Why Competing on Quality of Life Through Job Ads Doesn't Work Any More - ep. 251

You list protected meal breaks, no weekend work, and flexible hours in your job ad.

So does every other clinic in your city.

How do vets and nurses decide? They can't tell you apart. So they don't apply. Or they apply everywhere and mean nowhere.

Meanwhile, down the road, another clinic fills their position in three weeks. Same benefits. Same salary. Same city. But vets and nurses already knew their team actually gets lunch breaks - because they've been watching it happen for months before that clinic even advertised.

That's not luck. That's visibility before vacancy.

I'm Julie South. I run VetClinicJobs and help vet clinics across Australia, New Zealand and beyond build Culture Centres through Culture Storytelling. I've seen hundreds of clinics add more benefits to their job ads, wondering why nobody applies - while their competitors show their Quality of Life at Work year-round and attract people who've already decided.

This episode shows you why competing on Quality of Life through job ads keeps you trapped, how the system changed in three ways most clinics haven't noticed, and the one question that changes everything about how you think about Quality of Life at Work.

I'd love to help you, if you'd like that - email me or connect with me on LinkedIn.

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

Transcript

Quality of Life at Work in Job Ads and Why That Doesn't Work Any More

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

Welcome to Veterinary Voices—culture storytelling conversations for veterinary clinics. I'm Julie South and this is Episode 251.

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

Over the last few weeks, we've talked about creating culture stories worth sharing, what makes them travel through networks, and how your team becomes your best marketers.

This week, we're talking about quality of life at work when it comes to your job ads, and why trying to compete on it through job ads keeps you trapped in the same reactive cycle.

Stay with me to the end, because I want to leave you with a question that might change how you think about quality of life at work and your job ads.

Host: Julie South [00:01:21]:

Right now, somewhere in Auckland or Adelaide, a clinic owner is rewriting their job ad. Again.

They've already added "competitive salary." Now they're adding more: protected meal breaks, no weekend work, flexible hours, finishing on time.

They're thinking: surely this will work. We're offering everything people want.

They post the ad. They wait.

Nothing happens. Or worse—applications from people who don't really believe a word of it, because everyone says these things.

Host: Julie South [00:02:03]:

Meanwhile, down the road, another clinic fills their position in three weeks. Same salary range. Same benefits. Same city.

But vets and nurses already knew about their protected Wednesday finish times. They already knew about their split-shift lunch system. They already knew about their no-contact-on-days-off policy—before that clinic even advertised.

That's not because their job ad was better written. It's because they weren't introducing themselves through a job ad at all.

Host: Julie South [00:03:01]:

Here's what most clinics are still doing—because nobody told them it no longer works.

You operate with genuine quality of life at work. Protected boundaries. Realistic workloads. Actual flexibility. You genuinely value your team's lives, not just their productivity. You're not making this up.

Then someone resigns—or gets injured—and you need to write a job ad. Again.

You dust off an old one and make sure it lists everything you offer: competitive salary, protected meal breaks, no weekend work, flexible hours, supportive environment.

Host: Julie South [00:03:34]:

You post it. You wait.

Nothing happens. Or you get applications from people who've applied to fifteen other clinics saying exactly the same things—because they can't tell you apart.

So you think: maybe we need to pay more. Maybe our benefits aren't competitive enough. Maybe we should add more to the ad.

And you're trapped.

Because you're trying to compete on quality of life at work through a job ad. And job ads—no matter how well written, no matter what they promise—are where clinics go to look identical.

That model used to work. It doesn't anymore. And nobody told clinics the system changed.

Host: Julie South [00:04:29]:

The system changed in three ways most clinics haven't really noticed.

First, there are hundreds of job ads now. When vets and nurses scroll, they're not reading carefully—they're pattern-matching. "Competitive salary." Scroll. "Great team." Scroll. Even "protected meal breaks" and "no weekend work." Scroll—because everyone says it now, and too often it isn't true.

Host: Julie South [00:05:14]:

Second, vets and nurses have learned to be sceptical. They've seen too many ads promising work-life balance from clinics where consults routinely run late. Too many claims about protected boundaries from places that still text on days off. The words have lost their meaning through overuse and under-delivery.

And third, search behaviour changed. People find clinics through networks now—through stories they see over time, through culture they can verify before applying. Not through reading job ads and hoping they're true.

Host: Julie South [00:06:17]:

So when you try to compete on quality of life at work through reactive job advertising, you're using a system that no longer functions the way it used to.

You're not doing it wrong. The system changed underneath you.

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

Here's what works differently now.

When vets and nurses see your culture stories before you advertise—when they already know about your protected Wednesday finishes because someone on your team shared it last month, when they've seen your lunch-break system explained in a story a few weeks ago, when they understand your no-contact-on-days-off policy because it's been visible for months—they're not reading your job ad looking for proof.

They already believe you. They've already decided you're their kind of clinic.

The job ad is just confirmation that you have a vacancy.

That's not competing. That's attracting people who've already made up their minds.

Host: Julie South [00:07:41]:

When you build visibility before vacancy, quality of life at work stops being a claim you make when you're desperate—and becomes evidence people see when you're not even hiring.

This is why culture storytelling matters so much for quality of life at work.

Your protected boundaries, realistic workloads, and operational flexibility aren't selling points to list in a job ad. They're operational realities to show continuously.

When your team shares: "Everyone finished by 5:30 today. Not because it was quiet—because we protect Wednesdays. That's just how we operate."

Host: Julie South [00:08:16]:

When you show: "We run split shifts over lunch. Everyone eats away from their desk. Nobody writes notes during lunch. Here's what that actually looks like."

When this is visible month after month—whether you're hiring or not—that's when vets and nurses think: yes, this is my kind of clinic. Long before you advertise.

VetClinicJobs is built for this—not because the platform has better job ad templates, but because it gives your culture stories a permanent home, where vets and nurses can find them before they're actively looking.

So when they are ready to look, they already know who you are. They're not comparing claims. They're applying because they've been following your story.

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

Right now, two things are happening.

A clinic somewhere is adding "protected meal breaks" and "flexible hours" to a job ad, hoping this version will finally work. It won't—not because those things don't matter, but because competing through reactive job ads keeps you starting from zero every time.

And another clinic is sharing a story about how their lunch-break system actually works on a normal Tuesday. Not selling it. Not promising it. Just showing it—while fully staffed. So when they do need to advertise in six months, vets and nurses already know the answer to the question: will I actually get my lunch break there?

Host: Julie South [00:10:25]:

So instead of asking, how do we write better job ads about quality of life at work? Ask yourself this:

If someone was quietly watching our clinic from the outside for the next three months, what evidence would they actually see of the quality of life we're protecting?

Because that's what continuous culture storytelling is—making the evidence visible before you're desperate. So when you do advertise, people already know.

Host: Julie South [00:11:24]:

Trying to compete on quality of life at work through job ads keeps you trapped in reactive cycles. The system changed—behaviours, trust, discovery. What used to work doesn't anymore.

Visibility before vacancy means vets and nurses already know your operational reality before you advertise. They're not reading claims—they're verifying what they've already seen.

Culture storytelling makes quality of life at work visible year-round, not just when you're hiring. And when people already know, you're not competing—you're attracting.

Host: Julie South [00:12:37]:

Next week, in Episode 252, we'll talk about location advantages—and why listing them in job ads doesn't work the way it used to either.

This is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self—because you work for a great clinic that's worth being known, and not afraid to tell its culture stories year-round about the quality of life at work you're protecting. And when you do, vets and nurses already know you're their kind of people long before you advertise.