How to choose a good recruiter

Finding a good recruiter is crucial to having a successful traveling career. Your recruiter is responsible for understanding your needs as a traveler and finding the best contracts that match your skills and desired locations. Your relationship with your recruiter can make or break your traveling experience. This is why it's important to set your standards high and know exactly what you're looking for before choosing your recruiter.

Communication

For many travelers, reliable communication is one of the most important qualities in a good recruiter. When you're traveling to a new contract location, it's important that all of the background work has been completed on your agency's side before you arrive. It's also necessary that the correct information has been relayed to you from your recruiter. Things like your first day instructions, start date, pay package, and compliance clearance status should all be clearly disclosed before starting the assignment.

Having a responsive recruiter is important when you're trying to find a contract. A good recruiter will quickly find a few contracts that fit your needs and clearly share all details about them. Once you decide on which assignment you're interested in, they should submit you immediately. Many of the best contracts are filled quickly, so having an open line with your recruiter is often essential to landing your dream job.

Having a good connection with your recruiter is also vital when things go wrong during your contract. Your recruiter is a direct liaison between you and the hospital. Therefore, when things like contract cancelations, bill-rate drops, paycheck errors, department switches, or anything unexpected happens, your recruiter will be able to help you navigate through these tough situations.

Honesty

Another fundamental trait behind any great recruiter is honesty. Some recruiters may exhibit predatory practices and will tell you anything just so you'll take a contract with them. Find a recruiter that is trustworthy and willing to share all the available information with you upfront. A good recruiter will do everything they can to maximize your stipends and get you the best pay package possible.

Some recruiters will even share the bill rate information with their traveler if you have a genuine work relationship with them. When requesting the bill rate, it's important to remember that the agency must still be paid for the service they're providing. Some recruiters are hesitant to divulge this information to new travelers that might not understand the business very well. If you and you recruiter can develop an authentic connection, they might be willing to open up more about the inner details around a contract.

Reliability

One of the final traits to look for in a recruiter is a strong work-ethic and a drive to help you succeed as a traveler. It's important to have someone who has a pulse on the industry and is working their hardest to help you secure your next contract. A reliable recruiter might find you contracts that may not yet be posted on their website yet. Often times this can give you an advantage, being one of the first applicants for the job. A driven recruiter will do what it takes to help you achieve your goals as a traveler.

Once you identify the qualities you want in your recruiter, the next step is finding one who can satisfy those requirements. Finding a good recruiter to build a mutually trusting relationship can be a difficult process. When you first start traveling or you're switching recruiters you might want to contact several agencies and speak with as many recruiters as possible to find your match.

How to find a good recruiter

First start by searching through different agency's websites. Some agencies specialize in certain modalities (Nursing, Laboratory, Respiratory, Imaging, etc.) while others may have jobs for nearly every medical position found in a hospital. Once you find a few agencies that have your profession/specialty listed, contact them directly. It helps if the agency has several jobs that you are already interested in.

First impressions matter. After you submit an online form with each agency, take note on how long it takes for them to contact you. When the recruiter contacts you be ready with a list of questions to ask them about the agency and about how they will perform as your recruiter. You are essentially interviewing them for the job as your new recruiter. Don't be afraid to ask them anything that comes to mind.

Potential questions to ask your new recruiter/agency

1. What sets you apart as a recruiter?

2. Does your agency have direct contracts or top tier access to the most common vendors?

3. If I find the same job at a higher pay rate, will you match it?

4. I appreciate transparency. Are you willing to share the contract bill rate information with me?

5. What motivated you to become a recruiter? Do you have any history in the medical field?

6. Does your agency prorate stipends if I am sick, or called off early while on contract?

7. Do you pay the maximum allowable GSA stipends?

8. Can you send me your company benefits information disclosing PTO, sick leave, Insurance, retirement match, etc?

Introductions

This first conversation is usually a simple introduction and a chance for you two to get to know each other. They may ask you a few questions to get an idea of what your priorities are as a medical traveler and what you're looking for in a contract. You can share with them if you are traveling just to see the country, or if you are looking to follow high paying contracts. Some recruiters will ask you "what is your minimum acceptable pay range?" Do not answer this with a number. By doing so, you may find that every contract this recruiter brings to you is right at your minimum range. Do yourself a favor and don't box yourself into these confines. Instead, you may answer with a general statement that you expect to make as much as possible depending on the bill rate and you wish to gross no less than 75% of the bill rate. This will let the recruiter know that you're a knowledgeable traveler that is not going to be taken advantage of.

After this first conversation, they may send you a link to complete your profile with them. Do this as soon as possible so that they can start to submit you to jobs. Once you're finished, notify them and schedule another phone call. Continue to notice how long it takes for them to respond between each encounter and see if they're punctual with calling when they said they would.

With your profile completed and resume uploaded, they can now start to submit you to new contracts. If the recruiter starts to send you unreasonably low pay rates or indicate that they can't share particular information prior to submitting you, this is a huge red flag. Your recruiter should be able to share the following info before you decide to submit:

1. Where the contract is located and what the facility name is.

2. How much the pay package will be (including stipends, hourly, and travel).

3. What department and shift the facility is looking to fill.

After submission

After you submit to a few contracts, you will hopefully get some interviews relatively quickly. Notify your recruiter after each interview and tell them how it went. If for any reason you do not wish to move forward with the contract, tell your recruiter. Take notice of how they respond to this news. If they are pushy for you to take the contract even if you are uncomfortable with it, this is another red flag. Don't let any recruiter bully you into taking an assignment you're not satisfied with. This behavior can be acceptable grounds for you to seek out a different recruiter.

If you are not getting any phone calls after submitting to several places for a few weeks, this may also be a reason to move on to a different recruiter/agency. Either they aren't submitting you or their method of application isn't effective with the hospital hiring managers.

A good recruiter will submit you quickly to multiple contracts that you're excited about and get you interviews within a week or two after submission. If more than two weeks pass and you do not have any potential jobs lined up, it may be time to focus on a different recruiter/agency.

After signing a contract

Once you've landed the job and received your contract to sign, be sure to look over it thoroughly. Take notice that the pay package, location, shift, and any other specific details are written into your contract before signing it. Anything that your recruiter promised would be in the contract, should be written in there, otherwise it never happened.

Continue to recognize how present your recruiter is after you signed your contract. If they are no longer easily available to you, be mindful of this fact. Some recruiters may disappear after they have "made the sale" and fulfilled the contract. A good recruiter will still be responsive and check in on you from time to time during your assignment. They will also have clear concise "first day of contract instructions" telling you when, where and with whom to meet on your first day of the job.

If any issues arise during your contract, notify your recruiter immediately. A valuable recruiter will be there to help guide you through any issues you may encounter during your assignment.

Stick with them

Finding a good recruiter may feel a lot like dating. You have to find someone who you connect with. They need to be able to trust you aren't wasting their time, and you need to know they have your back. Once you find that recruiter who always brings you high paying contracts in amazing places, stick with them! Instead of jumping from agency to agency, it is much more beneficial in the long run to stick with a recruiter you harmonize with.

Whats your personal process to finding a good recruiter? Please share your advice in the comments section below!