Australian healthcare recruiters worked 'flat out' to keep up with volume of Irish applicants

Healthcare workers believe careers abroad will give them a better work/life balance.

Recruiters looking to attract medical staff from Ireland to Australia say they worked "flat out" at a Healthcare Jobs Fair at the RDS in Dublin on Saturday with 1,000 to 1,500 healthcare workers seeking information about working abroad.

The St John of God healthcare group has 24 hospitals and facilities across Australia and are seeking to recruit nurses, midwives, and doctors.

It will continue to carry out one-on one-interviews today and on Monday as part of their recruitment drive which is also seeing them visit London, Glasgow, Birmingham, and Manchester.

Dani Meinema, group director nursing at St John of God Health Care, said that the interviews have been going exceptionally well.

"The one in London was really good but with the one in Dublin we found that there was a lot higher number of potential candidates. We had seven people in our team manning our stall and we were flat out.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

"There must have been potentially around 1,000-1,500 people who came through in the day. Obviously, there is a mixture. Some people are having a bit of a look and others are more serious. It was a really good response."

The team spoke to more than 1,000 people and ended up taking the details of 151 people on the first day of the jobs fair. They conducted just under 30 full interviews on Saturday, with more taking place on Sunday and Monday. The team estimates that it will offer work to 95% of applicants selected for the full interview process.

Ms Meinema says they are hopeful they will recruit a couple of hundred employees from their full trip to Ireland and Britain.

We are looking 200 to 300 people if we can recruit that many.

She says in London people talked about wanting to move to Australia because of the weather and outdoors lifestyle.

In Dublin, the attendees were broken down into two categories.

"There were the young nurses who have a couple of years' experience and are looking to have a bit of an adventure in Australia. Then there are the other candidates who see Australia as their long-term goal.

"This is most relevant to non-Irish background nurses, ones who have come from other countries such as India and the Philippines. What they do is it an easier path to get to Australia by going to the UK or Ireland first.

"For them it is about lifestyle, work balance, and to be honest the weather which is a huge thing. I think people see they would have more of a work life balance in Australia compared to here."

The healthcare group is seeking to employ nurses, midwives, allied health practitioners, junior and senior doctors. They are offering up to $10,000 (AUD) financial relocation assistance for eligible items such as visa fees, flights, or shipping.