A way to do it, my story

Hey reader,

Recently I have got so many followers and engagement within the healthcare sector especially when it comes to working with nurses. In this article, I will share my story with you about who I am and how I started as a nurse and ended up in the recruitment business.

And the best part! For all my colleagues who are thinking about going abroad, I have made a really simple 6 steps presentation that will explain to you the whole process end to end and how to do it. If you will ever have an idea to take a step forward and work in EU, USA, the Middle East which is 100% possible, you should jump to the link below and give yourself some time to read this. After that you have me waiting for your questions like an open book.

FYI the presentation is only for those healthcare professionals who are interested to work abroad. 2 versions. One is me talking in the presentation, and the other one is slides only.

1. Me talking in the presentation

2. Slides only

Before I start! For all the nurses from the UK, Ireland, and Germany who are reading this; The things I am going to talk about would be major reasons for all your foreign colleagues to be in the country, not interested to go back to theirs anymore (Spain, Croatia, Romania, Italy, Litva, Latvia, India, Philippines, etc.).

My story starts in Croatia(EU) where I am originally coming from. As soon as I have received my nursing degree I decided to move abroad and work in the UK as a nurse. Why? When you combine our Croatian healthcare system that decides to provide a handful of nurses to be in the shift working on a certain ward?department with a salary that is sad compared to other EU countries (550-750 euros net), you look a bit nuts when you decide to stay in the country.

1. I found myself a recruiter - A person who is happy to find me a suitable job position, prepare me for the interview over skype application so I can have a better chance to get the job, work on getting all the paperwork done(which is often a really boring, long hassle that is indeed necessary) organize my accommodation, flights, visa, bank accounts, etc., will do a follow up once everything is done and is always here to jump in if something possibly goes wrong or delays.

The university hospital in Cambridge decided to give me a position to work as a Staff Band 4 at that time. Now I would be a healthcare assistant initially because of the language requirements. 6 months after the offer has been made I am still at my home waiting for so many random things to be sorted that hasn't been said at all, like a request from the hospital for me to do an extra English course, prolonged waiting because of the visa, etc. To cut the story short....... I quit with my plan to go to Cambridge and ended up working in Ireland. I thanked my recruiter for the amazing job, but lack of luck(or let's say big-time luck) gave me another opportunity. I decided to do in-home care as a support worker that an unqualified person could do as well, just to go outside the country AND START AT LAST!

2. I ended up living in Ireland working as a healthcare assistant recruited by one agency. The agency upfronted the costs of my flights and accommodation because I had only 300 euros left in my pocket which was really cool for them to do. Now here comes the flip in the story.

I was on induction day for 3 days after just flying in the country and the company that was supposed to give me the job but has rather decided to not go with me. Why? I have slept throughout these classes. My father would often say for the situation that has happened "sometimes you need to sleep through to get better things from life". In a way it looked like I am not interested but come on guys, few factors happened here. I ate a big lunch that day, was listening to the same basics to caregiving because I was attending the class with people who have been learning care for the first time. We were thought in the first year of nursing college these things and were repeating them until the day where you could wake me up in the middle of the night and I would start singing this knowledge straight away. Anyways, I was fighting with all my energies to stay awake, but damn I couldn't...

3. Agency offered me a recruitment consultant position with them hence I wanted to return the "favor" and give my best. Let's prove that I deserve this position. I learned things I should and I shouldn't, was bollocks with questions and wanted to know everything. I fell in love with recruitment and recognized that I really enjoy working with people, reaching out and finding them jobs. I became BEST! Why can I say that so easily? Because I cared! I cared so much that everything goes well, that my candidates understood the vacancy, were comfortable to approach the idea to move abroad, to say goodbye to their loved ones and change their life and help them with all the things along the way.

The cool thing was that I had an opportunity to help other nurses now and people from other sectors to come from abroad to work in the country. I have been there and wanted to give them the best service there can be as soon as it can be achieved.

Shortly I became a manager, we expanded the team and in a year's time, I started to work for my self due to many factors that have happened in my career, in many cases not so great but that is not a story to tell :) The bottom line is that I nailed with all the parts of the job and I just wanted to be more, be free and implement my ideas and not have unnecessary obstacles along the way. Everyone deserves to choose their destiny. Choose wisely and grind:)

4. I quit eventually, opened my LTD company and have connected with the Seriously Connected brand that I am currently a part of and will continue to be. They make my recruitment process really easy, fast and efficient. The cool part is that each candidate can just apply on the website and have an account will update on the vacancies based on their preferences whether that is a higher salary, living and working near the beach, in another city, relocation package for the whole family, assistance with flights, cars, fuels if it is in-home care, etc.. You name it! Hospitals, nursing homes, community care, agency work .....

Please look at the beauty for a second. Today I can give all the time to one person who needs is going to need my attention to have a successful career change. I can decide to work with so many companies in the healthcare sector that are highly recommended and have the best reviews because I want my candidates to get the best jobs.

They are and the coolest things of all and I am so happy to be a part of the industry and am constantly improving, of course. As long as I care and am passionate, I will be who I am, THE BEST!

Stay humble, stay grateful