Nursing jobs in New Zealand

[elleann]

I'm from Cape Town in South Africa and am waiting for the NZ Nursing Council to process my application for registration (they have all the paperwork in hand!) but in the meanwhile, I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has applied for registered nurse jobs in New Zealand.

How keen are employers to offer jobs without a face to face interview?

Is there any significant benefit (to the candidate) to applying for jobs via an agency as opposed to applying privately? I'm assuming that an employer taking a agency candidate is going to have to pay commission, whereas taking a private applicant means no commission... any thoughts on this?

We are most interested in living in Wellington - I have over 25 years clinical and managerial experience in a wide range of nursing fields, most recently elder care and case management. I'm also a freelance writer/editor and would love to eventually work in this field, but my nursing qualification is the basis on which I am making this move. Any thoughts, ideas and suggestions would be great!! Thank you!!

Linda

[SNK05]

Hi Linda

Firstly can I say, I don't think you'll have a problem securing a post as a nurse! There are always positions advertised all over NZ. If you're looking at the Wellington area, here is the DHB (District Health Board) site...

http://www.ccdhb.org.nz/

Search the careers/vacancy area, you'll see what I mean! Also, have you tried looking at some of the employment sites such as......

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-me-jobs/index.htm

http://www.seek.co.nz/?tracking=sknz-netnav

You could also 'Google' nursing in NZ and trawl through anything that looks interesting or relevant. That's what I did.

I registered with Geneva Health who are very helpful. I believe that another agency called Tonix are also good? A word of warning re: agencies, if they ask you for money, don't register! I'm still in the UK and was successful in my application for a post in NZ. Interviewed back in April, over the phone, accepted the offer and am currently waiting on approval of our PR application. Most DHB's are prepared to wait for you to get your visa and will hold the post, often for several months.

Hope that helps? I'm sure other nurses on the forum will also offer advice too.

Good luck with your journey.....

Sue
xx

[elleann]

Thanks Sue! I've been keeping a close eye on all the job boards you mentioned, as well as the DHB sites plus quite a few others. I linked up with Geneva a while back, and have also talked with a few others ... one agency simply sent my CV off without telling me they were going to do so which I felt was a bit off, especially as they submitted it to all the main employers in the Welly area in a very non-specific way:ie 'Here's a nurse, do you have a job for her?' And this was before I'd even sent my documents to the NZNC! Not surprisingly, there was no response (that I heard of) even though the CV was out for over a month, at which stage I formally terminated my association with them. I'd rather wait until my registration is through and then apply directly for a specific position... well, that is what seems right to me, although I am totally open to hearing other opinions.

May I ask you something: your RN reg took eight months to be processed? Was that from the time you sent off your docs? Is that normal? Or did you run into particular hassles?

Thanks for the input!
Linda

[britzy]

We didn't use an agency or immigration consultant,did it all ourselves quite easily.Once we had chosen where to settle just contacted the local DHB to make enquires,this lead onto telephone interviews,all quite informal,then a job offer.Our nurse registration took around 3 months to process,which is very good as they are quite slow,you need to keep track of whats been sent to them as occasionally things can get lost.
Fortunately getting a job as a nurse is the easy bit so good luck with your job hunting.

[sirmamac]

I just got a nursing job in New Zealand-starting in couple of weeks.I contacted Tonix from the Uk in March this year.They dealt with the finding the job i wanted only(the immigration side was all sorted prior to applying for job).Tonix were very helpful,efficient and found me exactly the job I wanted ,the hours I needed. Also this way i saved lots of valuble time looking-had a milion other things to sort out I could not get some help with!They were very aproachable,always returned emails and phonecalls and the advise i got from them was very useful.Can not recomend it enough.I registered with the Nursing Council within 2 months-it helps if you send all the documentation at once.

[nickydwuk]

I went through Geneva and they were really good in arranging the phone interview & references and the follow up. The only drawback with an agency is that you might not get a relocation package but if you go direct you may be lucky. I never got one but they did hold the job for over 12 months for me. As for the NZNC rehgistration - keep chasing them - they will not let you know if they haven't received all your documents. They have got a reputation for losing some. Good luck. Where do you hope to settle?

[Tomsk]

I got my NZ nurse registration before I left the UK, but decided against applying for a job from that distance, I wanted to be able to look around any potential workplace and get a feel for it, see what job opportunities were available and all that. I was lucky in that hubby already had a job, so I could afford to have a few weeks without work, which was great because it gave me time to settle into my new home, get the children into school and job hunt. There are a lot of nursing jobs available over here, I could have started work in my third week (probably even second) if I'd wanted, but I hung out for the community job that I'd seen advertised and set my heart on....even with that I was in employment in a great job, in less than a month after arriving.

[SNK05]

May I ask you something: your RN reg took eight months to be processed? Was that from the time you sent off your docs? Is that normal? Or did you run into particular hassles?

Thanks for the input!
Linda

Hi Linda

Mine took forever but don't worry, that's NOT normal! I received an intitial letter from them when I first submitted my application, just to say that they were waiting on my references, unbeknown to me, the 1st set all went AWOL. Having chased my referees, twice, they eventually received them. I would definately agree with Nicky....keep chasing them! They are not in a position to let you know what documents have or have not arrived.

Good luck with the process

Sue xx

[elleann]

Thanks for the advice! I know my own set of docs got there (I couriered it over) and I know all my nursing transcripts got there (same thing) but the references and my list of hours worked over the last three years all went by snail mail. I had already thought to email them to request confirmation of receipt of these specifically, and you have now reminded me to do so - thanks!!
Linda