Application waiting period

NedRN · Feb 22, 2022

Well, perhaps the agency really doesn't want the revenue from your work and doesn't want to follow through. Being sarcastic as lack of follow though happens for all sorts of reasons.

Not sure what "system" there is to kick out applications, but it is true you don't really want two agencies to submit you for the same assignment. As a general rule, the first agency to submit "owns" that traveler for that assignment. Some hospitals, not wanting to intervene in agency disputes just refuse to consider the double submitted traveler at all.

A related issue for travelers signed up with more than one agency is being submitted without your permission. This can end badly with the crappy and lower paying agency being aggressive and submitting you widely before other more respectful agencies submit you to an assignment per your request. Too late! Up to you to instruct agencies to follow your wishes and up to you do some due diligence first on pay rates for a particular assignment before anyone submits you.

Also possibly directly related to this situation are hospitals that post jobs and they don't actually have needs. The plus for them is a constant flow of submissions for when they do need someone. Usually agencies catch on pretty quick and move on to more reliable hospitals, but not always. Other agencies know that game, but play one of their own - the confetti method of just submitting to multiple facilities until one expresses interest in you.

So you have completed an assignment. Congrats. However you should really start looking before it is over, even if you need a break. But here you are, putting all your eggs into one basket. This is a recipe for failure that is usually an early lesson for travelers. I once cooled my heels for several weeks only to find out belatedly that while the assignment was open, my agency did not have a contract with the facility and were using my profile to market themselves. Your agency may allow you to submit to more than one assignment at the same time, perhaps not initially, but certainly when your first choice has dragged on. You can also increase your odds by having more than one agency submit you (for different assignments).

You still have chances of getting this assignment though. The right way is to have your recruiter call your agency's coordinator with this hospital (usually the primary agency contact and who likely also approved your submission) and ask what is going on - like has the assignment been filled or change of staffing strategy? The "wrong" way is to call the hospital yourself to find out the truth. You can do this with the tacit permission of the recruiter who may help you with the manager name and number, or do it unassisted. But the worst that can happen is they say they don't want you - and the reason is you called them. I had one hospital say this once, but who cares? A couple weeks waiting really means no job anyway.

Just to tell you why this is "wrong" is that HR (or an outsourced HR replacement called a vendor manager) sits between you, your agency, and the unit manager or director. It is HR's job to screen travelers before bothering the manager with profiles. Jumping past these protocol lines is "wrong" but better than waiting for a phone call.

For a really advanced stratagem: don't even involve an agency at all first. I wouldn't cold call a manager without knowing that there was an open traveler need, but such calls have really paid off for me several times over my travel career. Managers are very time efficient and don't want to have to talk to you twice so reaching a manager on the phone and asking about an assignment there (you really want to work at this hospital or that location) usually turns into a mini-interview (a couple sentence description of your experience and strengths suffice). I'd recommend making your own professional profile ready to email to the manager if requested (overview page, work history, skills checklist, and two written references - way less work for the manager than digging through a CV and essentially the same profile an agency will send). Managers don't usually have a favorite agency, but you can ask anyway - very helpful if they can name an agency or two.

This stratagem has completely turned the tables on agencies. Instead of them owning you, you own them! If you tell them you already have a manger ready to hire you, you can now shop agencies for best pay and treatment. Having done most of the work for them, they should pay you more. As well as get you quickly submitted and follow through.

OK, probably a longer answer than you wanted! Oh well.

NO JOKES OR PUNS ALLOWED, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2022

Was it a relatively new company?

There's some weird document farming that goes on with "new travel nurse companies" that open and close overnight. It happened to me once. A good way to figure out if your stuff has been stolen is to ask a recruiter for the company you know also reps and does contracts for the hospital if the hospital is using ______ agency. I don't know what their game is with the document farming, but it's a thing that happens.

NedRN · Feb 22, 2022

6 hours ago, NO JOKES OR PUNS ALLOWED said:

There's some weird document farming that goes on with "new travel nurse companies" that open and close overnight. It happened to me once. A good way to figure out if your stuff has been stolen is to ask a recruiter for the company you know also reps and does contracts for the hospital if the hospital is using ______ agency. I don't know what their game is with the document farming, but it's a thing that happens.

