Chances of getting a nursing job after bridging. What are the factors?

jedfort · Nov 14, 2013

Hi princess, I can't send a private message in your inbox since it says you have to clear out some messages first in order for me to send you one. thanks![/quote
Is this possible?what is ur previous visa? And why do u want to change it?
i was on a 456 visa but opting to go back in Oz where i can work legally even if it is only good for 20 hours a week, since i am having a hard time looking for a job. anyone here knows where i can apply and be sponsored my most recent experience was in aged care but as carer.

teabag24 · Nov 19, 2013

@ceredwyn... good day sir, I would just like to have a quick assessment, i am a registered nurse from the philippines with 3 years + of post grad 2years plus in the ER. What would be my chances of landing a job after a bridging course. I will be taking up the March intake @ UNISA next year. Does other paths like Skillselect or through Skilled migrant routes offer mo chances of success?

Thank you

.

princessblush · Nov 24, 2013

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile now since the last time I actually check this site but I was a constant reader and poster here before. Seems like a lot has changed already.

I am currently working here in Australia now for 1 year and 8 months or so. I did my bridging course at La Trobe University in Bendigo. Very blessed to land a job and be sponsored by my employer.

And true enough I have noticed there are not a lot of available RN jobs that offer sponsorship at the moment. I have friends that finished their bridging for a few months now yet they have not found a job yet. Some have just gone home to the Philippines. pretty stiff competition though as they prefer local graduates perhaps as they don't have to spend for their visas unlike international nurses.

ceridwyn · Nov 26, 2013

Thanks for reporting back to the forum princessblush,

The reason that local nurses are supposed to be preferred for positions, is the same in everycountry.

There is no general nurse shortage at this time. local graduates are not getting graduate or nurse with no experience required jobs, this is not because the government has cut back on numbers, its because the profession is now top heavy with nowhere for nurses with no experience to go.

It is only reasonable that employers have preference for locals as the government has spent thousands on most subsidising their education and the new nurses themselves have debts of 10,000 to 20,000.

Australian nurses have subjects, studying the population of Australia and have, however small, some understanding of the indigenous people. They have heard the dreaming and the stories and their idea of health and their community. They are educated to see patients in the wholistic view of nursing not as a task.

Australian educated nurses are educated to understand that our community is multicultural, so one size does not fit all, and therefore different cultures have different views on health and the medical profession and institutions.

If born here understand the health system better as they have the lived experience and it is an obligation to the taxpayers and Australian parents and citizens that government employers especially, they are the preferred employee and nurse, until an immigrant nurse has at least a few years experience here first of course.Which has been reported was not happening at times, causing much community concern, hence the government directive to have preference to a nurse that has work rights.

I do not think the 1500 dollar 457 sponsorship fee has much to do with it these days except that the authority to sponsor is now not left into the hands of the workers in the PR dept. but must go through the executive to okay.

Congratulations on accomplishing your dream.

steppybay · Nov 26, 2013

As princessblush mentioned the job market for PH nurses is slowly grinding to a halt. This is why I have suggested that those thinking of borrowing money from places like Philman and other lenders that charge very high interest rates (35%-100%), the only guarantee out of this is that these lenders will go to the end of the world to find you to collect their monies. You will get tons of phone calls, changing your cell number will not work because they will harass your parents and your friends to give them your number to stop the barrage of 3-6 calls daily going to them.

Think of it this way, it's better to borrow the funds if needed from your parents or relatives or friends, if in the event, you're unable to pay them in a timely manner, it's way less hassles although it can be tough to face them in meetings, on holidays or dinners, but at least your cell is not ringing off the hook. I know because two of my contacts have to still find a nursing job after almost 2 years now since their BP program and that's with 3-4 years of paid hospital experience. The problem faced is that employers sees this gap of unemployment since the BP as too much time has lapsed. Not to mention they do not like to answer their cell phones any more and constantly screening the calls, it's been a living hell for them.

ozbaby · Nov 27, 2013

Hi steppybay.

May I just ask if your contacts applied for ANMAC skills assessment. Nothing would stop them from having a positive assessment because they are already done with bridging program and have atleast 3 years of experience, right? They could actually apply for immigration with skills independent, state and regional sponsorship since they can't find an employer to sponsor them. Once with visa, they are free to live and find a work in Australia. It won't be a problem for potential employers to sponsor/nominate them anymore.

om'sarah · Nov 27, 2013

i have 6 years of nursing exp. combined PHL and KSA, i recently passed the OET as well , if will finish my IRON program next year i hope i will be able to apply for PR after getting my registration as soon as possible, my question is how long it will take to process skills independent 189 visa? i want to be sure because i knew that it will be tough to search for a job after finishing bp though i have enough experience.

councilor28 · Feb 1, 2014

its been awhile since the last time that I have posted, and I will be honest that there where a lot of times that I wanted to.. but there are so many things going on I simply unintentionally ended up setting it aside...

what I know will help out a lot of people to be enlightened, but im just going to keep it short.. I promise to give a more detailed account of our story as soon as I can..

