Marcos Ferreira has been part of the team for the last 8 years. During his time at Vitae Professionals, he helped +550 professionals with their new careers - and still counting!
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He was kind enough to answer a few questions that certainly will help you to know him better. Let's take a look?
Marcos, could you please tell us a bit more about yourself and your role at Vitae Professionals? And how long you been working with Radiology.
Well, I'm a sociologist with a Post Degree in psychology and a Masters in Human Resources. My training has always been focused on the labor market. After an experience within a more traditional Human Resources department, I've decided to search for new opportunities in a more defiant environment that would allow me to further sharpen my skills and grow as a professional. And this opportunity arose with VP.
I've joined Vitae Professionals in December of 2012 as a recruiter. My role was to develop the recruitment of Allied Health Professionals, professions such as Radiographers, Cardiac and Respiratory Physiologists, Biomedical Scientists, and many more into the UK. As we were getting more and more successful, with the development of new recruitments areas and countries, my department started to get busier and busier with other people joining my team.
We are now in a mature state, with several years of experience and a main focus on the NHS, our biggest client, and partner! At the moment I'm managing the recruitment of AHPs with near 600 professionals recruited in my years of practice. We were fortunate enough to work with some of the most notable and prestigious Hospitals to fulfill their permanent staffing needs while saving their costs with temporary recruitment. Just as an example, we have placed over 77 Radiographers with University Hospitals of Leicester through the years and many still remain there. This is just one Trust but there are many more that we could give an example.
What are, in your opinion, the best rewards working in this area?
I feel fulfilled and professionally very happy! Throughout the years I've heard so many stories of struggling people that were in jobs without feeling any respect or worth. Stories of people who were looking for a job for so long that their hopes were shredded into pieces. People just wanting to be able to provide further to their families through a well-paid job, or just people looking for a career with progression, training, etc. So, when we help them achieve their goals, we can testimony their happiness and feel that our work has helped! That thanks to our effort and professionalism we were able to change someone's life. It's not always easy, but at the end of the day, that is what matters: to witness their new lives and happiness. Also, I always enjoy receiving some pastries and other sweets as a gift! I have a sweet tooth so these gifts are always welcomed and I'm lucky enough to have received a few!
And what about challenges?
Our initial challenge was to develop a new market into what now is a steady recruitment market. Vitae Professionals was the first recruitment company to organize Recruitment Drives for Radiographers in countries such as Italy and Portugal. It was something common with nursing recruitment, but no one was risking to do this with Radiographers. But the feedback on the previous placements we were having was phenomenal. People were truly happy and progressing so quickly! We have decided to support the first hospital doing a recruitment drive in Portugal and Italy with an amazing outcome!
With Brexit, has working as a radiographer in the UK changed much?
Well, the work in the day to day has certainly not changed and there are still plenty of opportunities in most of the Hospitals. But the bureaucracy from Brexit has changed somewhat drastically, creating a more complex and long process. But the jobs are there! And the interest for EU candidates has also grown even further this year. We also believe that both Vitae Professionals and our clients are very much ready to deal with this new process of visa and move to the UK.
What were the main changes?
I feel that the most significant one has certainly been the introduction of an English exam for those professionals wishing to join the HCPC - which means all the radiographers looking to work in the UK now.
Also, the VISA. Previously we were looking for radiographers to interview and start the process to join the Hospitals. But now it's a more way around process: the candidates must start the process first and be conscious that they are investing in their career. They will then be ready to interview and join the hospitals. It's more a bit more complex but that's the reason we exist as a recruitment company. we've been helping health professionals for a decade with tremendous success and feel more than ready to support our professionals with these new challenges as well!
Do you think working in the UK as a radiographer is still a good idea?
Being a radiographer in the UK is a very prestigious job! Radiographers are truly amazing and I'm lucky to witness their path as professionals. I've been to seminars, congresses, Schools... I almost feel as I am one of them! And the UK provides so many options personally and professionally as well. I have radiographers that entered in their first job and after 2 years were training to become Reporting Radiographers! Others were in the process of training to work as Sonographers - something impossible in other countries. It is my understanding that the UK was more upfront in letting these professionals use all their knowledge and not be 100% dependent on doctors. I'm not trying to be political, I'm just showing a reality where radiographers have struggles too, but at the same time, their careers have so many progression scales and new chapters, new paths to walk... It's an amazing decision to be a radiographer - and always remember that radiographers are also in the first line of the Hospitals! They deserve to be remembered as such and praised for their hard work every day.
With the new changes, how can Vitae Professionals help?
I believe we are in the right place and the right time to help anyone looking to move to the UK. As the NMC (the registration council for nurses) has introduced language tests for a while, We have been working with Nurses with their English exam with great success and now happy to do the same with our Radiographers.
We have a great team of English teachers and other tutors, an excellent program with an excellent rate of people passing their OET on the first try! (i.cruz@vitaeprofessionals.com)
As we have a great number of hospitals looking for professionals as we speak and have programs for all levels of English. So, I can only invite any interested radiographer to come and speak with me to find out in further detail how we can help them with the goal of living and working in the UK!
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