Ask a Travel Nurse: What should I do about my unresponsive recruiter?

Ask a Travel Nurse, Career Advice, Travel Nursing

Travel Nurse RecruiterAsk a Travel Nurse Question:

Since I have signed my contract, I’ve tried multiple times to contact my recruiter, with no success. I’ve tried calling emailing and texting personal cell. She did this last time I signed for nearly a week, with no response up to 2 days before my start date. She said her kids dropped her phone in the tub and couldn’t retrieve contacts…but now that she’s done it again, I’m kinda pissed. I don’t know where ill be housed, what is furnished, when my flight leaves, where I go, who I’m suppose to meet etc…my start date is two weeks from today. Is this typical or do I have reason to be upset? Thanks.

 

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

Just because you are receiving bad service does not mean you have to put up with it. Do you have to choose your battles in life? Yes, very much so. However, this person on the other end of the line needs to underst and that what you are doing is no small matter. Being a nurse period is a huge responsibility as you are the healthcare ringleader dealing with patients, their families, other nurses, doctors, pharmacy, lab techs, radiology, and on and on and on. What we do is NOT easy and having to move away from your home and blend into a new environment (possibly every 13 weeks) to do it, is a HUGE undertaking. Do I have you any more fired up??

Bottom line, this person is not being professional in my mind. They are not representing the company well and if you get fed up enough to leave because of them, don’t you think the company would want to reassign you to keep you as an employee? I can underst and that things do happen in life that make it difficult to keep commitments. But if you have children and are irresponsible enough to let them play with your phone near water….well, I’m sorry to say that I would not want you to be the person responsible for arranging my travel assignment. Maybe that seems a little harsh, but I believe most people would recognize this as an excuse. Why would anyone only have their traveler contacts on their phone? Wouldn’t you think the travel company would have a directory of travelers, who their recruiter was, and a recent phone number?

Ask to be reassigned to another recruiter. If the company gives you any slack, tell them you are on file with four other companies who you will be happy to travel with on your next assignment. Also, if a travel company does not care enough to keep you happy as an employee ( and we are not talking unreasonable requests here), then what does it say about the company itself.

Call in and speak to a recruitment manager. Explain the situation and do take a moment to reflect on whether you would be willing to work with this recruiter if they were to change their ways. If not, tell them that you would feel more comfortable working with another recruiter. This part is totally up to you. Do you feel this is unprofessional? Do you feel this recruiter is representing their company well? Would you give them a second chance? Or are they already on their fifth “second chance”?

In case any of my regular readers note a little less “jovial” tone in this response, yes, I’m in the middle of a tough week where I am just tired of putting up with people who don’t do their job. However, if we just allow this sort of customer service, who is to blame, the person not doing their job or the person not holding them accountable?

I don’t normally reach out to you, the readers, for a direct comment on a post. However, I am actually contemplating a new venture in working with travel recruiters to enable them to better serve those of us who make a living on the road. I would love to hear about any of your personal experiences, good or bad, that you have had with a travel nurse recruiter. If you are compelled enough to relay your experience, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you. You can email me directly at david@travelnursesbible.com

Thanks for reading.

David
david@travelnursesbible.com