Anyone use a nurse recruiter?

CPhT2RNstudent · Jun 1, 2012

I posted my resume on monster and careerbuilder and had 10+ calls per day from recruiters. It was kind of annoying, and in the end the places I interviewed at were all places I found myself. I got two job offers on the same day! Of course, they were all my own doing. I found that the recruiters varied to both extremes in professionalism. Some were nurses who knew what it was like to be a nurse, and very responsive. Others were chewing gum in your ear, did not know what a "compact state" was, and were very similar to a used car salesman trying to bully you into using them. They all also want you to do more paperwork for their agency. IE ICU skills assessment paperwork.

Bottom line, it would not hurt to check into recruiters, but I had better luck going to the hospitals website and applying directly. It is cheaper for the hospital that way as well since they are not paying a finders fee to a recruiter. That is my :twocents: .

cocot · Jun 1, 2012

Thanks- I wonder if the salary is less because of the finders fee.Did they give you any salary info?

RNSoonEnuf · Jun 6, 2012

I'm also relocating to the Charlotte area from Houston, TX and I have been very selective with the recruiters I have chosen to contact in Charlotte. I currently work as an agency RN in TX and I have found that I make more money this way than I did as a staff nurse, but I don't receive medical and dental benefits because I get those through my husband. So it is a toss up. For example, I worked as a staff nurse for a local HCA hospital and made less than I did as a GN, that didn't last long at all. When I work at the HCA hospitals now, less than a year later, I make over $40/hr. So there is some benefit to using recruiters and agencies.