At a rough guess, there are 25 plus agencies that go out of business each year, many of them absorbed by existing agencies. When that happens, yes, your information becomes the property of the purchasing agency. This also happens through websites that offer "one application" for all the best agencies. That info is sold, and resold to client agencies. Sometimes such marketing sites are put up deceptively and owned by an agency. Pretty much standard business practices. This may be what you were experiencing. Not much way to stop it. The game is to get valid traveler contact information - that is it.

Along with the agencies that go out of business every year, a similar number are startups. I maintained an agency database for many years and the agencies doing nurse travel always hovered around 400 annually. That doesn't include allied health only agencies and advanced practice.

An attractive part of travel companies to entrepreneurs is that it is an industry with low barriers to entry (easy to start). In fact, you can outsource just about everything. Recruiters, marketing, JC certification (who also supply the policy and procedure manuals needed for certification), benefits, payroll, virtual office, you name it!

This is less attractive to travelers of course who want experience and reliability. I used to enjoy asking agencies about the number of travelers on assignment - never answered "proprietary". You can get around that stonewall by asking how many staffers work in their office which for some reason they do answer. It generally takes 10 to 20 traveler FTEs to support a single office staffer (the majority of staffers will be recruiters). Also ask how long they've been in business, and where they are located. Some agencies are more regional than national (both have benefits and drawbacks) but I'm always suspicious when there is no address on their website. Normal for strike companies though (or a PO Box at a mailboxes service).

NO JOKES OR PUNS ALLOWED, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2022

13 hours ago, NedRN said:

At a rough guess, there are 25 plus agencies that go out of business each year, many of them absorbed by existing agencies. When that happens, yes, your information becomes the property of the purchasing agency. This also happens through websites that offer "one application" for all the best agencies. That info is sold, and resold to client agencies. Sometimes such marketing sites are put up deceptively and owned by an agency. Pretty much standard business practices. This may be what you were experiencing. Not much way to stop it. The game is to get valid traveler contact information - that is it.

Along with the agencies that go out of business every year, a similar number are startups. I maintained an agency database for many years and the agencies doing nurse travel always hovered around 400 annually. That doesn't include allied health only agencies and advanced practice.

An attractive part of travel companies to entrepreneurs is that it is an industry with low barriers to entry (easy to start). In fact, you can outsource just about everything. Recruiters, marketing, JC certification (who also supply the policy and procedure manuals needed for certification), benefits, payroll, virtual office, you name it!

This is less attractive to travelers of course who want experience and reliability. I used to enjoy asking agencies about the number of travelers on assignment - never answered "proprietary". You can get around that stonewall by asking how many staffers work in their office which for some reason they do answer. It generally takes 10 to 20 traveler FTEs to support a single office staffer (the majority of staffers will be recruiters). Also ask how long they've been in business, and where they are located. Some agencies are more regional than national (both have benefits and drawbacks) but I'm always suspicious when there is no address on their website. Normal for strike companies though (or a PO Box at a mailboxes service).

This is a little different. The goal in this con is to get you to send personal documents, not just phone and license numbers.

John2018 · Feb 23, 2022

I don't see any harm if you ask for an update with the recruiter and what you should expect from them, especially with the hiring process.

abixxy, MSN, RN · Feb 27, 2022

On 2/21/2022 at 7:03 PM, NedRN said:

Other agencies know that game, but play one of their own - the confetti method of just submitting to multiple facilities until one expresses interest in you.

Wisdom!

But the confetti method can be beneficial if you have the resources to move quickly or a compact license.

NedRN · Feb 27, 2022

7 hours ago, abixxy said:

But the confetti method can be beneficial if you have the resources to move quickly or a compact license.

True enough, if you don't care where you work, or want the best agency or pay. And that does work for some travelers but it is even better for those agencies. Annoying also to hospitals who are now competing for a traveler against many other hospitals without even knowing if traveler even wants their location. Personally, I don't think it is good for agencies, travelers, or hospitals (or even healthcare writ large), but certainly it works for some agencies.