Finding the right travel assignment for you
So, you’ve decided you want to be a travel nurse — congratulations that is a huge decision, it truly is a life changing experience and I’m excited for you! So, how do you begin?
Or maybe you are an experienced travel nurse trying to gather more information to improve your traveling experience.
Either way, this article will help you clarify your needs and desires and take you through the process of finding and securing your next travel gig. After all, the best way to find the right contract is to know what the right contract for you looks like.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER YOUR WHY
The first thing I ask my friends who tell me they are interested in travel nursing is why do you want to do this?
Is it for the money? Is it for the traveling? Is it because you want to take months off at a time? Is it because you just want a change?
There is no right or wrong answer. There are endless reasons why nurses/health care professionals elect to leave their staff positions and start traveling. But why are YOU choosing to do this? If you are sure about your why, I believe it makes the rest of the process much easier.
AGENCIES + RECRUITERS
When it comes to agencies and recruiters my recommendation is to work with more with at least 2 different recruiters from different agencies. I think 3 is the perfect number, once you get over 4 recruiters/agencies it can get overwhelming and confusing and it’s not really going to make a huge difference. So stick with 2-4 recruiters/agencies to get a feel for the current job market.
Recruiters will assist you in finding you a contract in the location you desire, in the type of hospital you prefer, for the amount of time you are available and provide the pay package. So, what location do you desire? What type of hospital would you like to work in? Do these things even matter to you or are you just ready to make some money? There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just important to clarify this with yourself before you ask a recruiter to help you.
There are ways to work as a travel nurse without the use of agencies and recruiters, but I would only recommend this to seasoned travelers.
If you’d like more information on how this works and what to look for in an agency, recruiter or pay package check out the article I’ve written by clicking below.
YOUR NEGOTIABLES + NON-NEGOTIABLES
I call it the “what do you want” list
When you are looking for a contract/assignment you can ask yourself a few of the following questions and see if they can help guide you clarify your desires.
Decide which of these are negotiable and
which are non-negotiable for you
- Do you want to be in a specific city or just any major city?
- Is location negotiable or non-negotiable?
- Do you have a list of cities you prefer?
- Do you have any cities or states you will definitely not like to travel to?
- Are you ok with being in a rural area?
- Do you want to be at a teaching hospital or a magnet facility? Does that even matter to you?
- Do you want to work with Level I trauma?
- Do you mind working for critical access hospitals?
Go through this list and see how you feel about these topics
- Day shift – Night shift – Rotating – willing to do either?
- 36 hours vs 48 hours (or more ) – are you willing to do OT weekly?
- Length of contract – 13 weeks vs 26 weeks
- If there are no time off requests allowed — would you be OK with this?
- Block scheduling allowed – if this is not allowed is that a deal breaker?
- Floating to other units — are you comfortable with this?
- Floating to other hospitals — are you willing to do that?
If you are inflexible in certain areas (ie: location) then try to flexible in other areas or you can wait until a better contract is available
Here’s an example–Sarah wants to take a contract in Seattle this summer, she will not settle for any less than $4,000/week for day shift (refuses to work night shift), she will only work 36 hours definitely not 48 hours, she needs 8 days off in August and a few days off in September, she requires block scheduling and refuses to be floated to other units or hospitals.
Sarah has a lot of non-negotiables — and while yes her requests can be met, the assignment might not be in Seattle or might be paying less than $4,000/week. Let’s just say that yes indeed a hospital in Seattle has a position that fits Sarah’s desires– day shift position, 36 hours, no floating required, time off requests accepted and block scheduling allowed. But it is paying $3100 weekly.
Now, if Sarah is flexible with working 48 hours then maybe she can make the $4,000/week she desires, but if not, she will loose an opportunity to get every other need she had met. My point here being that if you are inflexible in certain areas, make sure you are flexible in other categories. Good recruiters will search high and low for contracts that meet your needs, just make sure you give them something to work with and most importantly be sure you know what you want so you can get exactly what you need.
I KNOW WHAT I WANT….NOW WHAT?
- Connect with recruiters
Once you have decided what you type of contract you are looking for I would recommend going ahead and reaching out to a recruiter or agency and set up a profile with at least 2 different agencies. - Have your references ready
You can be prepared by having at least 2 professional references (usually a charge nurse or nurse manager) on hand as you will need to submit references before you can apply for jobs. - Know your time off requests
When you submit to a contract, you will need to provide all the dates (if any) you need to request off during the contract.
These dates should be approved/denied prior to signing your contract–if you do not have approval prior to signing your contract, there is no guarantee you won’t be scheduled. Get it in writing. - Apply for the job
We call it submitting for a job. Usually you submit to one job at a time, but sometimes it might advisable to submit to more than one at a time, advise with your recruiter. - Prepare for possible phone interview with the facility
Once you have submitted for a job, there is a likelihood someone from the healthcare facility you applied to will reach out to conduct a phone interview. This phone interview is a great time to ask any specific questions your recruiter might not have been able to answer (ie: unit culture, scheduling, patient population, etc.) soit’s a good idea to have a list of questions ready so you don’t forget to ask something important. - Have your credentials in order
Once you have been hired for the position — things will move quickly. It’s super helpful to have all of your licenses, certifications and other credentials available in an online format so they can be easily shared with your agency. I recommend using Google Drive. This way you can save all of your documents in one secure folder and share it with your recruiter or assigned credential specialist in a safe manner.