The HCPC
March 12, 2018
First things first…
Now, you may well ask
– why is the Health and Care Professions Council the first on the Stuff list?
Surely the Visa is more important?
If you are a
healthcare professional, and quite honestly why are you even reading this far
if you’re not, I know for a fact that I’m not that entertaining – but if you
are and you want to work in the UK, raise your right hand in the air and repeat
after me;
I [insert name here] promise that I will download the HCPC application pack THE MOMENT that I am finished reading this post. I WILL NOT
procrastinate and I WILL force myself to complete the application before I do
anything else in my quest to work in the United Kingdom (may they realise how
lucky they are to have me).
As someone who comes
from a family of strong, stubborn, and occasionally belligerent women, let me
put this whole thing in context: even the queen of them all, my dearly departed
maternal grandmother, ain’t got nothin’ on the HCPC.
For further context,
I submitted my application around mid-October 2017 and was contacted to pay my
scrutiny fee at the beginning of November. My registration came through on my
birthday, the 5th of March, 2018. Nice present and all, but be
prepared for a wait. And mine doesn’t even count as a horror story. I’ve heard
of people who have just packed up and left because, after months and months,
their registration simply hasn’t come through.
Just a note – it
appears you can now complete your application online, which may resolve some of
the issues listed below. I’m going to leave them in, however, in case anyone is
using the old, printed forms, or things change back. Because you never know.
Steps to make this process
potentially easier:
1.
Start
this thing early. Earlier than you think. It’s not going to expire, like your
visa, so there’s no harm in getting registered significantly before you intend
to travel.
2.
Read
the application carefully. Treat it like an exam – read and re-read to make
sure you understand everything. There is an application guide that comes with
the pack – read it. Don’t be the person who gets rejected because you didn’t
include one tiny piece of information, or forgot to put in a single document.
3.
If
you’re going to the JP to get signed copies of your documents, get multiples.
More than you think you need. And get copies of everything, even if they’re not
mentioned on the application. The last thing you want is to be in another
country and suddenly have to provide a piece of paper that is somewhere on the
other side of the world. Get multiple copies, and bring them with you. Better
safe than sorry.
4.
Contact
your referees early. My referees were fantastic and got stuff back to me so
quickly, but people are busy and they have lives and just because something is
your whole world in that moment doesn’t mean it’s theirs. Contact them early,
remind them where appropriate, and bribe them if necessary (baked goods worked
particularly well in my last job).
5.
Contact
your university early, too. Mine took about two weeks to get back to me with
the documentation, but depending on your university, their staffing, or even
the time of year, that time period could be much longer. You will need them to
complete the Course Information Form.
6.
Write
the experience questions like you’re applying for a government health position.
You know, the ones everyone applied for straight out of uni, where you had to
write to criteria that sounded completely bogus and made you feel like you were
back writing essays. It’s doubtful that they will actually make decisions based
on your answers, they’re more concerned with your university studies and
professional memberships, but again, better safe than sorry. Download the
Standards of Proficiency and use them to answer the questions.
7.
If
something didn’t fit in the boxes provided (umm, ‘Speech Pathology’ and
‘University of Queensland’ have a lot of letters, you guys), I took a blank
piece of paper and traced over the section title and the boxes, then drew more
boxes until I had enough. I then included this piece of blank paper behind the
page where I didn’t have enough space. That was my troubleshooting, and it
seems to be acceptable seeing as they’ve now accepted my membership, but you
may have a different idea.
This thing is
mammoth, I know, but you can do it! I believe in you! But do it now, right this
second! Believe me, it will be so much better if you don’t put it off. Go, go,
go!
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