u/abeschole

Hi! I am a US based Nurse Practitioner with 5 years of experience as an NP, as well as registered nurse experience since 2014 before that. I have a skilled 189 allowing for full working rights and I have a relocation plan for December which I have stated in my cover letter.

I have applied for multiple NP jobs within WA and gotten declined interview for many of them so far. I did ask for some feedback from a director of nursing who stated that I needed to “address the selection criteria” of the JDF, which I thought I had done, but I do think that perhaps applications and CV and cover letters are different in Australia.

Would anyone be willing to share any insight on how they address these things on CV or cover letter? Or share examples of applications that have landed you roles? Or even someone who could assist in refreshing my application package to better suit Australian needs?

Edit: also already have AHPRA endorsement and only applying for NP jobs (not RN)

Timeline:

• Occupation - nurse practitioner, offshore

• EOl submitted - 14 May 2025
• EOl invite - 3 Sept 2025
• 189 application lodged - 5 Sept 2025
• Medicals done in Sept 2025
• s56 requesting background check for state (FBI already completed) - 12 Jan 2026
• Change in circumstance added, married Australian partner (already claimed) - 28 Jan 2026
• s56 requesting background check for state again, needed to be fingerprinted - 14 April 2026
Fingerprints submitted - 5 May 2026
• Granted - 13 May 2026

Points breakdown (80):
• Age: 30
• English: 10
• Overseas employment experience: 15
• Education: 15
• Partner: 10, Australian citizen

Filed it all on my own. With a lot of stress and anxiety afterwards while waiting for what felt like forever for grant. And with the help of a few redditors for assistance and calming my nerves down- I thank you.

A couple things:
- My skills assessment for nurse practitioner only gave me 3 years of experience, however I had been a registered nurse for 7 years before that so I included letters of reference and offer letters to support >96 months of experience in the field since it was similar field or “job advancement”
- I claimed my partner at the beginning of it all. Later, we got married so I updated and added marriage license. All I included for relationship purposes was his passport and marriage license.

Good luck everyone!