One of the most common questions I get asked by those interested in becoming a travel therapist is “How do I choose a recruiter?” Travel therapy recruiters are the main contact between you and the recruiting company. Their job is to do the heavy lifting of finding you a travel job that fits your priorities so you can hit the road and begin your travel adventures. So, again, how do you find a recruiter that’s right for you? In this post, I aim to explain how I personally made this decision and provide insight into how one might go about this process.
Recruiters/Recruiting Companies Explained
So, first off, for those unfamiliar with how the travel world works, recruiters and recruiting companies must be explained. Recruiting companies find or are notified of travel job openings by clients who need outside assistance. Each recruiter, in particular, reaches out to the travelers they work with and notifies them of these job openings. And for each opening ask whether or not you’d like to apply for that opening. For each job that you then get hired for, the recruiting company gets a portion of the reimbursement you receive. This is how the recruiting company/recruiters make their money. Essentially, they are the middlemen/women between the job pool or travel jobs across the country and you, the aspiring traveler.
With that said, one might ask, “Well can’t I just get these jobs on my own as a traveler?” The answer is no, not typically. Most of the clients looking for travelers prefer to hire from a trustworthy and qualified recruiting company vs searching through THOUSANDS of individuals. Also, many of these jobs are only sent out to recruiting companies and may not be publicly announced. There are many reasons why working through a recruiting company is beneficial, but from my perspective, the biggest reason is–>TIME.
For me, the moment I move to a new area, I begin planning the free time I have with adventures, such as exploring National Parks nearby. With a recruiter, you can go about your business between working and enjoying your travel contracts all while the heavy lifting of finding jobs that align with your priorities is being filled by your recruiter. So, again, the question is, WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?
How I Got Started
I began getting interested in becoming a travel PT through my travels for clinical rotations during school; however, I did not begin the process of searching for recruiters until ~ 5 months before graduating from PT school. Upon beginning the search of finding a recruiter in ~January 2020, I very quickly found out that the number of choices of travel therapy recruiting companies out there is extremely overwhelming! A quick Google search will pop up with countless recruiting companies. Many of these offer very similar benefits and such, thus it’s hard to find one that truly stands out. The options of paths to take were seemingly endless but I started with some recommendations online.
Online Recommendations
Luckily for this particular circumstance, we live in the era of social media. Months before this I had already begun following many travel therapists and travel therapy couples on social media. These individuals were more than willing to help out, as they had already likely done for other aspiring travelers. With a quick DM, they shared specific recruiters they worked with and shared their respective contact info. This gave me a pool of recruiters to choose from who were “battle-tested” and recommended by those who were seemingly really enjoying their travel experiences.
After receiving all the contact info I needed, I began reaching out to all these different recruiters. Each recruiter then set up a phone call to discuss what their company had to offer/what made them unique. This gave me a chance to make enough small talk and conversation to get a feel for whether I was getting a “good vibe” from each recruiter individually. The more recruiters I spoke with, the more I realized that there are really small minute differences between recruiting companies. The most important aspect is all about the recruiter and the individual and how well they work together. This was confirmed by my online social media travel therapy mentors, as well.
Utilizing Past Networking
Around this same time that I was reaching out to recruiters recommended to me online, I also perused through contacts that I had met months before at a university-hosted job fair at my school. At the time, the job fair was more of a chance to practice my networking skills than it was truly searching for permanent contacts; however, I did make one meaningful connection with a recruiter at a travel therapy company. This relationship outweighed a few other recruiters I had spoken to on the phone. This was mostly due to getting to have a face-to-face conversation with them, which, in today’s society, cannot be overstated when it comes to developing relationships, professional or personal.
On this same note, I know others have developed contacts through old-school colleagues and companies they worked with on school clinicals. Therefore, there are many ways to find recruiter contacts. You just have to find what’s right for you and what makes you feel the most comfortable jumping into the travel therapy world.
After many phone calls and trusting my gut, I had made my decision. I decided on choosing to work with one recruiter who was recommended online, and the other who I had already personally met at the job fair. Yes, I decided to work with two recruiters, again based on recommendations from more experienced travelers. Not all recruiting companies have the same job pools (though there definitely is some overlap). I wanted the best chance at finding the best jobs out there for me.
FAQ: Is there an interview process for getting “hired” by a recruiting company?
No, not really. As I stated above, you will have some sort of phone call or another form of conversation to determine whether you and the recruiter will be a good fit and to give you a chance to ask any questions about the recruiter, the company, or travel therapy in general. After this phone call, if you are still interested in working with this company, they will begin the next steps of the “onboarding process.” This is a series of online forms to create a profile with the recruiting company and as soon as you are able they will begin finding jobs for you! The only “job interview/hiring process” only truly happens when you begin applying for actual travel jobs.
Recruiter Communication Tips
After you’ve chosen the recruiter you plan to work with and you begin the onboarding process it is ABSOLUTELY essential that you and your recruiter are on the same page when it comes to communication and your priorities.
With my recruiters, I make sure to let them know exactly how I’d like to be contacted when upcoming jobs arise. This makes things quick and efficient for replying and submitting to jobs ASAP, which is very important. Before coming into each new round of “job submission time”, I sent my recruiters a list of “My top priorities”. This is obviously going to vary from person to person. Priorities can include just looking for the highest paying jobs, looking for a specific location, preference on job setting, etc.
For us, we are traveling to immerse ourselves in areas of the country that we may never travel to again. Thus, location is always high on our list. So, I list out preferences on states, cities in those states, and even areas we are trying to avoid as well. This way I know my recruiter has a very clear picture of what kind of job I’m looking for next; however, no matter how clear you try to make yourself sometimes your recruiter may not be as good of a fit as you anticipated. This was unfortunately the case for me.
Changing Travel Therapy Recruiters
After a few travel contracts, I realized one of the two recruiters I had chosen was not a good fit. This recruiter had actually landed me my first travel gig. A job as a new grad in the middle of the COVID travel market drought, thus I was very thankful for this recruiter. Unfortunately, I had come to realize that no matter how much I liked this recruiter personally, it was not a good fit. They were not communicating with me as I had clearly stated I preferred. This “miscommunication” was limiting my efficiency in submitting for jobs quickly. At this time I was not on contract through this company. Which gave me the freedom to end all connections with this recruiter.
After cutting ties, I decided to again reach out to my online mentors searching for another recruiter recommendation. I immediately found a great fit with a great company. I have since secured several travel contracts in a row with my new recruiter. She has time and time proved she understands what I’m looking for in my travel experiences. So, even if you happen to misjudge your initial recruiter “partnership”, it’s easy to cut ties and find a better fit. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my travel career.
Summary
That is an overview of the framework of how I’ve gone about choosing (and re-choosing) a travel recruiter(s). I am always open to questions that one might have diving further into this topic. So PLEASE feel free to CONTACT US with any questions! I’d be happy to share my own personal recommendations for recruiters that I work with! Or check out the FAQs page for quick answers about travel therapy.