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Every time I visit the city, I have an amazing time – as a tourist – enjoying the nightlife, the amazing shows, music and events, marveling at the frequency of public transport, and the bustling vitality. And every time I leave, I’m so glad to be living my normal daily life in a regional area.

As an immigrant to Australia,  I really feel I’m living the Australian Dream. I can afford a house, with a backyard, a dog, 3 cats (indoors of course). Rush-hour happens for 10 minutes when parents picking up from school queue to get on the roundabouts. I’ve lived inland, on acres, with horses, chickens, cattle, alpacas, a veggie garden, and at the coast, where it’s been a 2 minute walk to the beach and I frequently have the beach all to myself. I’ve always got to know and socialize with my neighbours and the local community. Despite having no actual family living nearby, my kids have grown up with an extended community family through all sorts of activities, in family day care, playgroup, sports, music, and then primary and high school, where we run into and keep in touch with the same families over and over again.

Shopping is easy as I can drop in to the shops on my way somewhere else – it doesn’t take long, and we choose from what’s available. And online shopping is our friend for anything we can’t get locally. Local business owners are members of our community.

There’s always a thriving arts and culture scene in regional areas – and it’s so welcoming. We make our own entertainment. I have sung in choirs, performed in local theatre, played in orchestras. Local sport of all types brings the community together.

Being a vet opened all of this up to me – we’re so privileged to be easily able to have this regional lifestyle due to our professional qualification, when many people find themselves unable to stay in regional areas once they’ve moved there, due to the lack of work opportunities.

If you’re thinking about moving to regional NSW, currently there’s a support package for essential workers, which includes employees in Veterinary services, which has come out of the recent Inquiry into the veterinary workforce shortage in NSW. For more information about The Welcome Experience, visit NSW Government | The Welcome Experience

Author:

Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

You can look at the app and website and receive the fortnightly newsletter through your University or direct via mailchimp, but did you know that you can also register your dream job outline with Kookaburra?

The veterinary employment market has been very buoyant in recent years but that has not always been the case nor will it always be. We are already seeing a contraction of the vet job market in Australia as belts are tightened in response to a worsening economic climate and, sadly, pet health is often one of the first things to suffer. I vividly recall an extended period in the past when practices were very resistant to employing graduates and the heartbreak that caused when graduates could not find work and were forced to move into other industries. Hopefully that will never happen again but you can future proof yourself by registering with Kookaburra now.

Why Bother?

You will be the FIRST to hear about every suitable vacancy before it is even live on our website – you won’t have to wait to receive a newsletter.

You will ONLY receive notification of jobs that suit your own personal criteria – you tell us what your perfect job looks like and that’s what we’ll consider when sending you jobs.

You will START a lifelong relationship with Kookaburra – we’ll be there for you whenever it’s time for a new challenge, reactivating your registration when you tell us it’s time to change jobs.

You will have ACCESS to an important resource – Kookaburra has immense knowledge of all things job-wise in the veterinary industry and we’re happy to share that with you.

You can BROADEN your horizons by registering for jobs anywhere in the world – let us know you’re prepared to work with sun bears in Borneo or elephants in Thailand or whatever your interest is and we’ll share those jobs with you as received.

Above all else, we actually care about finding you the right place within the veterinary industry and we’re here to support you while you discover your passion.  When you graduate, Kookaburra will likely be there as well, providing your graduating class with a photo booth for the night or gifts such as wireless phone chargers or pick-me-up candy or by financially supporting your year’s special projects.

Bother spending two minutes now to reap the rewards of being a Kookaburra vet! Click on this registration link: www.kookaburravets.com/Australia/VregOz1.asp

Author:

Paula Strong
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

Robots vs Humans: The Evolution of Online Advertising

Ever Heard of the Dead Internet Theory?

The “Dead Internet Theory” suggests that much of the content we see on the internet (including social media platforms) is actually created by artificial intelligence interacting with other AI. While it’s an exaggerated claim to say that all content is AI-generated, the idea that a significant portion of it could be is both intriguing and unsettling.

In fact, it’s estimated that 57% of web-based text content is AI-generated or translated as of now. Though experts initially predicted that 90% of online content would be AI-generated by 2025, it’s clear we’re moving toward a future where much of what we encounter online is the product of artificial intelligence. If you’re wondering whether you’ve been debating recipes with a robot on Facebook, well, it’s not that far-fetched!

Scrolling through your feeds can feel like a wild west of strange content—sometimes you might even stumble upon unexpected gems, like “Shrimp Jesus” making an appearance on your timeline.

But what does all this have to do with your online ad?

Clicks and Views: How Reliable Are They?

A common question we get is, “How is my ad performing?” Many people rely on total clicks or views as an indicator of success. But today, these metrics are increasingly unreliable. With over 70,000 AI companies scanning the web, bots are constantly harvesting data and triggering views—often in ways that skew results.

Bots such as Amazonbot, Bingbot, Googlebot, and Yahoo Slurp crawl the internet every day to index websites for search engines. These bots often follow the robots.txt protocol, a set of rules used by websites to control which pages they can crawl. But even when blocked, bots can bypass these restrictions by coming from third-party sites or simply ignoring the rules altogether, leading to what we call “botted views.”

Here are some examples of a robots.txt file used by Cloudflare and Stack Overflow – https://www.cloudflare.com/robots.txt (allows some crawling by specific instructions) and https://stackoverflow.com/robots.txt (allows no crawling for entire website).

But What About Human Views?

Even human interactions with your ad can be misleading. Consider these factors:

1. Duplicate clicks: Someone might see your ad, show initial interest, and then return later to check it again. This can inflate your view count.
2. Foreign applicants: If your ad is reaching people from outside your location (especially if you’re hiring in a country like Australia or New Zealand), it might attract applicants with foreign qualifications that require a lengthy recognition process. This results in a drawn-out recruitment cycle, which may not be ideal for your clinic.

So, how can you tell if your ad is truly reaching the right audience with just views?

Why Aren’t I Getting Applications?

Sometimes, even if your ad is getting human views, it might not be attracting quality applications. Here are a few reasons why:

• Cumbersome application processes: If you’re using a careers portal with multiple steps (e.g., creating an account, uploading documents, filling in surveys), applicants may abandon the process in favour of an easier alternative. Make sure your application process is as straightforward as possible.
• Unfriendly presentation: If your ad looks like a wall of text, potential applicants might be turned off. Instead, break down key details into short, bold bullet points to make it more skimmable and engaging. Highlight the most important points using bold or italics.

How Can I Tell If My Ad Is Actually Working?

If view counts and clicks are unreliable, the best way to assess your ad’s effectiveness is through human interaction. Are you receiving inquiries about the position via email, phone, or in-person? Applicants might not always send their resume immediately but could still be showing interest by reaching out for more information.

Author:

John Maude
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

Learn More About Robots and Crawlers

Curious about web crawlers and the robots.txt protocol? Google offers some great resources on this topic. Check them out here: Google’s Robots.txt guide.

Want to Create Content Like a Bot and Usher in the Downfall of the Internet?

Interested in exploring AI-generated content? You can try out some popular tools:

• SocialBee: Text generator with a free trial – SocialBee
• Radaar: Text & Image generator with a 14-day free trial – Radaar
• Adobe Firefly: Image generator (login required) – Adobe Firefly
• Midjourney: Image generator (subscription-based) – Midjourney