Average waiting period to get a contract for a newbie in Travel Nursing

[rhine1121]

Hello Everyone,

I have more than 5 years of RN experience in a busy level II ER. Right now, I work only on the weekends full time. I talked to a few travel agencies and told them that I will quit my full time time job as soon as the lease of my apartment will be up next year( don't want to pay the breach of contract fee) but in the main time, I want to get a Travel RN position and work on the weekdays/any shifts, to have that experience. I know that some hospitals wants every other weekend availability. I'd been told by the recruiters that I have been submitted to some of the hospitals around here in FL.My question is (and this may sound stupid), is availability to work any day of the week a big deterrent factor to get an offer from your expereince? How long should I wait for the call to be interviewed and move on?Winter season is approaching and we tend to get busy during this time. Thank you.:)

[NedRN]

Working a concurrent travel assignment and staff job is really difficult. Why not pick up per diem shifts for a local agency? Or overtime shifts at your current hospital?

Also, you need to read about tax homes before you give up your apartment. You certainly will not get any tax free benefits if you are commuting to your assignment from your current home. Read more about tax homes and other travel issues on PanTravelers.

[rhine1121]

I did check PanTraveler's website. I guess I have to read some more..lol. And, I picked up extra shifts from my hospital while waiting. I .:)..Thank you for the response, @NedRN.

[NedRN]

I guess I didn't answer your direct question. If you have fully signed up with an agency and they have submitted you to an assignment, if you don't hear something in say three days, you need to move on. Different agencies may have different policies about how many assignments they can concurrently submit you for, or how long they will wait for an interview before submitting you somewhere else. They do this because they prefer a hospital knows the agency is submitting travelers for their first choice and helps build the agency's reputation. If they use the confetti method of submitting everywhere, the hospital spending the energy to interview travelers who could care less damages them.

While that can be a good strategy for better agencies (depending on current supply and demand - the ratio of submissions had to go way up after 2008 during the depression slump to find one assignment), it is not necessarily a good strategy for travelers. Yes, you should select assignment submissions carefully with your first choice, but signing up with several agencies will expand your options dramatically, and your ability to submit at several hospitals to get assignments in a timely fashion. There are lots of other benefits (and hassles) to signing up with several agencies, not the least of which is to confirm your fair market value in a given location.

The usual time from submission to starting an assignment is two to four weeks. Once you start traveling, the gap between assignments can be anything you want, from zero days (or travel days to next location), to months off.

[rhine1121]

Thank you,@NedRN. :)..Your answer is very helpful. I appreciate your help.