But there’s a catch: you’ll need two years experience first. Here Jeff Long,  marketing manager of Medical Solutions, a staffing company that places nurses in travel nursing jobs, talks about what you need to know and can do now to be ready for your dream job tomorrow:

Why aren’t new nurses hired for travel nursing?

This is one of the strange things about travel nursing. Nurses with the lifestyle that would allow them to travel easiest are new grads. However, a travel nursing career requires a nurse to immediately step in with less orientation than a permanent staff nurse. That’s why both hospitals and staffing companies tend to hold to a two-year experience minimum.

This works in the best interest of all involved: a hospital wants an experienced nurse, the traveling nurse doesn’t want to be in over her head, and the staffing company wants both to be happy with the match.

Is there anything new nurses can do now to prepare for a travel nursing job two years from now?

Be ready. Right now with the travel nursing job market down like it is, it is important to be organized and have all your certifications, licensures, vaccinations, etc. in one easy to access location (a three-ring binder is an easy way to do this).  And make sure everything is always up to date. Keeping these things organized is easier the sooner you start.

What areas of the country do you find more jobs than applicants?

At this time we are not seeing any area of the country with more jobs than applicants. This is due primarily to the overall shortage of jobs in the industry and the unwillingness of travelers to work wherever they can. The majority of our placements have been in the Midwest (Kansas, Texas) and California over the past six months.

What questions must new nurses ask recruiters?

Travel nurses should exhaust their recruiter with questions, but overall they should dig into six key areas:

• Housing and location
• Recruiter
• Company
• Compensation, costs, and expenses
• Benefits
• Specifics of the job he/she will be doing.

There are a lot of good resources online and books written by travel nurses with lists of questions that you should ask. These resources can expand on the six areas I mentioned.

What are the qualities of a good recruiter?

It really comes down to a relationship.

A good recruiter is not only knowledgeable about the industry, but she should be genuinely interested in you and your career. If you feel like you are being treated like a paycheck by the recruiter, then you probably are. It may take working with a couple of different recruiters to get a feel for what is a good. Sometimes you’re lucky and find a great one right off the bat.

Generally, though, you want them to be honest and up front, just as a recruiter wants that from you.  Neither of you want surprises during the assignment.

Why do nurses fail at travel nursing?

There are a variety of reasons, but the most common are:

• Homesickness;
• Preference for more stability;
• Not mentally strong enough for the challenge;
• Conflict with staff/doctors, didn’t like the hospital or area, or weren’t a good fit for the unit;
• Personal issues/events (death in the family, sickness, etc);
• Not skilled enough to hit the ground running in their modality;
• Not strong enough personality to break the ice with the perm staff or get used to being treated different from staff and management in some cases; and,
• Difficulty staying out of the hospital politics.

Do recruiters value nonprofit medical nursing experience (like mission trips, service nursing)?

Most travel agencies don’t look at volunteering as part of the two-year experience requirement, and we have never seen a hospital ask for it. While it probably does not hurt, it does not really help either. It really comes down to skills and years of experience in their specialty.

Unfortunately, many new nurses skimp on this important phase of the job-acquisition process.

According to Carolyn Steffel, a nurse recruiter at Edward Hospital (a magnet hospital) in Naperville, IL, new nurses need to ace the application and resume to be taken seriously. Read here her best advice for doing so:

Don’t cut corners on the application process.
Your application is just as important as the interview—if not more important since it’s what gets your foot in the door. But many new nurses rush through the process, especially if applying online, because it feels informal. Be cautious: You need to slow down and be fastidious in how you fill out your application because recruiters evaluate candidates based on them.

Nursing is technologically advanced today, so you need to be able to demonstrate that you can use the automated system through which you are submitting your application. Also, when your application’s documentation is not clear and thorough, many recruiters draw conclusions that you will be similarly careless with your documentation on the job. And you need to give complete information. Don’t say, “See resume.” The application is the legal document, seen even before a recruiter reviews your resume. You don’t want to leave a recruiter wondering what you have and haven’t done—or lead them to believe you’re a corner-cutter by nature.

Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.
Believe it or not, Mrs. Gerund’s 7th-grade grammar class was critical to your present job-seeking success. According to a recent study published by Accountemps, 34% of applications and resumes have grammatical and typo errors. Remember this: Your worth is found in the details. If you rush through your application and resume, peppering it with misplaced commas, misspelled words, and fragments, your professional competency is questionable. Recruiters wonder how you’ll manage a fast-paced career like nursing and keep errors at a minimum. They also question if your lack of attention to detail is an indicator that you’ll be slack with the day-to-day tasks.

