MAORI AND PACIFIC HEALTH CARE ASSISTANT
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
TRAINING STARTS28 AUGUST 2017!
The Director of Nursing and Midwifery Jos Peach has once again provided a window of opportunity for ten reliable, caring people of Māori and/or Pacific ethnicity to come and train for free on the Waitemata DHB Health Care Assistant Development programme! This is a great way to start a career in health.
RECRUITMENT
We have a small team working together to recruit people. We are looking for the following personal qualities:
- Honesty and reliability. This is the most important quality and we will be testing reliability throughout the whole selection process.
- Proactive. Those who follow up,do what they say they will do, and double check that things are done properly.
- Flexibility. Able to work up to 40 hours per week, on any shift on anyday including weekends. Shift times are 7am-3pm, 3pm-11pm, 11pm-7am.
- Caring, positive and warm personality. Clean and smart personal presentation.
- Strong Māori and/or Pacific identity
- Lives locally to either Waitakere or North Shore Hospitals
- Goodlearner in both practical and theory lessons
- Team player
- Interested ina health career
- No previous criminal convictions
Healthcare experience or qualifications are not necessary.People with experience or who are not of Maori/Pacific ethnicity please see which is the general job board.
THE TRAINING COURSE
This programme supports Waitemata DHB’s goal of increasing its Māori and Pacific workforce at all levels.
The training component is a four weektraining course, starting on 28 August 2017. It is a full-time courseMonday to Friday approximately 8 hours per day across Waitakere and North Shore Hospital sites. Some training days may start at 0730hrs i.e. 7:30am.
This is not an accredited course, it is only recognised by Waitemata DHB.
There are no tuition or administration fees, however, trainees are not paid to attend and they have to cover their own costs e.g. travel, parking, childcare, food etc. WINZ have provided a dedicated contact person who is friendly and will support their offices to ensure our trainees access all the entitlements available.
AFTER GRADUATION
Successful graduates will be treated as preferred candidateswhen applying to Waitemata DHB for Health Care Assistant roles, and although this is a huge advantage there is no guarantee of employment. Graduates of this programme do not need to meet the usual criteria for Health Care Assistant roles at Waitemata DHB, i.e. 2 years working as a carer in a rest home and/or Health Care Assistant NZQA Level 3 qualification or higher, and/or clinical experience as a student of a health degree-level course.
HISTORY OF THIS PROGRAMME
The first cohort of trainees had a number of successes. Ten people started their training course in May 2014, and nine graduated. Eight were employed by Waitemata DHB within three weeks of graduating, and all eight are still in their jobs nearly a year later. Our ninth graduate didn’t apply for jobs due to unforeseen circumstances; otherwise we would have had a 100% employment rate.
Wecontinue to promote different opportunities for career development to these eight employees, and we are really proud to say that four of themare now studying part-time for their NZQA Level 3 Health Care Assistant qualification fully paid for by the DHB.
HOW TO APPLY
Please apply online. Please ensure the correct contact details are on the CV.
People will not be shortlisted if they provide incorrect details and/or incomplete information or miss the deadline.
COVER LETTER INSTRUCTIONS
The cover letter tells us things that the CV doesn’t show, so please don’t summarize your CV in the cover letter. The letter should be one page or 1 ½ pages long. Remember - no spelling mistakes!
Suggested format of cover letter:
Your address at the top
Date
To Whom It May Concern:
State that you are applying for this training course. It’s called “Waitemata DHB Health Care Assistant Development Programme”.
Talk about who you are in terms of your own identity, your family, your community and if you have any networks with the Waitemata DHB or health sector.
Talk about why you think you would like to work for Waitemata DHB (hint: talk about the DHB values, google search ‘Waitemata DHB values’).
Talk about why you would be a great person to do this training course. If you have had a personal experience that has motivated you to want a career in health, it would be great to share that in your letter. Remember also, we are looking for reliable, proactive, caring people of Maori and/or Pacific ethnicity.
State that you are flexible with working hours up to 40 hours per week. Talk about how you can work any day of the week including weekends, and can work any shift including morning, day and night shift. If you have a family, talk about how you will manage this e.g. whānau support, child care etc.
Talk about how you plan to travel to the training whether it is at either Waitakere or North Shore Hospitals. If you don’t mind travelling between both hospitals, you will be favoured over someone who only wants one or the other.If you don’t live locally to either Waitakere or North Shore Hospitals, your chances of being picked are quite small unless you make a great case for avoiding lateness due to commuting.
CV INSTRUCTIONS
If the work history isn’t in a health-related field or if there isn’t much work history at all, you can still submit a good CV. Remember to show casual jobs, community/volunteer roles, etc and remember – no spelling mistakes!
Suggested format of your CV:
Current and accurate contact details (i.e. right phone numbers and emails so we can contact you!)
List your work history from most recent first.
Organisation name and location (e.g. Auckland, Wellington etc)
Role you were in
Month and year that you started and finished each role
A couple of bullet points about your role
List the contact details for at least two referees who have been your employer or who are of good standing in your community and have observed your work ethic. We will not contact them without asking you first.
CALL TO ACTION
We know there are many more caring, deserving Māori and Pacific people in our local communities who would love this opportunity. Please email them this because this training course could lead into the career of a lifetime.
Main contact person for recruitment:
Selah Hart, Māori Workforce Development Coordinator, Auckland and Waitemata DHBs.
Email: