How to "shop around" with travel agencies?

[Emster83]

I'm a newer traveler (since April) and have been on the same contract (was extended for 13 more weeks). I'm not opposed to staying with my current company, however, I feel like I may be able to make a better take home wage at some point. I've been in contact with a few different companies to see if they have any jobs available in my specialty and have filled out official applications with them too.

What I'm wondering is how to actually go about comparing pay packages. For example, I asked my current recruiter about a particular job in a location I wanted. She said she submitted my file to them. Then, I saw that another company I was looking into had the same position listed. Do I actually flat out ask the other company what the pay package would be for that position? Because I've been doing a little research on the forums here and on good ole' Google, and I don't think I can be submitted to the same facility by different companies? I guess I was just concerned about etiquette and how to let the agencies know that I want to make sure the pay package would be adequate before I get submitted.

In all reality this seems kind of silly now that I'm typing it but I wanted some advice on shopping around/negotiating/etc.

Thank you in advance, fellow travelers!

[NedRN]

Of course, ask about compensation before agreeing to be submitted. You'll just annoy the hospital and waste everyone's time by interviewing at a hospital where the compensation is unacceptable to you. And before being submitted by a new to you agency, ask your other agencies what compensation they can offer you. The best compensation may be for an agency you don't like/trust so much, but you can use their figures and see if a preferred agency can match or better it. Use PanTravelers calculator to compare offers on a level playing field.

Until you really have a history with an agency, you don't want them submitting you to a hospital without your express approval. You want to control where your profile is sent, and by whom, for fairly obvious reasons. And yes, if two agencies submit the same traveler to the same assignment, there is a possibility that the hospital will just reject both. The general rule (and sometimes in the hospital to agency contract specifically) is that first to submit "owns" the traveler.

[Emster83]

Thank you Ned, I appreciate the feedback!

[Entravel]

All agencies should be up front about pay and you should feel confident to ask them any questions you need too. I've found the most transparent agencies are the best to work with, meaning, the more open they are about sending you information about the potential assignment before submitting you to it the better. Hope that helps some.