Right now, somewhere, a clinic is deciding which platforms to post on. They're comparing features, comparing prices and comparing reach.

Unfortunately, they're comparing and asking themselves the wrong question. They're asking, where should I post? When the real question is, why would anyone notice me?

Because posting everywhere doesn't create recognition, it creates noise. Your noise multiplied across platforms, competing against hundreds of other clinics doing exactly the same thing, making exactly the same noise.

Host: Julie South [00:08:49]:

Meanwhile, another clinic isn't comparing platforms. They're not posting everywhere, hoping that something sticks. Because they're not unknown. Vets and nurses already recognise them.

Why? Because they've been watching them.

How? Because they've been following them, building a picture over time of what that clinic is actually like.

When that clinic does advertise, it doesn't matter which platform they choose. Almost.

Because the people who recognise them aren't filtering them out, they're stopping. They're reading. They're thinking, yes, I've been waiting for you to have a job opening.

That's not luck, that's recognition. Built long before the ad went live.

Host: Julie South [00:09:32]:

I promised you a question and here it is.

How many job board subscriptions are you currently paying for? And are they all delivering the same result?

Which is probably not much result at all, otherwise you wouldn't still be advertising.

Because the problem isn't that you haven't found the right platform yet. The problem is that you're trying to solve a recognition problem with a reach solution.

More platforms equals more reach. But reach without recognition is just really expensive noise.

Host: Julie South [00:10:47]:

If you're listening to this and wondering, okay, Julie, so what can I actually do different? Please get in touch because I'd love to have a chat to see where you're at and what you can do next. Email me.

Next week we'll talk about the second thing that clinics try when posting everywhere doesn't work. They try to fix the ad, rewrite it, add more benefits, tweak the wording. They think that if they just say it the right way, finally vets and nurses will see them.

And we'll talk about why that doesn't work as well.

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

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