Cars for Internationally Recruited AHPs
#InternationalRecruitment
I once was a buddy for an Internationally Recruited AHP. Let's call her Maria. A day came & we got to talk about cars as Maria needed one for her community role. I advised her that she:
Could get a used car:
-Easier to raise the funds as it's cheaper
-If borrowing from friends & family, less money to pay back.
-Pay upfront & it's done & dusted.
-The risk would be, getting a car that would cause her problem after problem.
-Risk mitigation: Best to buy from an established car dealer - not from individuals on social media. Pay that little bit more, & if anything goes significantly wrong in the first couple of weeks/months, the car dealer will still be at their address, & they will be able to help (hopefully).
-Use the AutoTrader website- I've used it before & it was previously recommended to me by people I trust.
-Ask her colleagues or look around her neighbourhood for local car dealers.
Could get a new car:
-Via the car lease scheme available to NHS Staff.
-Salary sacrifice, get a good amount of money deducted from her salary every month
-Might be better in terms of additional expenses- road tax, insurance, mot, repairs, courtesy car etc.
-Better for the environment
-Would have to give the car back after the end of the lease; could either opt to pay it off & own it, or get given a new one & start a new lease cycle, or give it back & go buy another one from elsewhere.
Knowing that I was also an
#InternationalAHP, she then asked me how I had navigated the issue.
My story: I borrowed money from a friend & bought myself a used car for < £2,000. (I had spent so much on the visa application, health surcharge, HCPC registration, flights & all the other bits & bobs, so had no money left. Those days, there was nothing like reimbursement of relocation expenses).
Back to the car! The one I got was 'rich in years' (just trying not to say 'old'😅) but it could move from A to B. Got it in 2020, just before the pandemic, but it's still going strong.
Testing whether a car is good enough for one to buy or not is not my strong point so, I requested a friend who does to go check it out for me. The moment he approved, I paid upfront & it was all done & dusted. Obviously, there remains that niggly feeling in the back of one's mind, whether the garage will become one's top most-frequented places! The first MOT I did, I was worried I would have to spend £500 in repairs due to the age of the car, plus my scepticism around, 'why was the owner selling it?'.😆 I however spent under £100.
Another point was tat that the kind of car I would be interested in would be relatively pricey if I was to get it brand new & the monthly deductions from my salary would be quite high. I was not willing to go through that, hence my used car choice.
The ball was now in Maria's court! She had to make her own decision. What would she choose?
She went for the car lease scheme. Now she is driving a brand new... sorry I wont tell you the type 😂, but it was a smooth process for her. No complications.
Now, some colleagues will go for that option, because they are unable to raise the amount needed for a decent used car upfront when they are just starting their new job.
A colleague from a different NHS Trust reached out to me recently & said that their car lease company was asking for a UK Driving Licence in order to consider a lease for their Internationally Recruited
#AHP. Our Internationally Recruited colleagues will obviously not have this within their first few months of being in the UK.
Fellow
#InternationalAHPs &
#IENs, and colleagues in the IR Workforce space, how are you finding the car situation? Any challenges? Any good practices? Any tips?
Access to a car is extremely important for our colleagues - especially those in our Community NHS Trusts. I had to have one when I started my role as an internationally recruited specialist community physiotherapist.
(Disclaimer: These views are my own).
#InternationalRecruitment #Onboarding #PastoralCare #Retention #AHPs #IRTips
@WeAHPs @thecsp @stayandthrive @NHSEmployers