rdearman wrote:I am curious if having an actual certificate makes you more employable? Do healthcare employers in France or Holland require it on the CV, or do they just do an interview in language. I suppose you don't know since you've not done it, but maybe you've researched it? I looked and found this
Compentency-guideline and it was interesting about EuroPass which is an online assessment for European languages.
Although I don’t have any links to share with you (i’m in a hurry as per usual, there are plenty out there), nurses having trained outside the EU wanting to work in continental Europe in which English is not the first language, in countries I have investigated (including non EU countries Switzerland and Norway), require at least a B2 level of the local language. Providing evidence of this saves one from having to sit an exam at a set date after arrival and delaying the process of finding a job once on location (I can legally arrive without a job, since I hold a Dutch passport, but I wouldn’t want to do this anyway).
I also know this from actual experience. While in the Netherlands with my wife in 2011 she was offered a job (as a nurse) in a Rotterdam hospital. They
wanted to hire her, but could not. Her qualifications were more than adequate, but she had no evidence of Dutch language skills (on paper). Since she’d trained outside the EU, she had to prove a B2 level of Dutch. She couldn’t, so no job, despite the fact that they (the manager of the unit and other staff) even stated that they were happy to communicate with her in English until her Dutch improved- they were keen given her experience. Due to the language law (the B2 level for non EU trained nurses), she could not be given the job in the end.
On our return to Australia, my wife and I vowed that were we to ever return to Europe, I (or her, but more likely to be me given my love of languages) must pass a B2 language test (in whichever language) before attempting to work in Europe as a nurse in future. I opted this time for French, and achieved that some time ago, as you know.
I think it goes without saying that if you have a few candidates for a job, say in a French speaking country, one candidate with French as a mother tongue, another with French at B1 and another with French at C1 (let’s say that’s me at C1), then I’d at least be likely to nudge out the B1 candidate (based on language ability) depending on their experience of course. What goes in my favour (or any nurse) is that there is a desperate shortage of nurses throughout much of the OECD (Spain I think is one exception), but I know they are short in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany and foresee it only getting worse over the course of the next decade.
As for nurses within the EU, the B2 rule does not apply. I have seen jobs advertised requesting B2 in French in Wallonia, while as low as A2 level of Dutch in Flanders. This is due to desperation, since they are so short on nursing staff. Were I to apply in Flanders, regardless of the advertised A2 level that I have seen on occasion, since I am not trained in the EU, I would still have to show a B2 certified level of Dutch anyway.
Having said that...
I also know of one nurse from New Zealand working in Brussels. As she initially worked in the UK, she then went to Brussels to work as a nurse
without needing a B2 level of French. This is because once you are accepted in one country of the EU (regardless of the language used in the work environment, in her case, English), you then get treated like an EU citizen (in terms of language level required) and can go an work in any non-English speaking EU country without (official) evidence of the local language to B2 or otherwise. Of course the employer may request it for the job, but it’s not subject to EU/the individual country’s law, despite the candidate originally training outside the EU.
So, were I to work in UK (pre Brexit) or Ireland, I could in theory go and work in Belgium (or another EU country)
without needing that B2 AND I wouldn’t have to get my nursing qualifications assessed as well (that can take around 9 months for Belgium). My wife and I have discussed this path but it seems that perhaps the UK will have left the EU by then, and Ireland... the state of the working conditions there are awful (I’ve heard it first hand from Irish nurses here), so no thanks. May as well go directly to Belgium, hopefully with a C1 in French which might improve my chances of getting a job.
On another note, so desperate are they in parts of NL and Flanders, I know they run courses for Spanish trained nurses to learn Dutch for a number of weeks in Barcelona before sending them to NL/Flanders for work. I’d imagine the courses. Approaching nursing recruitment agencies, at least if I can spare them that expense (of sending me away for language training) they might be more willing to overlook the work my Australian qualifications will take to gain equivalency, in order to find me suitable work. A C1 can only make me look more inviting. And more nursing studies here (I’m considering a one year critical care post grad certificate here) will help my case there as well when it comes to assessing whether I am deemed equivalent to the locals in training and expertise. I don’t want to be told my qualfications are rubbish, I need to do a year of training in BE. That’s simply not possible (unless I was paid a decent wage - but no, I’d have to pay for the course).
Should I ever make it into BE, I will be chasing this:
Carte Professionnelle EuropéenneIt will streamline the process of obtaining employment in other EU countries, enabling a smoother transition from one country to the next in terms of having to get my nursing qualifications assessed and so on. I’ll basically only have to do it in depth the first time. But that is the nursing qualifications, not the language necessarily.