The biggest mistakes that employers and employees make with recruitment
I unpack the biggest recruitment mistakes I see employers and employees make every single day in the animal health sector. From underpaying top talent and relying on job ads alone, to job seekers thinking their CVs speak for themselves.
If you are hiring, job seeking, or wondering why things aren’t quite clicking, this one’s for you.
SHOW NOTES
TRANSCRIPT
Most job search frustrations aren’t about experience, they’re about mistakes happening in the process. In this episode, I’m unpacking the biggest recruitment mistakes I see employers and employees make every single day in the animal health sector, from underpaying top talent to relying on job ads alone. To job seekers thinking they’re cvs who just speak for itself. If you are hiring, job seeking, or even just quietly wondering why things aren’t quite clicking, this one’s for you.
Welcome to the Animal Health Show by s8. I’m your host, Shannon Wood, and this is where we talk about the latest trends shaping the animal health industry. We’ll be sitting down with leading voices from across the sector, sharing practical insights to help you grow your animal health business, build a stronger team or.
Land your dream role. If you are [00:01:00] looking for your next dream job or you are ready to hire your next standout team member, reach out to us at s8 Expert Recruitment Solutions. You’ll find our contact details in the show notes for today’s episode. Alright, let’s talk animal health.
Today I wanna talk about the biggest mistakes I see employers and employees make in the recruitment process.
And I’m not saying this is to call anyone out. I’m saying it because I see the same patterns again and again and they’re fixable.
Let’s start with employers.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is thinking you can throw an ad up on seek, write a quick position description, and top tier talent will just roll in.
That might’ve worked 15 years ago. It doesn’t work now. The market has changed. Candidates have changed. Expectations have changed. People aren’t just looking for a [00:02:00] job anymore. They’re looking for a lifestyle. They’re looking for purpose. They’re looking for challenge. They’re looking for leadership that actually supports them.
They want flexibility. They want growth. They wanna know what the next three to five years looks like. If your job ad reads like a shopping list of technical requirements and nothing else, you’re gonna struggle to attract top tier talent. And another mistake is not really understanding what’s happening in the industry.
If you don’t know what the competitors are offering, what skills are in demand, or how talent market is shifting your recruiting blind. This is where industry knowledge makes a massive difference. Animal health is specialized. You can’t just copy and paste roll [00:03:00] templates and expect the right person to magically appear.
The best hires usually come from conversations, networks, and long-term relationships, not just about job boards. And here’s another big one. Wanting the best candidate in the market, but not wanting to pay market rates. You can’t ask for a unicorn and pay pony wages. The best candidates know their worth. They’re being approached. They have options.
If your salary band hasn’t moved in three years, but the market has the gap will cost you good people. If you are not sure what current salaries actually look like in animal health, we’ve put together a free salary guide that breaks down the latest market rates across major roles.
It’ll give you a clear benchmark so you are not guessing. You can download it via the link in the show notes.
Now, let’s flip to employees.
The biggest mistake I see from job seekers is thinking to [00:04:00] themselves, my skills and our experience speak for itself. I get it. You’ve done the work, you’ve got the degree, you’ve built the experience. Surely that should be enough. But recruitment is a sales process. You are the product. If you can’t clearly articulate the value you bring, the outcomes you’ve created and how you solve problems, someone else will. And they will get the job gone are days where you could throw together a basic CV and wait to be discovered.
The market is competitive. You need to position yourself properly. That means tailoring your cv, understanding the role you’re applying for, and presenting yourself in a way that you know aligns with the business’s actual needs.
Another big shift is that no longer just about, I dunno, technical capability. Yes, technical skills matter, of course they do. But [00:05:00] cultural fit, leadership style, communication skills, adaptability. These are often the deciding factors, especially at senior level roles. So I’ve been seeing, I dunno, technical brilliant candidates miss out on roles because they couldn’t demonstrate how they led, collaborate or influence. And I’ve seen candidates with slightly less technical experience win roles because they could clearly show how they could add value beyond the job description. This is also where working with a specialist recruiter can make a big difference. A good recruiter understands what the employer is really looking for.
Sometimes even beyond what’s written on the brief, they can position you properly. Give you feedback and help you sharpen your pitch.
Whether you are hiring or job seeking. The common theme here is don’t treat recruitment like tick the box exercise. [00:06:00] It’s strategic. For employers, it’s about building a role and value proposition that attracts the right talent, paying appropriately, understanding the market you are playing in.
For employees it isn’t about positioning yourself well, developing both technical and soft skills and understanding that you need to sell your value clearly and confidently. Animal health is too specialized and too competitive to just wing it. If you get recruitment right you don’t just fill a role. You build stronger teams, stronger careers, and ultimately a stronger industry. And that’s what we are here for.
Thanks so much for tuning in to today’s episode of The Animal Health Show by s8. If you’ve found the value in this conversation, please share it with your colleague and industry mate or on social media so we can keep the discussions moving across the sector. If [00:07:00] you’d like to get in touch, all of our details are in the show notes for today’s episode. I thank you for listening, and I look forward to chatting with you again in the fortnight.