Energy Vets | Finding Your Feet as a New Grad (Part 1)

Starting your veterinary career isn’t just about clinical skills.

It’s about how support shows up when you’re new, how questions are handled, and how safe it feels to keep learning — especially when you’re doing it in a new country.

In this episode, Julie South speaks with Dr Sam Armstrong, a mixed animal vet at Energy Vets in Taranaki, about arriving in New Zealand straight out of university and starting his first job without knowing anyone locally.

Sam reflects on settling into a new farming system, learning how the team works day to day, and the small, ordinary moments that helped him build confidence. Together, they offer a grounded look at what vets quietly pay attention to when deciding whether a clinic feels like their kind of clinic.

This is Part One of a two-part conversation with Energy Vets, focused on early career experiences, everyday support, and what makes learning sustainable over time.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and episode context
01:48 – Sam’s background and arriving in New Zealand
06:07 – Starting work as a new graduate and learning in practice
07:57 – A significant farm case and building confidence over time
10:33 – Team support, meetings, and shared decision-making
11:38 – Integrating into Taranaki and working in New Zealand
12:30 – How New Zealand farming systems differ from the UK and Ireland
16:06 – Favourite piece of kit and day-to-day realities
17:24 – Describing Energy Vets in three words
19:47 – Closing reflections on learning, support, and culture

If you’re an experienced small animal vet exploring your next step, you can find out more about current opportunities at Energy Vets at:
vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

About Julie South

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

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture visible and recognisable, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

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

Closing the Attraction Gap: Why Knowing Isn't the Same as Doing

Most veterinary clinic managers know they should attract people before they need them—but knowing doesn't close the gap between understanding what needs to happen and actually making it happen.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores the attraction gap: the space between knowing you should build recognition and actually being able to do it while running a busy clinic.

Through the predictable five-month recruitment cycle most clinics experience, Julie shows why the gap never closes when you're trying to solve recruitment during a crisis—and why it only closes between crises, when you actually have time to build.

This episode bridges the recent conversations on network expansion and recruitment momentum, and sets up next week's new series examining each month of the trapped recruitment cycle in detail.

Stay to the end for a question about timing that reframes when clinics should actually be solving their recruitment problem.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction: The attraction gap and why knowing isn't doing
01:10 – The impossible timing trap: never thinking about recruitment when staffed, desperate when understaffed
04:03 – The predictable five-month cycle from job ads to expensive surrender
07:31 – Two clinics, two different approaches to closing the gap
10:17 – The timing question that explains why the gap never closes

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

Energy Vets - Taranaki - New Zealand | REAL+STORY
A recent graduate’s view of support, mentoring, and staying in the profession

When new graduates talk about support, they’re not talking about slogans. They’re talking about what happens in the moments that matter.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South continues the Energy Vets REAL+STORY series with Jade, a recent graduate mixed animal veterinarian who has been working at Energy Vets in Taranaki for just over two years.

Jade shares why she chose to return to Taranaki after graduating from Massey University, what stood out about Energy Vets as a student on placement, and how support actually shows up day to day — from surgeries and after-hours, to asking questions, building confidence, and knowing someone has your back.

This is an honest conversation about mixed practice, mentoring, after-hours realities, team culture, and what helps early-career vets not just cope — but enjoy the job and want to stay in the profession.

Here’s how Jade describes that support in her own words:

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and where this episode fits in the Energy Vets REAL+STORY series
01:02 – Jade’s background and returning to Taranaki after graduating
02:42 – What “supportive” really means for a new graduate
04:01 – How Energy Vets felt different from other student placements
05:01 – Mixed animal caseloads and how the year ebbs and flows
05:59 – Longer consult times and why they matter on busy days
06:17 – Dairy, lifestyle, and equine work in practice
07:09 – After-hours equine support and not being left alone
07:58 – Building strong relationships with clients
08:31 – Privately owned farms and what that changes
08:52 – Living in Taranaki: outdoors, community, and lifestyle
11:16 – Favourite equipment and learning to use ultrasound
11:54 – A concrete example of support during early surgeries
13:13 – Unexpected friendships and team closeness
14:14 – After-hours as a new grad and how readiness is handled
16:48 – A memorable early case and calling for help
18:00 – Who fits best at Energy Vets and what being a team player means
19:01 – Closing reflections on mentoring, support, and staying in the profession

If you’re an experienced small animal veterinarian thinking about your next step — particularly if you enjoy mentoring and supporting early-career vets — Energy Vets is currently looking for someone ready to step up into that role.

About Julie South

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

She works with veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through culture storytelling, Julie helps clinics attract vets and nurses who recognise their kind of people and their kind of clinic before a vacancy appears.

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

When Big Numbers Don’t Matter

When a clinic needs to advertise, the decision often feels obvious.
Choose the platform with the biggest database. The most traffic. The largest audience.

But what if those numbers aren’t measuring what actually matters?

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores why big numbers can feel reassuring — yet still leave clinics stuck advertising for months. Database size, website hits, and subscriber counts might look impressive on paper, but they don’t guarantee recognition, fit, or applications from the right vet or nurse.

Julie unpacks why recruitment fails when clinics outsource discovery to platforms and algorithms — and what changes when clinics shift from being listed to being recognised.

