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Difficuty finding a full time position

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Author Difficuty finding a full time position

New.Beginning

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  • Joined: Sep 2012
  • Location: Melbourne
  • Posts: 11

Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:04 am

Hi, I am hoping someone can give me some advice, I am getting frustrated with finding a full time position. I recently completed Certificate III in Aged Care in Melbourne. Every agency I have contacted have advised me I need at least six months experience before they will consider me, and every position advertised is either part time hours or casual work (with part time hours).

As I'm sure you can appreciate I have financial responsibilities so I cannot afford to work part time, yet that is all that seems to be advertised. I feel as if I am in catch 22, I need experience to secure a position or accept a role where I can't pay my bills.

I loved doing placement work and really want to get into Aged Care, my understanding is that there is a shortage of PCA's yet it feels like I'm between a rock and a hard place trying to find work which I find really confusing. Do I need to consider moving to a small country town to find work?

The facility I did placement at offered to put me on thier books seeing they had good feedback from staff and residents. The problem is it would be only for when people called in sick etc, and in their next breathe I was told they have alot of people on their books so I would only get the occasional shift.

Does anyone have any suggestions or can point me in the right direction? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Sally

seraphim

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  • Joined: Mar 2013
  • Location:
  • Posts: 56

Apr 14, 2013, 01:08 pm Last edited Apr 14, 2013, 01:08 pm update #1

Ever thought of doing more than 1 part time? I have seen some people work in 2-3 different hospitals/age care facilities. You get more money that way too, but you will have to manage your time table properly.

For example, you work in age care facility A on mon-wed, then age care facility B on thurs-fri. Just take note that those are perm part time and finding the correct workplace can be challenging.

modified: Sunday 14 April 2013 1:08:34 pm - seraphim

Caghs

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  • Joined: May 2013
  • Location:
  • Posts: 9

May 11, 2013, 05:24 am

Because of the minimal money going into facilities, they tend to keep their costs low by keeping full-time staff to a minimum; casual is the most common position because there are minimal "penalties" and paid time off. That's the nature of the industry, I'm afraid, and you'll find that pretty much anywhere you try. The only people who get full-time positions are highly-experienced and highly-trained; basically, irreplacable people.

That said, casual is better than it sounds. You start off with a few rostered shifts, and the rest are call-ins. As a casual, I was earning upwards of $1100 EVERY pay, because I built a reputation as someone who almost never said no, even when they called at 6am for a 6:30am shift. That's how you get the good money. It doesn't have the benefits of full-time work like annual leave, but you can get a lot of work out of it if they get to know you'll turn up at a moment's notice.

Don't let the term "casual" put you off. I got the same spiel about "not a lot of shifts to go around/lot of people on their books/etc", but what they don't tell you is that your position on that list of "on-call workers" varies according to your reliability; the more they can rely on you, the more likely you'll be the first person called. Within my first month, I was getting 50+ hours per fortnight. That's not bad at all for a casual.

Start low, work up. That's the way to go, and the ONLY way you'll get a foot in the door.

deecee13

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  • Joined: May 2013
  • Location:
  • Posts: 10

May 25, 2013, 12:28 pm

I agree with Caghs.  As you show your willingness to work the casual/on-call shifts they will come to rely on you more and more. make sure you be professional about your work, don't grumble and complain, use the proper PPE, and Policies and procedures, practice your WH&S standards.  Once they see you in action, with a pleasant attitude, they will offer you more.  When a vacancy occurs from staff attition and they can offer you a more perm/part-time position they will. be prepared for a low hours contract to start (depending upon available hours etc) because that is usually only the starting hours they have to guarentee you, most good casuals and new PPT staff are flat out every fortnight.  As for a 'full-time' position.. they ceased to exist long ago (40hrs/week, rostered day off etc).  I know only 1 person who is a FT, union backed employee and they are under paid compared with the other staff because they stick with their old union agreement to remain FT.  Go casual, be diligent and be available, the rest will happen very quickly.

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