Highlight your best—but be truthful.
Think of your resume as your sales brochure. You want to showcase your skills, professional and educational background, and accomplishments–with the purpose of demonstrating how you will benefit the organization. This means you’ll need to research the organization, so you know what its core competencies are. It also will entail picking your “best-of” experiences, so the organization gets a snapshot of your capabilities and won’t get bored by the details. Too much information leads to getting lost among the legions of applications. Also, if you list a competency, skill, or experience, be prepared to discuss it during the interview. Recruiters can catch you stretching the truth by asking for details. Baggy answers point to incapacity. In short: Be clear. Be crisp. Be honest.

Pick the right references—and inform them.
During the application process, you will go through a rigorous screening process. Having references who can speak specifically and positively of your capabilities is critical to standing out among the crowd of applicants. You intuitively know who will speak highest of you based on the quality of relationship you have. But it’s still important to inform your references and maintain a positive relationship with them. Let them know about the job you are applying for and provide them the most up-to-date information about you. This way they know what to highlight about you in their conversation with the interviewer. Also, make sure you have their most current information as well; if they’ve added a title to their name, like Ph.D., you’ll want to include that. Misrepresenting you references demonstrates sub-par professionalism.

Follow up in an appropriate way.
Most organizations have automated applicant tracking systems that immediately notify an applicant via e-mail that his/her application has been received. The length of time it takes to receive a response can vary, depending on if you are applying to an actual open position or sending an unsolicited resume. There can be thousands of applications and resumes that job recruiters are sifting through. Because of this, it often takes two weeks—sometimes longer—to respond to applicants. So don’t follow up on your application for at least that long.

When you do follow up, don’t clog up a recruiter’s e-mail inbox with inquiries. A professional call would be better received and also gives you the opportunity to showcase your communication skills. Be concise, professional, and polite in your follow-up communication. It’s also beneficial to reference the specific position you applied to, versus saying “I want to follow up on my application.” Or, “I have not heard anything about my application.”

Follow-up does not guarantee you will secure a job. But it does leave a positive impression when done correctly.

That’s the essence of behavioral-based interviewing, which aims to discover how the interviewee acted in specific employment-related situations.

Why is behavioral-based interviewing so popular? Because, according to Carolyn Steffel, a recruiter at Edward Hospital, a magnet hospital in Naperville, IL, “You can teach someone skills, but you cannot easily teach someone a behavior. Despite the nursing shortage, we say no to nurses who don’t fit our organization’s core competencies.”

Core competencies are behaviors that an employer deems necessary for the job for which you are interviewing. By doing a little investigative work (i.e., visiting the hospital’s web site to study its history and mission, reviewing the job description, or revisiting the job posting), you can find out the core competencies an employer is looking for. It’s critical to be fluent in these competencies, because behavioral interviewing hinges on them.

For instance, most hospitals want nurses to demonstrate strong customer service abilities. Instead of focusing on, “How would you handle a patient who is screaming about the care he is receiving?” a behavioral interview asks, “Give an example of when you went above and beyond the call of duty to make a patient comfortable.”

Steffel recalls a memorable answer to this question: “One nurse actually took home laundry for a patient’s family member, who was far away from home and didn’t have the resources to take care of it herself. This demonstrated the nurse’s willingness to address the full scope of a patient’s needs.”

Other core competencies employers look for include leadership abilities, problem solving skills, communication skills, initiative, and ease at developing and maintaining peer relationships. Before the interview, it’s important to anticipate questions and formulate answers that tell a clear, detailed personal story.

Following are some questions to consider:

• How have you gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why did you?
• What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Give an example of how you handle it.
• Have you had to ask a team member to do a task they weren’t thrilled about? How did you motivate them?
• How have you handled a difficult situation with a co-worker?
• Give an example of how you worked effectively under pressure.
• Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.
• Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it.

During the interview if you don’t understand a specific question, ask for clarification before answering. And after you’ve answered, expect the interviewer to follow-up with more questions. Even if you shine on the first, second, and third question, your fate might be determined if you fumble the last question.

According to Steffel, you must be consistent in your answers and persevere through the final question. Steffel recalls an interview in which the nurse handled all the questions well except the last, which focused on peer relationships. She made many pejorative comments about a peer, and as Steffel probed deeper, she realized this nurse wasn’t a good fit for their organization.