This episode closes the recent run of conversations on culture storytelling, network expansion, and recruitment momentum by asking one uncomfortable but essential question: are you attracting the kind of vet or nurse you actually want on your team?

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction: why the numbers everyone chases may not be the right ones

01:13 – A familiar scenario: needing to advertise and choosing platforms by database size

01:56 – Posting the ad, waiting, upgrading, and still not getting the right response

02:56 – Why big databases and high traffic don’t guarantee the right applicants

03:29 – What Google actually measures: behaviour, not hits

04:53 – The one number clinics really need: one right vet or nurse

05:44 – How recognition forms before a vacancy appears

06:54 – Why recognition can’t be measured in traditional metrics

07:45 – Culture Story Centres and arriving warm instead of cold

08:56 – Being recognised versus hoping to be discovered

09:46 – The question clinics should be asking instead of “which platform is bigger?”

10:56 – From being listed to being recognised — and why attraction changes everything

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 showing what working there is really like. Through culture storytelling, Julie helps clinics become recognised over time — so when they do advertise, the right vets and nurses already know they belong.

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

Energy Vets | Culture Stories in Action (Part 2)

Staying in a clinic long-term isn’t just about the work you do.
It’s about how you’re supported, how leadership shows up, and what happens when things don’t go to plan.

In this episode, Julie South continues her conversation with Greg Hall, Managing Director at Energy Vets in Taranaki, shifting the focus from day-to-day life to what it takes to build a team that lasts.

They talk openly about leadership, succession planning, ageing vet teams, and the moments that reveal what a clinic’s culture really looks like — including how people step in for each other when it really counts.

This is Part Two of a two-part conversation with Energy Vets, and a grounded look at what working there is like beyond the first impression.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction
01:20 – What leadership actually looks like in practice
03:10 – Succession planning and an ageing workforce
06:00 – Supporting teams when things go wrong
09:10 – How people show up for each other
12:30 – Profit, efficiency, and staying viable
15:10 – Shareholding and long-term pathways
18:30 – What success looks like after 12 months
20:45 – Closing

If you’re an experienced small animal vet exploring your next step, you can find out more about current opportunities at Energy Vets at:
vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

About Julie South

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

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture visible and recognisable, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

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

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

Energy Vets Taranaki NZ | Culture Stories in Action (Part 1)

Most vets and nurses know within a few minutes whether a clinic feels like their kind of place — long before they ever see a job ad.

In this episode, Julie South is joined by Dr Greg Hall, Managing Director at Energy Vets in Taranaki, for a grounded conversation about what day-to-day veterinary life there actually looks like.

They talk about the work, the people, the pace, and the place — from small animal caseloads across two clinics, to after-hours, weekends, lifestyle, and living in a close-knit community.

This isn’t a recruitment pitch.
It’s a real conversation about whether you can picture yourself working there — with your kind of people, in your kind of clinic.

This is Part One of a two-part conversation with Energy Vets.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction
01:10 – Why place and community matter in veterinary work
03:00 – What day-to-day life looks like across Energy Vets’ clinics
05:20 – Small animal work, variety, and real caseloads
07:50 – After-hours, weekends, and how rosters actually work
10:40 – Lifestyle, commute, and living in Taranaki
13:00 – Trust, relationships, and working in a tight-knit community
15:30 – The kind of vet who tends to fit best
16:38 – Closing

If you’re an experienced small animal vet and what you’ve heard here resonates, you can find out more about current opportunities at Energy Vets at:
vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

About Julie South

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

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture visible and recognisable, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

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

Network Expansion: How Culture Stories Amplify Beyond Your Reach

Most vet clinics don’t struggle to hire because their roles aren’t appealing. They struggle because the right vets and nurses never see them.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores network expansion — and why job ads keep clinics trapped under their own follower-count ceiling, while Culture Stories travel through networks clinics can’t access directly.

Julie breaks down how culture stories move differently through social and professional networks, why peer sharing matters more than clinic claims, and how vets and nurses increasingly discover clinics long before a vacancy appears.

This is a conversation about amplification, not reach — and why the clinics that build familiarity while fully staffed aren’t starting from cold when it’s time to hire.

Stay to the end for a simple but uncomfortable question every clinic should be asking about the vets and nurses they’re failing to reach.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and why this episode focuses on network expansion

01:11 – The follower-count ceiling: why clinic posts only reach who already follows you

02:15 – Why job ads can’t travel beyond your own network

02:54 – How culture stories move differently through personal networks

03:58 – Network amplification vs addition and multiplication

04:47 – Why job ads stay locked under limited reach

05:51 – What’s changed: recognition before application

06:46 – Why starting from cold keeps clinics at a disadvantage

07:25 – Trust comes from peer voices, not clinic claims

08:43 – How permanent, shareable culture stories amplify through extended networks

10:07 – Being discovered before recruiting begins

11:51 – The question clinics should be asking instead of “How do we get more reach?”

13:11 – Closing reflections on discovery, familiarity, and network visibility

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 showing what working there is really like. Through Culture Storytelling, Julie helps clinics become recognisable across networks — so vets and nurses discover them through people they trust, not just job boards.

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