You posted a job on SEEK. Three applications came in. One of them was a nursing student who forgot to change their cover letter from the last gig she applied for. The other two looked like AI did the typing.

If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. This is the conversation I have over and over with business owners on the Sunshine Coast.

Why SEEK ads are quietly failing

A few years ago, SEEK was the no-brainer. You'd post, you'd get fifteen applications, you'd run group interviews, and you'd pick the best one. Owners I've spoken to remember those days clearly.

One local owner told me she used to get sixteen applicants every time she opened a role. She'd run a group interview, sort the wheat from the chaff, and have a hire within two weeks. Now she's thrilled if one person applies. And halfway through the interview, she's the one hoping they like her.

That flip, from picking candidates to begging candidates, is what's changed. And once you see it, every other hiring frustration starts to make sense.

What's actually going on

Unemployment in Australia is sitting around 4.1% nationally. On the Sunshine Coast, it's even tighter, around 3.2%. That's near full employment, which sounds like a good thing until you're the one trying to hire.

Full employment means the best people already have jobs. They're not refreshing SEEK on a Tuesday lunch break. They're not browsing job ads. They're at work, getting on with it.

The people who ARE on SEEK and Indeed in big numbers fall into a few categories. People between jobs for a reason. People applying to everything just to see what sticks. People using AI to spray and pray cover letters. International applicants who aren't eligible to work in your role.

None of these is the candidate you want.

Meanwhile, you're paying SEEK $300 to $700 a listing, plus their premium add-ons, and the inbox is either silent or full of mismatches.

The cover letter from a different planet

This is the moment most owners describe. You open an application full of hope. You read the cover letter. It's addressed to a business you don't run, for a role you didn't advertise, in an industry you're not in.

It's not malicious. It's just what happens when SEEK and AI tools combine. Job seekers apply to dozens of roles a day, often using a single template they've forgotten to update. The ones with the strongest skills don't need to spray. The ones who spray usually aren't strong.

This is the trust gap in modern hiring. You can't tell who actually wants the job because so many of them are mass-applying.

Where your real candidate actually is

Your ideal candidate isn't on SEEK. They've already got a job. They're just not happy where they are.

Maybe they're working for a boss who treats them like a number. Maybe the workplace culture has soured. Maybe they're sick of the long drive into Brisbane. Maybe they want better hours or more flexibility or more interesting work.

They're not actively looking. But they're open.

Where are they spending their attention? The same place everyone else is. Scrolling at lunch. Scrolling after a shift. Half-watching Reels while waiting for the kettle to boil. Facebook, Instagram, sometimes LinkedIn.

This is where you find them. Not by yelling about a vacancy. By showing them something better.

What "something better" actually looks like

This is where most owners get stuck. They know they should be doing video and social ads, but they don't know what to film.

The answer is simpler than it seems. You show what your workplace is actually like.

A short walk-through of the workshop or office. Real footage, not staged. Clean bays, organised systems, a calm atmosphere. Whatever your real standard looks like.

A team member or two talking about why they stay. Unscripted. Real words. Not corporate testimonial stuff.

The owner or manager explaining what success in the role actually looks like. Not the boilerplate "opportunities for growth" line, but a specific picture of what a good first 90 days looks like.

Role visuals. The actual work, the actual tools, the actual standards.

This kind of content does what a SEEK ad can never do. It lets a passive candidate, someone scrolling at lunch, get a real sense of whether your workplace is one they'd want to move to.

Putting it in front of the right people

Film alone isn't enough. You need to put it in front of the right locals.

Targeted social ads on Facebook and Instagram do this brilliantly. You can target people within 25 kilometres of your business. You can narrow by industry, by job title, by interests. You can put your workplace in front of every qualified person within driving distance, repeatedly, until the right ones start to notice.

A passive candidate might see your ad seven times before they engage. They might see it twelve times before they apply. That's normal. That's how you build the kind of recognition that turns into "actually, I'd consider that."

Why this works when SEEK doesn't

SEEK is fishing in a pond of active applicants. Most of whom aren't a fit.

Social ads are fishing in a pond of passive candidates. Most of whom are exactly the kind of person you want.

One is shrinking. The other is most of the talent pool.

It's not that SEEK is broken. It's that the world has moved on, and the best candidates moved with it.

What to do this week

If you've got an open role and SEEK isn't delivering, here's the simplest version of what to try.

Film a 60-second walk-through of your workplace on your phone. Get one team member to say two sentences about why they like working there. Get it edited into a clean 30 to 45 second clip. Run it as a Facebook and Instagram ad targeted to your local area with a $20 to $50 a day budget.

Watch what happens. Even a rough first attempt usually beats six weeks of SEEK silence.

The takeaway

SEEK isn't broken. It's just not where the people you want are spending their time.

If you keep posting and praying, you'll keep getting nursing-student cover letters. The fix is to stop fishing in the same pond as everyone else, and start showing your workplace to the people who'd genuinely move for it.

Want help building a simple campaign for your next role? Book a 15-minute call and we'll map it out.