ACE Nursing Student Information Esther Heus Senior Recruitment Consultant, ACE

Introduction What is ACE? Why ACE? Objectives and Outcomes Information Sources Eligibility Criteria Overview – Application Process Application process –Registering –What documents you need –Choosing your DHBs and Practice Setting Specialties –Requesting References –What happens after applications close Interviews Selection Criteria References ACE Match algorithm End-of-Year 2014 Timeline Q&A

What is ACE? Advanced Choice of Employment ACE is the ONLY way to apply for a Nurse Entry to Practice (NETP) or Nurse Entry to Specialist Practice (NESP – Mental Health & Addictions) graduate training programme in NZ ACE is a single application tool that allows graduate nurses throughout the country to submit 1 application which is then disseminated to up to 3 DHBs that you have indicated you would most prefer to work with. –Note that you can apply to both NETP and/or NESP through the ACE process ACE is tried and tested. The ACE system has been in place for RMOs for the last 11 years and has now been operating for nursing graduates since November 2012, successfully running through four intakes so far. NB: This is NOT the only way to apply for a Job!

ACE Achievements to date: Eliminated wasted work whereby applicants were applying to multiple DHBs. You now submit 1 application that is disseminated to up to 3 DHBs. Eliminated wasted work whereby DHBs were sending multiple offers. Now DHBs send 1 offer and can be confident that the applicant is likely to accept because it is always going to be a DHB the applicant has expressed an interest in working at, and it is the only offer the applicant will receive. Because ACE uses a set of nationally agreed criteria against which all nursing applicants can be compared, ACE provides a nationally consistent and fair process for all applicants. ACE fills all NETP and NESP vacancies in a single round. ACE provides useful data regarding the movements of our graduates, which can be used for future workforce planning and development.

Information Sources Kiwi Health Jobs Website ( Applicant Guide – this is your ACE Bible! Nursing ACE Facebook Page Contact the ACE Centre: –

ACE Application Process: Eligibility Criteria The Minister of Health, the Hon Tony Ryall, has decided to extend the criteria for eligibility to the NETP/NESP programmes from 12 to 24 months for nursing graduates. Changing these eligibility criteria means Nursing Graduates will now have up to 4 opportunities to apply for a NETP/NESP programme via the Nursing Advanced Choice of Employment (ACE) process rather than 2. To be eligible applicants must now meet the following basic criteria before applying through the ACE system: Be a New Zealand Citizen or have Formal New Zealand residency. AND Be in the final year of a Bachelor of Nursing degree approved by the Nursing Council of New Zealand as leading to registration as a registered nurse OR Be awarded a Bachelor of Nursing degree approved by the Nursing Council of New Zealand as leading to registration as a registered nurse, no longer than 24 months before starting on the NETP/NESP programme AND have not practised as a registered nurse for longer than six months before starting on the NETP/NESP programme

Overview – Application Stage: You have 4 weeks to submit your application from the day the application portal opens. This includes submitting your; CV, cover letter (s), residency documents, transcript, and references etc. Be Prepared, 4 weeks is not a long time. Start preparing your CV and cover letters now in preparation for when the application portal opens. Remember to ensure ACE has your up to date contact details AND postal address at all times. If you need to update this outside of the 4 week application process, me at You will rank up to 3 DHBs in order of preference. You must rank a minimum of 1 DHB, maximum of 3. You will also rank up to 3 preferences of practice setting. The ACE Consultant will review your application documents and references to create a ranking score for each applicant. Once we’ve scored your application, we send a list of all your completed applications ONLY to the DHBs you have ranked. So all applicants are sent to the DHBs simultaneously

Overview - Screening & Interview Stage: DHBs have 6 weeks to review your applications, interview and shortlist. They create a list of ranked applicants, ranking you in preference order. DHBs then send us their lists of ranked applicants and their number of available positions and ACE performs the Match. Once the Match is complete and an audit has been completed we send match results to DHBs. The DHBs then allocate the matched candidates to their vacancies. This is when they will determine what practice setting you are allocated to. All successful and unsuccessful applicants will be informed at the same time and this will be AFTER the state finals on Weds November 19th Offers are sent out the day after your State Final Exam.

