Recruitment Momentum - Why Starting From Cold Keeps You Trapped and Hinders Your Job Ad Success - ep.255

Recruitment Momentum: Why Starting From Cold Keeps You Trapped

Most veterinary clinics don’t realise they’re stuck in a recruitment cycle — they just feel the exhaustion of it.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores recruitment momentum and why starting from cold every time you need to advertise keeps clinics trapped in an expensive, effort-heavy loop that never really gets easier.

Through a simple but familiar comparison, Julie shows the difference between recruiting from cold — urgent, interruptive, and stressful — and recruiting from warm, where vets and nurses already know your clinic and recognise it as their kind of place.

This episode follows directly from last week’s conversation on network expansion, and explains why momentum isn’t about speed or volume — it’s about familiarity built over time, while you’re fully staffed.

Stay to the end for a question that reframes what clinics should really be measuring when they think about recruitment success.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and why recruitment momentum matters
01:18 – What starting from cold actually looks like for clinics
01:37 – Urgent job ads, interruption, and the “post and pray” cycle
02:09 – Two clinics, two approaches: cold vs warm recruiting
03:09 – Why most clinics reset to cold every time they hire
03:36 – The toll of recruiting from cold on time, money, and belief
04:13 – Why vets and nurses scroll past unfamiliar clinics
04:46 – Groundhog Day recruiting and losing momentum while fully staffed
05:47 – Cold start recruiting vs recruiting with momentum
06:25 – Recruitment momentum as a long-term deposit, not a quick fix
07:43 – What’s changed: filtering interruptions, trust taking time, and passive watchers
08:34 – Why continuous culture stories matter even when you’re fully staffed
09:34 – Recruiting from warm with calm invitations, not urgency
10:10 – How VetClinicJobs supports recruitment momentum through Culture Centres
11:15 – Closing reflections on sustainability, momentum, and recruiting from warm

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with veterinary clinics that want to move beyond reactive job advertising by building recruitment momentum through continuous culture storytelling — so when they do need to hire, they’re never starting from cold again.

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