Building Your Dream Veterinary Team in 2025 - What Was and What Can Be - ep. 218

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As we venture into 2025, understanding recruitment dynamics is critical for veterinary clinics facing staffing challenges.

Today Julie South looks into the current landscape of veterinary employment in Aotearoa New Zealand, emphasising the importance of a strong employer brand, adapting to immigration changes, and creating supportive workplaces.

Julie recaps the impactful recruitment changes in NZs 2024 and crystal ball gazes into what she believes must happen in 2025:

• Overview of recruitment trends in New Zealand 
• Analysis of immigration rule changes impacting veterinary staffing 
• Explanation of MPI's Voluntary Bonding Scheme for large animal vets 
• The significance of mentorship and new grad development programs 
• Importance of a strong employer brand in attracting talent 
• Discussion on the role of AI in recruitment strategies 
• Steps to improve visibility and attractiveness of job advertisements 
• Encouragement for existing staff to provide positive reviews

VetStaff
leading veterinary sector recruitment in New Zealand | veterinarians | locums | nurses

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

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

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
If you could see into the future, would you want to?
What would you do with what yousaw Today?
I'm going to attempt to do alittle bit of future gazing
crystal ball gazing into 2025,with how to get better results
from your veterinary recruitmentin God's Own or Te Arawa, new

(00:27):
Zealand, and add my two centsworth to what I saw playing out
down under veterinaryrecruitment.
Wise Welcome to VeterinaryVoices.
This is episode 218, and I'myour host, julie South.
Veterinary Voices celebratesall that's great about working

(00:48):
in New Zealand's veterinaryindustry.
I'd love to hear in which ofthe 1400 cities Veterinary
Voices listen to around theworld that you're tuning into
right now, so please feel freeto let me know.
Veterinaryvoicesnz, and it'salso veterinaryvoicesnz and it's
also at veterinaryvoicesnzwhere you can find back copies

(01:12):
as well.
Veterinary Voices is brought toyou by Vet Clinic Jobs, the job
board that helps vet clinics domore than just post a job
vacancy.
Do more than just post a jobvacancy.
Vet Clinic Jobs is all abouthelping employers find their
dream team members with norecruitment agency involved

(01:33):
whatsoever, and it does this byletting job seekers find out
more about a job vacancy thanyour regular boring old job
advert.
So check it outvetclinicjobscom.
Happy New Year.
Here's to wishing you and yourseverything that you wish for

(01:56):
yourself.
I hope that 2025 is your mostfantabulous year yet ever.
So 2024, from a recruitmentperspective.
What did that look like here inGod's Own Ōtiroa, new Zealand?

(02:18):
Well, it's been a job seeker'smarket for quite a few years and
this is, I think, lifeaccording to Julie, becoming
more obvious.
More job seekers are doing whatthey call and I use air quotes
here reverse recruiting, wherethey post anonymously onto
Facebook, letting the meta worldknow that they're available for

(02:42):
hire.
I think this increasing trend,this more popular trend, is
happening for two reasons.
One, or the first is that thejob seeker probably thinks that
they're, or likes to think thatthey're, in control, and two,
it's because clinics aren'tdoing a good enough job of
marketing themselves as anemployer.

(03:05):
Why do I say that?
Because if more clinicsmarketed themselves better as
employers in other words, theystrengthened you, strengthened
your unique employer brandmarketing message then job
seekers would be approaching youdirect if they thought they

(03:27):
wanted to work with you.
Those clinics with strongemployer brands would actually
have more job applicants.
Better job applicants, moredream team type job applicants
apply to them direct Right nowin New Zealand globally.
In New Zealand especially, westill have a veterinarian

(03:49):
shortage and that's not going toend any time soon, and that's
another reason to up the ante onstrengthening your employer
message.
One thing that definitely didn'thelp the veterinarian shortage
in any way here in Godzone or TeArawa, new Zealand, was
Immigration New Zealand changingthe rules in air quotes the

(04:10):
rules a few times through 2024?
.
Although it didn't affectveterinarians directly, it did
have a huge negative impact onveterinary nurses, which meant
that veterinarians were impactedindirectly, which meant that
veterinarians were impactedindirectly.
As we all know, when you havehighly skilled vet nurses on

(04:34):
your clinical team, they helpmitigate veterinarian shortages
because not only are they worththeir weight in gold the vet
nurses, they're also worth everyveterinarian's weight in gold
who trusts them and utilisestheir professional nursing
skills as well.
Immigration New Zealandincreasing its visa application

(04:56):
fees, meant that or means thatmost clinics aren't prepared to
pay the increase in fee, andthis is sad because, as NZVNA
executive member MichelleCameron and I talked about back
in October in episodes 207 and208, check out

(05:16):
veterinaryvoicesnz for these itis very definitely possible for
vet nurses to be respectable feeearners in their clinics if
only they're.
But given the opportunities.
Another government increase thistime positive in 2024, was that

(05:36):
MPI, the Ministry for PrimaryIndustries, increased its
voluntary bonding scheme, theVBS, to its highest ever, with
35 Massey students heading offto 28 different New Zealand
heartland areas into their firstjobs in 2025.