ACE Application Process: Go to to register. ACE serves as the application portal in exactly the same way as a standard recruitment application would be made via Seek. As the applicant, you will set up a log-in on the ACE application site and complete a series of application forms. This includes submitting the following documents: –CV & Cover Letter(s) –Residency documents –OFFICIAL transcript –Health & criminal history declarations You will then nominate up to 3 DHBs and up to 3 Practice Settings (specialties) in preference order. You will also nominate two referees; 1 from a Clinical Tutor and 1 from your Nurse Preceptor

Requesting References Make sure you’ve OK’d it with your referees BEFORE you send the ACE electronic reference request Nominate your 2 references one at a time: Once submitted, you will see in your referees page that the status under that referees name now says “Completed on __/__/__”.

Uploading Documents Certified Documents: Official Transcripts –These must be requested from your education provider and remember, these can take up to 2 weeks to process, so get in early! –Year 2 and 3 required, upload the same document twice if all results are combined in the same document. Residency Documents –EVERYONE must upload proof of citizenship/residency. Other Documents: CV –This is your chance to STAND OUT! Cover Letter(s) –You must submit a minimum of 1 Cover Letter, but you have the option of writing separate cover letters for each DHB you rank.

Selecting your preferences Choosing 3 DHBs – Select minimum 1, maximum 3 You are able to change your DHB preferences up until the Match date. All 20 DHBs participate in the End of Year intakes, only participate in the Mid- Year Choosing 3 Practice Settings – Select minimum 1, maximum 3 After applications close you will not be able to change these preferences. Remember you can apply to both NETP and NESP programmes through ACE You can apply for Primary Care, Aged Residential Care and Community Care positions through ACE.

Checklist/Submitting! The aim of the ACE game is to get this checklist to show as complete.

After Applications Close Following the closure of the portal ACE creates an Excel spreadsheet listing all the applicants who ranked each DHB as one of their preferred employers. –Note that you will only be included in this spreadsheet if your application was Complete at application close time (5pm September 12 th 2014) ACE then generates a “ranked score” by assessing your application against the nationally agreed criteria and adds this score to the excel spreadsheet. ACE then sends this spreadsheet to ONLY the DHBs you had ranked as a preference. Remember. The DHBs do not know where you ranked them. It is a BLIND match. DHBs then review your application together with Primary Care, Aged Residential Care and Community Care facilities etc and create short lists based on their own local criteria and processes.

DHB Interviews Applicants who meet the locally applied criteria are interviewed and DHBs can then use their own interview or assessment process to determine which graduates to employ from each of these sub sets. Please note Not Everyone will be interviewed. If you are not interviewed please do not call the ACE Consultant to ask why. They do not have this information. The ACE Consultant is not privy to the shortlist of applicants. This is a DHB process. DHBs confirm their selections & rankings of applicants back to ACE along with a confirmed number of vacancies. Remember, you have right up until November 3 rd, 9am to change the order of your DHB preferences if you wish.

Current Selection Criteria Current ACE selection criteria: –References (max 70 points) –Fit to practice – references (max 5 points) –Grades (max 3 points) –Scholarship (max 3 points) –Would you employ – references (0 points) Overall score out of 81 points (converted into a percentage) Don’t worry, it’s not all about the score!

