Advice on St. Mary's and AMN

[ijiddy]

I have been traveling for AMN for about six months now. I had a really good contract at St. Joseph's for 3 months before moving to Sunnyvale to work at Lucille Packard in Palo Alto. My rep through the first two contracts was very responsive and great to work with. I felt we communicated really well and she worked to find me something that I would be happy with. A few weeks ago, she went on maternity leave and I was assigned a new rep and it has not been going nearly as well. When I tell her my requirements, she only comes back to me with positions that have the exact opposite of what I've asked for and consistently interrupts me when I try to speak to her. Would asking to speak with her manager be effective? Does anyone have any advice about working for AMN or recommendations for any other companies?

The rep has been trying to get me a position at St. Mary's in Long Beach, I work in postpartum. I was just recently told by another traveller that this may not be the greatest place to work. Does anyone have any experience in this unit at St. Mary's? Any advice would be appreciated.

[NedRN]

You can wait out the maternity leave, or ask a manager for a change of recruiter. Just say "nothing personal", just that you are not on the same wavelength. It is not your job or to your benefit to try to improve this recruiter, nor to get her into trouble.

My advice is always to have several agencies on tap, and the most important factor of which agency to chose is your personal communication with the recruiter at each (as you are now finding out). The only way to find that out is to call agencies yourself to screen them. Referrals to specific agencies or recruiters will only at best tell you about someone else's success with their particular communication style.