FAQ Pātai Auau
How to apply Me Pēhea Te Tono Mahi
Step 1: Register online
If you're interested in applying for a job at Hato Hone St John, you'll first need to register online. Registration is easy and takes only a couple of minutes.
Done that? Now you're set. Your newly created profile will let you explore our many work opportunities.
Hato Hone St John is committed to a fair and equal process for all applicants, which is why we accept applications only through this easy, online process.
Step 2: Update your profile
Include an up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV), and think carefully about the areas you are interested in. We're a big organisation, with 13,000 paid and volunteer staff - so we get a lot of applications. If you highlight your most relevant experience and areas of interest, you'll stand out more.
Step 3: Search and apply
All vacancies are listed under "latest jobs" https://join.stjohn.org.nz/search you can also search by location, expertise or business function and by using the keyword search.
When you register for our job alerts, you'll learn of the latest opportunities in your area of interest as soon as they're advertised. These include both paid and volunteer positions.
And that's it. Come on board to help us be "Here for Life". As a paid or volunteer employee and you'll experience the excitement of a 24/7 work environment balanced by the satisfaction of helping New Zealand communities.
Recruitment Process Hātepe Whakaurunga
1. Online Application
All applications must be submitted online. At this stage you only need to answer a few straightforward questions and submit your answers with your covering letter and CV. Your application is then stored in our system, linked to the job you are applying for, and can immediately be seen by our Recruitment Experience Team who manage all recruitment.
As soon as we receive your application, you'll receive a confirmation email. Once you've applied, you can track your application at any time by logging in and checking its status.
2. Application Shortlisting
All applications received are reviewed by a Recruitment Experience Advisor against the specific requirements of the job. Some examples of what they look for in your CV will be recent relevant work experience, mandatory qualifications, personal skills and attributes aligned to the role, as well as general communication skills and motivations for applying.
3. Phone Interview
If you meet our initial shortlisting criteria, one of our Recruitment Experience Advisors will contact you for a phone interview. This is the best time for you to ask questions and find out if you're suitable for the job. If you're suitable and interested, our Recruitment Experience Advisor will present your background and skills to our hiring managers.
4. Assessment Centre
Depending on the number of positions available in the area, we may ask you to attend an assessment centre. Assessment centres run for approximately 3 hours. Things to expect at an assessment centre will be a face to face interview, team exercise, literacy & numeracy assessment and a physical assessment. Recruitment Experience Advisor will provide all the information you need to help prepare yourself for an assessment centre.
5. Face-to-Face Interview
Shortlisted applicants from the phone interview stage will be asked to attend a face-to-face interview, which may be with the Recruitment Experience Advisor or the hiring manager. You may also have to attend a second interview to meet other managers or potential colleagues. All this gives you further opportunities to evaluate the position and organisation.
6. Further Requirements
Depending on the role you apply for, we will ask you to undergo pre-employment checks as part of the recruitment process. These could include: Evidence of your Covid 19 vaccination status, psychometric, physical fitness testing, health questionnaire/medical clearance, driver, credit, police and criminal record checks. The Recruitment Experience Advisors will advise you if these are needed. Hato Hone St John uses Third Party suppliers to collect some of this information.
7. References
All positions require a minimum of two references who can confirm your background and experience. For Paid positions, they should be managers you have reported to in your recent career history, or for internal applications, your current line manager. For Volunteers, if you don't have a manager you have reported to, you can provide a character reference.
Hato Hone St John has 2 options available for Reference Checking:
- Xref - on-line reference checking tool via a Third Party supplier.
- Verbal Reference Check(s) – completed by the Hiring Manager.
8. The Offer
If your application is successful, we'll first make you a verbal offer of employment. If you accept, the hiring manager will send you a Letter of Offer and Employment Agreement for you to review and sign.
Your privacy is protected at Hato Hone St John, read our privacy policy here.
How to prepare
Once you have registered on our Careers site and found the role you wish to apply for. What next? You need to prepare an application which will stand out amongst the rest. Here are some tips to help you pull together your CV and cover letter for your application.
As a large organisation we receive thousands of job applications a year. When we review applications, we refer to documents you submit, including your covering letter and CV. You'll give yourself the best chance of success if you target Hato Hone St John roles that match your skills, abilities, knowledge and experience. We'll detail the competencies in the job advert.
Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) represents you, your skills, your experience and your personality. We want to know how your skills and strengths relate specifically to the job you want to apply for and what you can bring to the role.
Try to keep your CV to less than 6 pages and ensure you tailor it to the job you are applying to. Look at the competencies in the position description and in the job advertisement and have a think about how your experience translates to the position.