ACE Scoring of References We use a standardised reference check form. Questions are divided into the 4 RN competencies (professional responsibility, management of nursing care, interpersonal relationship and inter-professional) and these questions were constructed by the DON’s Each question is graded on a likert scale of 1 – 5 across nationally agreed ratings of performance for a “3 rd year student” 12345N/O Professional responsibility Professional knowledge (knowledge of professional responsibilities, policy, legal aspects understanding of RN role) Reliability (demonstrates punctuality, reliability, honesty, fulfils obligations, meets deadlines) Self-awareness (accurate assessment of own skills & knowledge and actively seeks feedback & assistance to improve) Work organisation (organises and prioritises nursing practice in an effective manner, works under pressure) Willingness to learn ( self directed learner, able to pick up new technical and nursing practice skills )

ACE Match ACE then (using an iterative algorithm ) provides a single National “Match” The Match algorithm operates based on the following principles: 1. The DHB ranking of applicants takes highest priority. This way, the DHB’s highest ranked applicants have the best chance of being matched to a position. 2. The applicant’s DHB preference takes second priority. This way, if a DHB prefers an applicant, the algorithm favours the applicants choice of DHB from 1st to 2nd to 3rd. 3. The algorithm will only match applicants DHBs preferred for NESP positions to NESP positions and applicants DHBs preferred for NETP positions to NETP positions. This way only applicants that the DHBs preferred for NESP can be matched to NESP positions. Please note applicants who rank Mental Health and Addictions as their 1st choice practice setting have the best chance of being considered for NESP positions. 4. Each applicant can only be matched to 1 DHB/Position (this has not changed from the previous process). ACE subsequently informs DHBs which of their ranked applicants they’ve been matched to, and the DHBs then subsequently, match those graduates to their vacancies or graduate programmes. The DHBs send out offers knowing that applicants will only be receiving their offer. Applicants accept the offer because the DHB making the offer is always one that they have expressed their preference to work at.

Post-Offer: What happens next What to do if successfully matched: –Receive notification from ACE –Receive offer letter from DHB –Go back to DHB with acceptance/decline –Start work on Programme Start Date (Jan/Feb 2015) What to do if not initially matched: –Receive notification from ACE –Go on to talent pool sent to all 20 DHBs – your “expressions of interest” to DHBs –Submit updated CVs, Cover Letters or Practice Setting preferences direct to the NETP/NESP coordinator(s) at the DHBs –If still eligible – re-apply in next intake (see Kiwi Health Jobs website for information on next intake application dates).

End-of-Year 2014 Timeline Applications open on ACE websiteFriday 15 th August ACE to update and make live the front-end application process to allow students to start applying online Applications CloseFriday 12 th September4 weeks for applications to be received by the ACE centre. Ace applicants sent out to DHBs.Friday 19 th September ACE has 1 week to create lists for each DHB of those applicants who have nominated them as one of their 4 preferred employers. Short-listing and interviewing process startsMonday 22 nd SeptemberDHBs have 6 weeks to complete interviews and make their selections to rank Nursing Interviews finish and number of hires and applicant rankings made via ACE administration websiteFriday 31 October DHBs log-in to ACE and input their selections in order of preference and their final number of Graduates to be hired. Applicants have until Monday 3 November 9:00am to change their DHB preferences. ACE starts Match process Match and Audit CompletedFrom Monday 3 November to Friday 7 November ACE has 1 weeks to audit DHB input and conduct the electronic match. ACE then responds to DHBs with the graduates from their preference list have been matched to. Nursing ACE match completed and sent to DHBsFriday 7 NovemberSend DHBs matched candidate list Nursing State examsTuesday 18 NovemberThis timeline proposes to send out offers 1 day after the state exam. Nursing Offers sent out to successful graduatesWednesday 19 November The DHBs have 8 working days from Monday 10 November through to Wednesday 19 November to match their actual new-hires to current vacancies. Once that is completed all DHBs construct offers and dispatch directly to their new-hires on Wednesday 19 November. On the same day, ACE will also advise all applicants (both successful and unsuccessful). If you haven’t received this by 2.00pm, contact the ACE centre. Students accept offersWednesday 26 November Successful graduates have 1 week to accept or reject offers and respond to the DHBs

Q&A Any Questions?