7 Things You Should Never Tell Your Recruiter

I wanted to share a few tips I have on what you don't want to ever say to your recruiter! I came up with "7 Things a Traveler Should Never Tell a Recruiter". So, here it goes!

blog 1 Never Say To A Recuiter:

1. "I don't care which company I work for…I am just going to take the _______ (first job offer, highest offer, best location, etc.) that I can get."

If you indicate that you place no value and have no allegiances to the company/recruiter that you work for, then you will likely not be the first person a recruiter calls when a hot job opens up, nor the candidate that we work late for in order to help land a great assignment. Be clear and open about your priorities and what you have in the pipeline, and be upfront and let the recruiter know what she can do to help you specifically…for which in return, you would work for.

2. " I am going to quit this assignment if I don't get _________ (a better schedule, shift differential, no more floating, nicer housing, etc.)"

Recruiters view travelers as highly qualified PROFESSIONALS and trust that you do as well. Threats (idle or real) do not come from true professionals. Instead, if you have a problem on assignment, inform your recruiter early on (before you get to a "breaking” point) of what exactly the issues are, and include some proposed resolutions to those issues if you can. Remember that you and your recruiter are on the "same side." If major issues really cannot be resolved to a reasonable outcome in order to finish your contract (this is rarely the case), your recruiter will happily work with you to place you in a new assignment. In addition, the same holds true if you are working for a competitor. Don’t tell your recruiter that you are going to leave the assignment in order to work for her instead.

3. "If they don't give me the day off that I need, then I will just call in sick."

Your recruiter is your confidante, but also represents the client facility as well. Unplanned absenteeism places a burden on the facility, its core staff, and the patients. In addition, your recruiter knows you are tarnishing the reputation of all travelers when you call out without a valid reason, and you could very well be jeopardizing your assignment. Facilities use travelers to ease staffing shortages, so they have no tolerance for unneeded or excessive callouts and will frequently terminate a traveler for such a thing.

4. "Don't ever call me, I only want to communicate via email."

We understand the convenience of email, but we are working together to manage your career, and that is a very important thing! There will be times when we need to have a live conversation to ensure everything is covered, understood on both side, and not taken out of contexts. If your recruiter is someone you cannot stomach speaking to, you are probably working with the wrong recruiter and should make a change! Ideally, your recruiter should be someone you trust and actually enjoy speaking to, and there is no way to feasibly build a solid relationship if communication is solely done by email.

5. “I haven’t signed my contract yet.”

Whether you tell this to a recruiter at your current company, one that you have just signed on with, or to a brand new company/competitor, it is just not acceptable. You must stand by the verbal commitment that you have made. As I indicated in # 3 above, remember to always be a true professional – which means not backing out of something that you have previously agreed to.

6. “I don’t know which positions/hospitals that I have submitted to.”

Be sure to do your homework, and keep track (with a paper and pen!) of all of the jobs that you have been submitted to and by which company. There is nothing more frustrating for a recruiter than to be talking with a traveler who doesn’t have any idea as to which companies they are working with, and which jobs they are submitted to. By not knowing this information, you come across as not seeming very serious about your job search or the company that you work for. And if this is the case, then (as I indicate in #1 above), you are not going to be the traveler that a recruiter works the hardest for. So, stay organized and engaged in your job search!

7. “You work for me!”

Although this is technically true, and a recruiter does, in fact, work for you, keep in mind that it is a two-way street. We will work our tails off to find you a position, but only if we are convinced that you are reciprocating. In addition, once we find you the perfect opportunity, then you are our employee. We will be there for you through thick and thin, but need to know and trust that you will do the same on your end.

And lastly, be sure to maintain professionalism when on the phone with your recruiter, especially when you are first getting to know one another. I can’t tell you how many times that I have talked with travelers only to hear them either chomping on food, dealing with screaming children in the background, wading in their bathtubs, or talking to someone else in the room (who seems of more importance to them) while I am trying to have a solid conversation about their career goals. If a recruiter calls you at a bad time, then politely set a scheduled follow-up call if needed. And if you are no longer interested in hearing from us, then please just let us know. The last thing that we really want to do is waste both of our time. It’s as simple as that!

Alison Hruska is a Travel Nurse Recruiter with Clinical One. Visit them online at www.clinicalone.com.

Posted by Alison Hruska on Nov 5, 2010 5:09 PM CDT

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Alison Hruska

Date Posted: Nov 16, 2010 at 12:46 PM

Hi scscrubrn, you definitely bring up some great points. I think we are both in agreement on #4...email is fine for a lot of things if that is the preference of the traveler, but when a hot job opens up that matches all your criteria, a phone call is often needed to discuss it and get your verbal permission to submit you for the job. Which brings up #6. It is very unfortunate that there are agencies out there that will submit candidates to jobs without their permission. But you are right, it happens all to often and nurses have no clue about it. My only advice would be to immediately discontinue your association with such agencies when this happens, and to spread the word to other travels. This is not ethical business practice and needs to be stopped.

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scscrubrn

Date Posted: Nov 11, 2010 at 8:15 AM

I just have a couple comments on your list of things. As to rule #4, some of us travel because we have specific adgenda's for being in a certain location. I don't want to be bothered by useless phone calls from a recruiter so I specifically request contact by email only unless I have a problem or there is something pertaining to the job you need to convey to me. Just because you have a certain level of trust in someone does not mean you have to be their best buddy on the phone.
As to rule #6, I have had recruiters submit me to hospitals after I tell them I have no interest in going there. I have received calls from OR directors out of the blue and feel like an idiot when I have no idea who gave them my name or information. I work with more than one company so if I know that one will be submitting me somewhere I let the others know not to do so. I have still had recruiters that go ahead and resubmit me or turn around and tell me they can get me a better deal. I am sure that I am not the only one out there that this has happened to.
As an 8 year travel veteran I have had my share of good and bad recruiters. Maybe someone should come up with an article of the 7 things recruiters should not tell travelers......

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Alison Hruska

Date Posted: Jul 12, 2010 at 1:27 PM

You should ALWAYS know the name of the facility that you have been submitted to, and if your agency is not telling you, then you need to take another look at who you are working with. A reputable agency will always tell you the name of the facility once you are at a point of being submitted. It is in your best interest, and theirs to make sure you are well informed. If you are working for two agencies, this practice will help to keep you from being submitted to the same facility by both agencies (which could result in your profile being thrown out all together). If your agency is not telling you the name of the facilities where you have been submitted, then I'd recommend you start asking some hard questions as to why they practice this way and if they can't give you a good answer, I'd start looking at other agencies.

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