- Personal Information: Include your full name, address, phone number, email address and if you have a LinkedIn profile, include a link.
- Career Objective or Personal Statement: State your personal or career goal and the skills and attributes which make you suited for the position at Hato Hone St John.
- Key Skills: List your work-related skills and abilities which show what you can offer. These may be skills that you gained outside of work. You may include volunteer, unpaid, or family work and say how these skills might suit the job you're applying for.
- Education and Training: List your education and other training. Give details of technical and trade certificates, and any study or courses you've done.
- Work Experience: List your jobs, including part-time and voluntary, starting with the most recent. Write the job title, employer's name, the date you started and finished including months, a description of your duties including key achievements.
- Hobbies and Interests: (Optional) - Give brief details of your hobbies and interests.
- Referees : (Optional) List two or three people we can talk to about how you've performed in other roles; ensure you get their permission first. Ideally they should be people you have previously reported to. Write their name, company or organisation, position and contact details.
Always include a cover letter when sending your CV. Your cover letter should give an idea of who you are, your experience and explain what skills you could bring to the job.
Explain why you are interested in the organisation, and the role you are applying for, it is important to tailor your cover letters so they relate specifically to each job application.
- Cover letters are usually no more than one page long.
- Your letter should start by stating where you heard about the job. This directly relates your application to a position they have advertised. If no specific opening has been advertised be sure to state what your job objective is.
- Be professional, warm and friendly.
- Make the letter interesting to read, but short and to the point. Do not repeat everything you say in your CV.
- Use simple, natural language.
- You can put your key points in a bulleted list, or in a comparison list-style in which you directly compare your specific experiences and accomplishments with the company's stated needs.
- Be proud of what you have to offer and tell us why you are the best person for the job
Now that you have your CV and cover letter ready to go, remember to answer all the required application questions as best as you can. These questions form part of your overall application and it helps us to assess your suitability for the role.
Getting through interviews and making them work for you takes planning, remember we want you to do well!
- Refresh your memory of your CV.
- Research Hato Hone St John: www.stjohn.org.nz
- Read and re-read the job description so you're ready for likely questions, and work out how your skills fit. Plan your journey to the interview, know how long it will take to get there, and where you can park.
- It's important you sell yourself, but this does not mean exaggerating. Use the interview to show us your attributes, strengths, personality, your ability to communicate, and how you react under pressure.
- First impressions last, so dress for success! When you meet your interviewers remember to make eye contact and smile, we are a people business after all!
- Share with us why you're interested in the role and why you are suitable for the job you are applying for. If you share our values and our passion, tell us!
Below is an outline of what to expect at the interview stage:
You'll get a call from a member of the Recruitment Experience Team to arrange an interview date and time. Once you've confirmed availability we'll email you with all the details confirming times, location, who to ask for and a copy of the job description. Please let us know if you require any special assistance.
We use competency based interview techniques to find out who is the best fit for our requirements. You will be interviewing with the hiring manager and another senior staff member. Their names will be in the interview confirmation email we sent you.
What is a competency based interview?
Competency based interviews allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role by answering questions about how you've reacted to and dealt with previous workplace situations. By looking at past experience we're able to predict future behaviour and success in a role.
You will be asked to give an example of a situation or task and how you resolved/managed it positively.
How to answer a competency based question: It's all about story telling. We suggest using the STAR model, this helps structure your answer in a logical and concise manner.
- Situation: Describe the situation/problem you were faced with (try to keep your examples recent). This provides the context for the story you are about to tell
- Task: What did you have to do?
- Action: Describes the actions that you took and any challenges that you had to overcome - Focus on what you did, try to use "I" rather than "we"
- Results: Highlight the outcomes and the end result.
Set yourself up for success by familiarising yourself with the competencies on the job description and preparing examples using the STAR model. You'll find more information about competency based interviews online.
Interview support
If you have questions regarding the time or location of the interview booking, would like a whanau interview, or have accessibility queries, please don't hesitate to raise this with the person calling to set up the interview.
You are welcome to bring whanau (family) or other support along to the interview. To ensure we can make it a comfortable experience we will need advance notice to arrange an appropriately sized room and to accommodate additional time for the interview to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to voice their support on your strengths and successes appropriate to the role.
What do I do at the end of the interview?
There might still be time to ask questions on the role and find out more. Thank the interviewer for their time. Once the interview has finished, we will let you know time frames and next steps in the interview process.
International Applications Kaitono O Te Ao
We welcome international applications from people with relevant skills and experience. If you are not a resident of New Zealand or Australia please ensure you are aware of immigration requirements as well as what's involved in moving to a new country.
