TTATN 010 : Tips For Travel Nursing Submissions, Interviews, and Offers

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In this episode we discuss three important components of the process to land travel nursing jobs. Specifically, we discuss the submission, interview and offer components. Given the way the podcast has progressed so far, these are the next three parts of the process for us to discuss. We’ve covered the basics of compensation packages, how to find agencies that can meet your needs, how to vet recruiters, and the dynamics of the early parts of the submission process. At this point, we’re pretty much ready to be submitted. So, what happens next? What should be expected and what do we need to watch for in order get the most out of this part of the process?

Let’s start with the submission. What happens once you’ve given the green light to your recruiter to submit your profile for an assignment?

Travel Nursing Job Submission Process

The recruiter checks to make sure everything is in order? Every facility has its own unique requirements.
An account manager is typically involved.
The process depends somewhat on the relationship between the agency and the hospital.
If it’s a direct relationship, then the profile is typically sent to a staffing office representative who handles travel nursing candidates. The profiles are reviewed and it’s possible that the representative calls you with some preliminary screening questions.
In any case, selected profiles will typically be forwarded to the hiring manager.
If the relationship is with a Vendor Management Service, then documentation is typically uploaded to the vendor management system for the specific job in question. A series of questions typically need to be answered. Depending on the system, you may get a preliminary call with some basic screening questions.
It’s important to note that things work a bit differently for HCA. They use Parallon as their MSP. Parallon accepts submissions via email and unit managers typically call the candidate.
How long does it take to get the interview? Depends on how many candidates, how much they need the traveler, and how far along in the process they are already. You may get a call immediately, you may get a call in two weeks.
The longer it takes, the less your chances are of getting the interview.
The level of communication between agency and hospital will determine how much information the agency is able to get.
So, there really is no surefire way of knowing your chances of landing a job. I recommend assuming that you’re not going to get the job…not because I’m pessimistic, but because that’s just the reality. Recruiters know it’s a numbers game and you should to because you need to stay continuously employed.
Keep your job search going and keep getting submitted until you have your assignment locked down.
If you get multiple job offers, GREAT! That gives you more negotiating strength.
1 important thing to know: it is typically frowned upon to call managers blindly and request an interview. If your recruiter recommends this, then you should be very skeptical. I’m not saying it’s never okay, but it is very rare. In fact, some hospitals will disqualify you from the process.

So what happens when travel nurses land job interviews?

All the standard interview advice applies. Know something about the hospital and the job you’re interviewing for. The most important thing to remember about the interview is that it’s the opportunity for both parties to get all their questions answered and work out all the details.
Therefore, you should go into it with a list of questions that you want to have answered. As we’ll discuss, you won’t always be able to get those questions answered during the interview, so it’s a good idea to let your recruiter know in advance or as early as possible what you need to know.
Recruiters can’t always get the questions answered in a timely fashion though, so asking them of the interviewer when given the opportunity is the best bet.
We’ll link to a blog post with various questions to ask in the show notes.
With that in mind, let’s discuss the 3 most common interview scenarios.
You may interview with the unit manager, you may interview with a live rep from the VMS, or you may interview electronically via web and recorded audio.
When a direct relationship exists, you almost always get to interview with the unit manager. This is also true for HCA. This is the best case scenario. You will get to ask all your questions and hopefully receive all the answers you need. You can work out special agreements as well.
Often, with MSP’s and VMS’s you don’t get to interview with the hospital. You may interview with a representative of the service who works off of a template. They typically are unable to answer questions about the unit or various other details. You won’t be able to work out agreements with them.
Sometimes you even get an electronic interview via phone and online questionnaire. Our friend Epstein LaRue at Highway Hypodermics has some great blog posts about this and we’ll link to them in the show notes.
In any case, don’t miss scheduled interviews. Always take them. Even you have accepted another job, answer the phone and let the interviewer know. Unscheduled interviews are different story.

What to do when you get a travel nursing job offer

If you’re interviewing directly with the unit manager, then you may receive an offer right there on the spot. Do not accept the offer unless you have every last detail worked out with your agency and all of your questions are addressed.
In any case, it’s very important to communicate with your recruiter as soon as possible after the interview to let them know let them know how the interview went and more importantly to let them know everything that was agreed to.
This is because an offer isn’t really official until the agency receives the offer from the facility. The facility will typically email but sometimes call the agency to make the official offer.
At that point, the agency needs to send a confirmation to the hospital. The confirmation is a document that sort of serves as an addendum to the contract between the agency and the hospital, an addendum for this particular traveler…you.
The confirmation will include all the basic details. It will also need to include all the agreements that you made with the unit manager. This is the only way that the hospital can be held accountable for the agreements that you made with them.
The agency and the hospital want to get your answer as quickly as possible. Many agencies will even try to get you to make a verbal agreement immediately. We recommend against this. Travel nursing contracts have tons of stipulations. You have no idea what you’re agreeing to until you see the contract.

Links:

Tips For Your Travel Nursing Job Interview

How To Succeed With A Computer Interview