Registration and speaking good English is a must.

Healthcare recruitment agencies can help find work with advice and training in the two basic requirements of the sector.

The Irish healthcare sector provides a good living to many people from outside the Irish republic. It also welcomes anybody who can speak English, is qualified to practice and who is registered. Healthcare recruitment agencies can help non-Irish people with each of these requirements. For job applicants who gained their skills outside the European Union, they need a recognized qualification in speaking reading and writing English.

All three of these requirements must be in place before any job interview can take place. Healthcare recruitment agencies will help applicants with English as a second language to achieve academic English language tests (IELTs) like those sponsored by the British Council. It is very clear; applicants will be refused registration as a health worker in Ireland if they do not have good English as demonstrated in these tests. Anyone hoping to take up a job in the health service in Ireland needs an academic qualification with an overall grade score of 7 especially in the writing and speaking aspects. Reading and listening scores must be over 6.5. The written exams such as ‘Test of English as a Foreign Language – Test of Spoken English’ (T.O.E.F.L – T.S.E) demand a total passing score of 570.

When the tests are computerized the passing score is 230. Hospitals in Ireland employ many people and have large numbers joining and leaving constantly. Interview panels are conducted on a regular basis often in Dublin. Healthcare recruitment agencies will help applicants with coordinating travel plans and interviews and hopefully starting dates.

Candidates will need to provide lots of supporting documentation. Recruitment agencies can help with this too especially the primary document that is a CV. This needs to be complete, concise and accurate. Any qualifications mentioned in the CV need to have copies of the certificates. Proof of a nursing certificate where applicable is also needed along with proof of registration. Finally two photos and a covering explanation letter will make the job application process all the quicker.

To work in the healthcare sector in Eire everyone has to be registered with An Bord Altranais or the Irish Nursing Board. So here is the most important piece of information at the very start of any healthcare job search, it is the address and phone number for the registration form, 18/20 Carysfort Avenue, 
Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland (+3531) 639 8500.

Of course there is the ubiquitous website at www.nursingboard.ie. The registration process can take anything up to three months so the first piece of advise for anyone wanting move into a healthcare career is to start NOW.