The New Zealand Government sets the criteria for immigrating to New Zealand, so you need to establish if you meet the current criteria. Questions regarding this should be directed to Immigration New Zealand.
Hato Hone St John recruits for many roles, at all levels, throughout New Zealand. We want to make your job application as easy as possible, and we'll make sure you are kept up to date about how your application is going.
Ambulance Personnel
Hato Hone St John will consider applications from internationally qualified ambulance personnel, but please note that people from New Zealand will usually be considered first and the number of New Zealand applicants often exceeds the number of positions available.
The Paramedic workforce in New Zealand is currently undergoing significant change as from 1 January 2020, Paramedics are formally recognised under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act (HPCAA) 2003. Applications for registration is open, and eligibility to gain employment as a Paramedic or above in Hato Hone St John will require current registration in New Zealand. For more information on how to become registered, please visit the Te Kaunihera Manapou Paramedic Council website here.
If you are looking for a role that does not require you to be registered, or you have obtained registration as a Paramedic in NZ, the next step is to register on our careers page. Here you can apply for advertised positions based on your location preference within New Zealand.
If you are shortlisted for a vacancy, the Recruitment Experience team will be in touch and may ask for further information. Your application will then be assessed by our Authority to Practise Credentialing Committee.
The role of this committee is to assess your clinical background and the nature of your current clinical practice within the healthcare/ambulance service you are working with and to then ascertain your likely clinical practice level within the Hato Hone St John Authority to Practise framework. In New Zealand Authority to Practise is required before you are able to legally provide treatment to patients in an ambulance role. A copy of the Hato Hone St John Clinical Procedures and Guidelines are available on request (please email ATP@stjohn.org.nz) and this will help guide you on where you clinical practise is likely to be within that Authority to Practise framework. We will then have a discussion with you about the selection process for international candidates.
Being employed does not guarantee that you will gain Authority to Practise. Once employed you will need to undergo a general induction course and then specific clinical precepting and mentoring to orientate and prepare you for your clinical role. You will then need to undertake a formal clinical assessment that is composed of a combination of: skills stations, clinical interviews and simulated scenarios.
Our Clinical Support Officers, preceptors and mentors will help you prepare for your clinical assessment, but you must pass the clinical assessment in order to be granted Authority to Practice. You are allowed a maximum of two attempts at clinical assessment and if you fail to pass at your second attempt you will not be granted Authority to Practise.
Failure to gain Authority to Practise will have implications for your continued employment, because you cannot be employed in an ambulance role without Authority to Practise.
Immigrating To New Zealand Hekemai Ki Āotearoa
Visas
The New Zealand Government sets the criteria for immigrating to New Zealand, so you need to establish if you meet the current criteria. Questions regarding this should be directed to Immigration New Zealand.
The Immigration New Zealand website has a wealth of information to help you complete the right visa application for you (and your family).
Before you move to New Zealand, you need to get the right visa. It's a condition of your employment with Hato Hone St John that you have, and maintain, the right to work in New Zealand for the duration of your employment.
An offer of employment can support your visa application, and you can submit it along with other application documents.
Helpful Websites
The New Zealand Now website contains plenty of information, tips and checklists to help you plan your move to New Zealand and to settle in here - www.newzealandnow.govt.nz
It's a good idea to familiarise yourself with the websites of the Ministry for Primary Industries and New Zealand Customs, which have information on what to expect when you're entering the country.
AucklandNZ is a website all about Auckland - what you can see and do in New Zealand's largest city. It features information on beaches, shopping, events and nature - www.aucklandnz.com
Setting Up Home In New Zealand: The Basics
Kiwisaver
Kiwisaver is a voluntary retirement savings programme run through employers. Find out more about Kiwisaver.
Inland Revenue Department (known as IRD)
You and anyone else in your family who intends to work in New Zealand will need a tax number (known in New Zealand as an IRD number). You can find details on how to apply for an IRD number on the Inland Revenue website - https://www.ird.govt.nz
Banks
See a list of banks in New Zealand.
Insurance
See a list of insurance companies in New Zealand.
Healthcare
The Ministry of Health looks after the health sector in New Zealand. For an overview of healthcare in New Zealand, visit the New Zealand Now website - https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/
For non-life-threatening injury or illness, you will usually go to a doctor (general practitioner) in New Zealand.
In the case of an emergency, dial 111 for an ambulance.
Accommodation and housing
Have a look at an overview of housing in New Zealand, including information on renting or buying a property.
Schools
In New Zealand, children aged six to sixteen are required to attend school. See more about the education system in New Zealand.
Come and join our friendly and professional team!
We have a range of exciting volunteer and career opportunities across New Zealand.