(05:58):
What's the VBS, you ask?
Well, it's where MPI awards$55,000 over five years to large
animal vets who are prepared togo and live and work in rural
areas and then MPI uses this$55,000 to help pay down their
student loans.
When you consider that theaverage domestic veterinary

(06:21):
science student loan in NewZealand is around $95,000 and
$350,000 for internationalstudents, the $55,000 is a
sizable chunk of debt reduction.
The VBS scheme started in 2009and around 30 students plus or

(06:42):
minus are allocated each year.
Fortunately, the numbers havebeen slowly increasing it each
year.
Fortunately, the numbers havebeen slowly increasing.
In 2022, the VBS was awarded to32 large animal vet grads, 33
in 2023, and, as I just said, 35in 2024.
It would be great if MPI couldincrease this in 2025, as those

(07:07):
35 students equates to around28% or so of Massey's 2024
graduates.
Something else I've noticed in2024 is a few more clinics
upping the ante by gettingbehind their new grads with new

(07:29):
grad development and mentoringprograms, which is great to see.
The more an employer looks afterits employees, especially its
new grads, the more likely theyare to hang around and be loyal
and stay in the profession.
Employee loyalty pays dividendsdown the track, because it

(07:49):
means that recruiting costs arereduced.
Employers that invest in theiremployer brand like shouting
from the rooftops about thingslike new grade development
programs.
These employers get to seeapproximately a 50% decrease in
their cost per hire.
That's huge.

(08:10):
This is totally win-win.
New grads are mentored anddeveloped, while clinics
offering these programs and thenshouting about them from the
rooftops save around 50% ontheir recruitment costs.
And if you're listening to this,thinking that you don't need to
do this stuff.

(08:31):
According to a CareerArc survey, 64% of job seekers said that
they wouldn't apply for a roleat a company that had no online
presence.
I know it's hard to imagine intoday's digital world, but
they're out there, or rather notout there.
Every now and again, lizzie andI try to build out a clinic's

(08:54):
employer brand, only to discoverwe've got nothing to work with
because the principal doesn'tbelieve in social media or in
updating their website, which isunbelievable.
That's a bit of what was whatdo I see happening in 2025?

(09:16):
Ai, I'm sure you'll agree, willplay more of a bigger role.
I think it will also be a bitmore of an insidious role,
whether it's in automatingrecruitment processes and
removing the human factor, or onthe other side of the fence and

(09:36):
auto generating CVs.
And with that, the more youremove the human factor when it
comes to hiring new staff orattempting to hire new staff,
the more you need to talk abouthow human your clinic really is
when it comes to looking afteryour humans.
Again, I'm talking aboutemployer branding.

(09:58):
If you're still advertising thesame way you've been advertising
and you still feel like you'rebanging your head against a
brick wall because you're notgetting the results that you
want, then please get hold ofLizzie at vetclinicjobscom,
totally free of charge.
She can help you spruce up yourjob advertisements so that

(10:19):
they're meaningful, and you canemail her, lizzie at
vetclinicjobscom.
One of the most powerful thingsthat you can do to improve the
results you're getting from yourjob advertisements is to ask
your existing Dream Team membersto review your clinic as a
five-star employer.

(10:40):
I'm not talking about onunverified job board sites like
Glassdoor, where anyone canwrite anything about anyone else
, true or not I'm talking aboutat vetclinicjobscom, where all
the reviews are still anonymous,but they're verified.
Once you've got a review or two, you can start incorporating

(11:03):
these into your jobadvertisements, as I said, get
in touch with Lizzie to find outhow you can do this if you're
unsure.
Thank you for listening.
This is a very quick episodethis week.
Thank you for supportingVeterinary Voices by listening.

(11:25):
This show wouldn't still begoing strong with over 200
episodes, if not for your ears.
So, from me to you, thank youheaps.
Wherever you are in the world,happy new year, happy 2025.
You are in the world.
Happy new year, happy 2025.

(11:45):
Whatever you're up to, staysafe on the roads, in the skies
and on the water.
Here's to wishing you all theabsolute best.
I look forward to spending timewith you again in 2025.
This is Julie South signing offand inviting you to go out
there and be your mostfantabulous self Until next week

(12:06):
, maybe until next year,depending on when you're
listening to this.
Kakiti anō.