So, you’ve seen the pictures of the sandy beaches of the Gold Coast and decided to leave the drizzle of England behind and relocate to Australia. You’ve looked into rental properties in a great neighbourhood, reached out to some contacts on LinkedIn, and even considered new schools for the kids… now to choose the right job for your specialty and experience.
As experts in medical recruitment, we know you may have had to apply to several different hospitals and clinics in different states, and you’ve had several tentative offers - but which one do you go for? Money isn’t always the answer When relocating abroad (or even interstate), there are many factors to take into consideration: family, social, cultural, lifestyle, and financial. It’s easy to focus on salary as the primary driver in relocating, but what if we told you that money does not always equal happiness? In the recruitment industry, we have a term: ‘financial putty’. If you haven’t heard of it, it describes a scenario where a company throws more money at their potential employees to cover a high turnover rate, poor culture or any number of factors that will ultimately affect your work / life balance. And if there’s one thing our experience has taught us, it’s that Australians and New Zealanders work to live, and why we wouldn’t they?! We’ve worked with enough medical professionals to know that a high salary won’t necessarily equal happiness or job satisfaction. So before you uproot yourself and the family, here are our recommendations for choosing a job abroad. 5 recommendations for choosing the right job:
Make a list of what you don’t like about your current situation, as well as things you enjoy. This will provide you with clarity on what you really want out of your new life.
Consider what type of environment you and your family would you like to be surrounded by? Cosmopolitan, rugged, urban, regional, coastal?
Think about what activities you like to do in your downtime. Entrench yourself in the surroundings of what will best fit the normal family activities you enjoy doing.
Think about your core values. Is it about open and honest communication? Taking initiative? Being involved in education and research? Make sure you bring these up when speaking with the Clinical Director to see if there’s alignment.
When you’re evaluating job offers and one is significantly higher than the others without a truly apparent reason (remote placement, travelling locum, high risk area etc), consider asking to speak to a current employee there to ask about the work conditions.
Remember: if you’re happy outside of work, you’ll most likely be happy at work too. If you have family, always go for where you AND your family will be most happy, otherwise the extra money you’re making in the new job will only end up being spent on an external visa (and potentially another move!) to make you happy
Contact the experts
Scope-Medical is a Specialist Medical Recruitment Agency focusing on bespoke services for Registrars, Consultants, Clinical Directors, and Executives, into positions across Australia and New Zealand. If you’re a medical professional looking for work in Australia or New Zealand, give us a call +61 3 8060 5181.