Hi Everyone!

I know, I know. I have been MIA for months. I promise you it was with good reason. This is more of a personal blog rambling than a truly helpful one, but I feel like I owe it to you guys. You see in the past 4 months or so a lot has happened personally and professionally. I got married! I went on a honeymoon! We moved our office! We revamped our entire company!

Okay. That doesn't sound like 4 months worth of gone...ness. You'd think differently if you were me I promise.

Anywho...HPS is better than ever! The economy is rough and everyone knows that. Yes, even when "the man" is saying things are looking up...we know that being in THIS industry "looking up" means nothing. You've heard it a million times - TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! NOW NOW NOW! CAN YOU BE THERE MONDAY?! CAN YOU HAVE YOUR CANDIDATE THERE TOMORROW!? So, naturally, there are now 317538938478942 staffing agencies, travel agencies, firms, whatever you want to you call them trying to win everyone's business and find quality nurses, therapists, techs, etc. to put wherever they can find.

I refused to turn into THAT company. REFUSED. You see,  I have always prided myself in the fact that I work in one of the few companies who really could add personal touches to things, who you really could call on a Saturday at 2am and get a resolution. We have always been the mom and pop gas station that all of the BPs around the block were laughing at. (BP thing too soon? That is a whole 'nother topic I like to vent about)

Things were rough for awhile due to our office setup, the competition, the economic blah, the stress being an account manager/recruiter bring regardless of the economic blahs, you name it. Fortunately...WE MOVED! Our new office makes life so much easier.

So now, I can write awesome wonderment. I can help you guys out with any questions. I have the time to do these things because I am no longer running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I really appreciate the feedback I've gotten so far when I've written and I hope everyone keeps reading and maybe even keeps learning.

Long story short, the next post will be much less catch up rambly and a lot more informative.

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR! more...

Honestly, there are a lot of factors that affect an assignment. Start dates, bill rates, family emergencies, offer comparison, etc. If you are a traveler you know this. Here is the breakdown (given to me by one of our seasoned travelers) of how a placement works from a traveler's point of view:

INITIAL PHONE CALL

• Recruiter 1 - "Hi, I'm so and so and you have never heard of me but I promise you want to work at the facility I have with an open job."
• Traveler - "I want to go to ____. I need to make ____ an hour. I can start ____."
• Recruiter 1 - "Well let me see if I can make that happen and I will call you back."

DAY 2

• Recruiter 2 - "Hi, I'm so and so and you have never heard of me but I promise you want to work at the facility I have with an open job."
• Traveler - "I want to go to ____. I need to make ____ an hour. I can start ____."
• Recruiter 2 - "Well let me see if I can make that happen and I will call you back."
• Recruiter 1 - "Hi it is me again. We can do ____ an hour BUT I can offer you ___ in tax free money instead and give you a completion bonus."
• Traveler - "Can you break that down into hourly so I can be certain I will make what I need to? I need more information about the facility too. When do they need me to start?"
• Recruiter 1 - "Let me call you back."
• Message from Recruiter 1 - "Hey I'm not leaving any details on this message but call me back.

CALL RECRUITER 1 BACK

• Recruiter 1 - "Hi this is ____. I'm not at my desk but please leave a message and I'll cal you back. Thanks!"
• Leave Voicemail

DAY 3

• Recruiter 2 - "Hi I can offer you ___ and ___. Sound good?"
• Traveler - "Well I have another offer of ____ and ____ at a facility in ____."
• Recruiter 2 - "I don't think that job is open anymore. We have it too. MY job will really be a better fit. Let me call back with more details once I work out the money."

IRRITATION SETS IN

• Recruiter 1 - "Hey that job closed but I have ____ instead."
• Traveler - "No thanks."
• Recruiter 2 - "Hey that job closed but I have ____ instead."
• Traveler - "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

This actually makes complete sense. I understand where he is coming from. As most of you know, we all do basically the same thing on the staffing side. The recruiters call, find out some details, work out some numbers, submit the candidate, potentially the candidate interviews, and an offer is made.

Good to go right?

Not usually.

"Why not?" you ask?

1. SPEED

Yep. Good ole speed. Those steps do take place, however if it takes four or five days to get information because of a lack of communication between the candidate and recruiter, the account manager (me) can't tell the client what the deal is right away. The faster we know what we need to tell the client, the faster you can interview and potentially get a job offer. If your recruiter seems a little antsy or maybe even pushy on the phone to get you submitted, it may be because you are hearing about a job that a LOT of agencies know about. They want you to say yes to them before recruiter 2 or 3 or 15 calls up asking you about it. Don't get me wrong. Make sure your recruiter can deliver and make sure they aren't just throwing you into a job that is located where you want to be. They should always ask why you are going, who you are going with if not alone, if you're familiar with the area, etc.

2. COMMUNICATION

It makes marriages work, so why not your job too I suppose. It is helpful to let the recruiter know if you are currently working, what time they can DEFINITELY reach you, and if you are working with someone else...TELL US. It can get frustrating hearing the client say  "Well they have already been submitted. Sorry." after we have put in a lot of time and effort setting up the submittal/interview. I promise I won't be mad if you say "No ____ already submitted me there." Okay, cool, on to the next option.

Communication is key. When there are 35278497346 agencies calling, I know it can be hard to remember who said what or when to call who. It is GOOD to work with a few agencies to compare your options. I encourage you to do so. I know I would if I were traveling all over the country.

So be clear on what you what, where you want to go, what is a no for you, and anything else asked. In return, ask that your recruiter tell you yes they can do it or no they can't and move on...but do so quickly. In rare cases the "open jobs" may be posted to get your attention, but it isn't actually open.

Yes, that really DOES happen. In fact, I'm updating our jobs RIGHT NOW so that I'm not a hypocrite because I know some of mine are closed:)

Back to the point.

Communicate. Get your point across. Get the info to your recruiter. QUICKLY.

Ask your agency to do the same and BAM. I can almost guarantee you'll get an assignment you want.




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I am NOT a recruiter. I am an Account Manager. I know, don't panic and wonder why this is relevant. It IS. I get to see both sides of this industry every day! This is a ridiculously stressful job sometimes, on both sides. So here I am to ease your panic:)

I know getting 1000+ calls a day is irritating. I do, really. There are a ton of travel companies out there who want you to work for them. After talking to a recruiter for awhile who wants MORE conversaion about the same things right? The difference as an Account Manager is that we are the direct connect with the clients. Recruiters are great at their jobs and dealing with our travelers. Well, I handle the client side of things. I can tell you the facility history, what they prefer, what to do and what not to do, pros and cons, etc. It really offers a little bit more insight about who you will be working for. I invest a lot of time and effort into finding a ridiculous amount of details about our clients so that our travelers really know what they are getting themselves into.

I've received tons of positive feedback after the initial conversation I have with travelers. So far, most appreciate the extra info and suggestions. I really love my job because while there is a lot of stress involved with this industry, there is also the satisfaction in knowing that the time I have invested in developing relationships with our clients makes our candidates' lives much easier.

Keep this in mind when choosing where to go and which company to choose: a recruiter is absolutely crucial, but maybe you might learn a little something from your account manager as well.


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