first off, DONT GET A LOAN FOR BRIDGING PROGRAM!!! DONT EVEN BORROW MONEY FROM FRIEND AND RELATIVES IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SURE WAY OF PAYING THEM, this will just ruin your relationship.

my wife is only 25 yr old with 4 years experience and she is about to finish ARNTP in UNISA this feb 28. the school is amazing, it was a longer than usual bp but it was great there. ive fallen in love with Adelaide but everything is expensive by our standards. I do not exaggerate but one thing that you should know is that you will need a lot of money to make this happen, for ourselves as of this writing I have spent close to 2 million pesos. we did come home for Christmas holiday and lived in the city and tho we were trying very hard to save our money, we did indulge and experience Adelaide since were already here and I can be broke but we really love to travel.

what im getting at is no matter how you try, this will cost a lot of money, and as it seems at the moment, getting a job right away is very hard.. almost next to impossible. yes we are all desperate, and yes we should take risk.. but it should be a calculated one! yes we all want a better life.. but there is no way in hell a HUGE LOAN will get things better for you. I did take this calculated risk because I have the capacity to do so... every bit of step I made was one carefully thought for a long time I made sure I had enough to cover everything.. and still I made some mistakes. ARNTP is about 650k, our living cost for 2.5 months is 450k, and then the plane tickets. maybe you can do better than us saving, but over all it would still be very costly. aussies even think all this is madness.

if you can afford it, even if its the last money you have and you fully understand what your about to do.. by all means do it! you make your dreams happen. but if your just going to borrow the money fingers crossed hope for the best, more often than not.. it will end up badly. don't be carried away with the excitement of going to Australia and blind hope, too many had been there already.

my though structure might be off because of the damn heat but what's important is, DONT BORROW MONEY TO DO BP!!

steppybay · Feb 1, 2014

I wanted to thank "councilor28" for his real life insight to the do not borrow to go to a bridging program, yes, it's a gamble at best since jobs are no longer guaranteed.

I copied and pasted my own comments below from another thread with the "Philman applicants" posting to add some further thoughts before borrowing:

In light of what I said above, as I have mentioned before I know of a couple of borrowers who could not repaid their loans after the BP due to unable to still find a job. (Now as of date, it's been 24 months and they have 3-4 years of paid experience).

These lenders no longer become your best friends as they will turn over the collection process to some very nasty people who will not be so nice and kind with constant phone calls all day long, harassing your friends and family (by phone) to let them know you OWE them the money and where can they find you and send weekly "love letters" addressed to the borrowers to pay up now!

They don't care if you can't find a job after 1 month or 1 year or 2 years after, they WANT their monies now!

Should you fall behind in your payments, the lender can AND will take you to court and win their case against you.

They can then take the court order's and go after your bank accounts and worse of all, they can ask your employer (present or in the future) to pay them some amount from your paycheck (an amount that will be higher than what you would have had to pay if you had been paying on time) every month before you receive your pay, it's called garnishment of wages. It's also an embarrassment that others will know of your financial troubles, even though, you're a nurse.

Guess who else ends up paying the lender's very expensive lawyer fees that filed against you in court? Since you can't pay it in full, they'll add it on to the loan OR can also go after your bank accounts or ask your employer to hold back some of your monthly paycheck to pay them.

Like I said, they are like sharks. The repayment period can be as short as 5 years to as long as 10-15 years of monthly payments.

ceridwyn · Feb 2, 2014

What is forgotten when applying for the skilled visa's is that, you actually apply as an expression of interest. If there is room in that occupation, as deemed by immigration :notworthy: and there is no cap for that skill, then you will be offered the visa.

Our union is well aware things are getting tough for locals and that employers are taking the easy way out and not spending money on education so there was talk of a cap being placed on nursing in the future. I have also heard recently that a couple of nurses were not given positive results on their expression of interest application, but were put on a waiting list.

ceridwyn · Feb 2, 2014

Thanks for your post Councillor, I have made the post not to get finance, many many many many, times before as jobs for sponsorship are being greatly reduced, and then had posts made not in my favour with trying to douse,, Filipino dreams and racism. "Do not post if you cannot give good new"" "Donit try to stop my dreams" hoping no one has the intention to let one's dream to be pulled down.. "" God will provide is another catchcry.....

iamnomad · Feb 2, 2014

I don't think the warnings are racist in nature. I am a Filipino nurse and naturally, I would have empathy and support for my fellow Filipino nurses and would encourage them to try their "Aussie dream". But, with so much money at stake, and the uncertainty of job offers and sponsorship, it is only fitting that we give warnings to potential overseas RN applicants. It is somewhat our social responsibility to give them the most accurate and realistic information esp. with regards to employment and immigration.

Again, these are "warnings" and are not meant to push yous away from your Aussie dreams. It should serve as a guide on how yous handle the next steps and foresee possible scenarios. And if in the end yous pursue your Aussie dreams, then I wish you all the best.