In order to help you to get a head start Alasdair Spinner has written this blog to share the experience of one of his candidates who has managed to secure several interviews in Australia. Her experience is a great example of the benefits of starting the registration process early. If you would like to find out more about the registration process and opportunities for Radiologists in Australia feel free to contact Alasdair.
This month I’ve helped a Radiologist from South America secure 6 interviews with healthcare providers in Australia. Fingers crossed, we should be getting the first of at least 4 offers for her coming through in the next few weeks. Interestingly, the radiologist did not complete her specialist training in what Australian health authorities describe as their preferred ‘Competent Country’ (UK, Eire, NZ, Canada, USA, SA) when assessing consultant level medical professionals from overseas. In my experience, CVs from Doctors who trained in other countries don’t normally do as well through the Australian recruitment process.
The Radiologist sent me her CV 3 months before her interview date in Sydney. Following a discussion about her personal and professional preferences I then contacted an agreed profile group of employers in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Despite having no Australian academic or clinical experience nor having completed her specialist training in a ‘Competent Country’ she secured more interviews then I’d expect for someone who had come from these countries and who also had more experience. Why is this?
Well the answer is quite revealing of the employment attitudes and commercial imperatives of Australian radiology providers. The reason why my Radiologist secured so many interviews is because she started the Australian medical registration and college assessment process independently of any job offer. She began a self-funded process that included getting her credentials verified by the Australian Medical Council (AMC), and the assessment by the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Radiology (RANZCR) that included a face to face interview in Sydney.
Her success highlights a huge issue that effects international medical recruitment into Australia – risk. If you are a non-Australian trained Consultant Radiologist and you secure a job offer from an Australian employer, it can be anything from 9-12 months before you can actually arrive in the country to start work. The medical registration process and especially the RANZCR’s assessment system is expensive, onerous and rigorous. Therefore, a commercial enterprise (most radiology in Australia is private) can spend 12 months planning and preparing for your arrival with no guarantee of it actually taking place.
Despite having a substantial and lucrative job offer, despite investing time and money in the medical and college registration process, the fact remains that for an international radiologist intent on moving, life can get in the way. A year is a long time and circumstances can really test people’s commitment to relocating to Australia. Desires and motivations can change, they may get offered a job elsewhere in the world, they may a get a promotion in their current position, or they may completely revise Australia. Either way, a 12 month wait for an employee represents a significant risk for any type of hiring company.
My radiologist from South America was so popular with clinics because she took on all this risk herself. Doing this underlined her absolute commitment to relocating to Australia. From a hiring perspective the fact she had completed her AMC verification and secured a face to face interview with RANZCR – all self-funded – demonstrated that it was only a question of which Australian employer she would be working for rather than if she moved to Australia. In any skill short private industry, when word reaches employers that there is highly skilled available talent, the competition for it can surprise. The Radiologist’s required attendance in Sydney for the RANZCR interview also allowed for actual physical meetings with prospective employers rather than reliance on Skype etc. to make hiring decisions. Further, this method shortens the timeline from job offer to start date to 4 instead of 12 months, allowing for an employer to more accurately plan their business.
If you are a radiologist and have decided to relocate to Australia, you will make yourself more employable in a competitive environment, if you start the Australian medical registration and RANZCR assessment process before you start the job hunting process.
If you want to discuss what this process entails in more detail and to discuss working in Australia more generally, please do get in touch with me.
* Please note: Australian College assessment processes and timelines vary depending on individual Colleges.
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