Factors affecting the willingness of veterinary nurses to respond to a job advertisement

Long-term trends in the veterinary nursing profession are affecting the availability of veterinary nurses (VNs) in the UK and the ability of veterinary organisations to recruit them. Job advertisements are commonly used in recruitment marketing to entice people to job vacancies. Research in other sectors has investigated the effects of aspects of job advertisements in achieving positive pre-hire outcomes. However, to the authors' knowledge, there are no currently available studies on the influence of job advertisements on veterinary nurses in the UK. The authors of this study aimed to determine and interpret the relationships between: the type of advertisement and the credibility of the information provided; the type of advertisement and the level of satisfaction with the information provided; the type of advertisement and attraction to the organisation; and the type of advertisement and the willingness of VNs in the UK to apply for the advertised position. The study included 270 RCVS-registered RVNs currently working or considering working in clinical veterinary practice in the UK and focused on three types of job advertisement providing varying amounts of information. The results highlight that the key factors predictive of recruitment success are increasing the amount of information and the specificity of the information provided in a job advertisement. With known challenges regarding recruitment and retention within the UK veterinary nursing profession, analysis of these data could help guide future recruitment strategies.