According to Steffel, “At our hospital, like most hospitals, we want people who embrace challenges. Even if we don’t always agree, we want people who are willing to compromise and work toward a solution.”

So, take a look at your behavior: Will you fit in at the organization that you are applying with? Maybe. Maybe not. The interview is a way for both interviewer and interviewee to find out—so you’ll stick with the job and find satisfaction.

1. Dress professionally.
You may have a stellar resume—aced nursing school, received high marks on your NCLEX, hold great recommendations—but if you come in as Sally or Sal Slop, your credibility will plunge. Steffel has had nurses arrive at interviews wearing shorts and flip-flops. Guess whether they got the job. Steffel recommends staying away from anything that will distract the interviewer from what you’ll bring to the organization—hiked-up hemlines, street attire, wrinkled slacks, flashy jewelry, disheveled hair, overpowering fragrances, or gum smacking. Since you’re applying for a professional position, look the part: Keep it conservative, neat, and clean. First impressions are lasting.

2. Watch your non-verbal cues.
According to Steffel, interviewers are looking for a nurse to be well composed and professional.

They discern this through the nurse’s non-verbal cues. Don’t forget interviewing fundamentals, like a firm handshake, a pleasant smile, direct eye contact, uncrossed arms, and an energetic tone of voice. Aside from displaying enthusiasm and sharpness, these gestures also reveal how you will interact with future customers (patients). And your poise points to how you will handle the countless unfamiliar and frightening scenarios a nurse faces during his/her career. In short,interviewers appraise your non-verbal communication as much as your verbal communication.

3. Exude enthusiasm.
When Steffel interviews nurses, she also looks for a passion for the profession and the organization for which the nurse is applying. Steffel knows people are nervous and might occasionally flounder for words—that’s expected. Still, nurses should demonstrate excitement about their careers, that they have something unique to offer, and that they are fond of the organization for a specific reason (i.e., their mission statement or they’re a magnet hospital). Engaging the interviewer in conversation about the organization, also demonstrates your eagerness and ability to interact with people (which nursing is all about). While you may not have years of experience to buttress your credibility, your excitement and interest in the organization will do so.

4. Turn off your phone.
In a world in which we are constantly reminded to turn off our cell phones and pagers, you would think it would be a no-brainer to do so before a job interview.

Not so. Steffel has interviewed nurses whose cell phones rang in the middle of the interview… and one time a nurse actually answered it. Not only are your phones and pagers a potential distraction, but the interruption demonstrates that you are not fully present for the interview— and that it’s not a priority.

“Interviewers are fully present for the interview,” says Steffel. “The candidate needs to abide by those same principles.”

5. Research the organization.
Be prepared to answer the questions: “Why are you interested in our organization? What brings you here? Why do you want to work at this hospital?” And don’t say, “Because it’s the closest to where I live.” Take time to review the hospital’s mission statement, read articles written about the hospital, or review the job posting—find any information you can about the hospital and study it. It will be invaluable information during your interview.

For instance, if you researched Edward Hospital, where Steffel is a recruiter, you’d find it’s a magnet hospital and about their brand promise to deliver care “for people who don’t like hospitals.” During the interview, use information like this to demonstrate your interest in the organization. But don’t simply say, “I want to be hired because I want to be at a magnet hospital.” Take it a step further, Steffel recommends, and explain why you want to be at a magnet hospital: because of the nurse support, the preceptor program, the internship, the transition training program, etc. This attention to detail shows the interviewer how serious you are about the position you are vying for.

6. Ask the right questions.
“You’re interviewing the organization just as much as we’re interviewing you,” says Steffel, “so you need to have questions prepared.” Maybe there was something that the interviewer said during the interview that you’d like to be clarified. Don’t hesitate to ask. Now is the time to find out what won’t work for your personality—rather than later, once you’ve signed the dotted line.

Questions nurses should ask include the following:

• What is your orientation program like? Do you have a preceptor program? What is its duration?
• Do you allow time off for and/or pay for continuing ed?
• Do you have nurse educators, and how often are they available?
• How are performance evaluations done, and how frequently?
• Will I have to work weekends and holidays? Will I be on call?
• What is your retirement plan like? Will you contribute?

Preparation at every level will set you apart from your competition—and may help you even
enjoy the process.