How To Use 2-3 Travel Therapy Agencies to Score Your Dream Travel PT Contract
WHY should I work with multiple travel physical therapy agencies?
I recommend working with 2-3 travel physical therapy agencies/recruiters.
Here’s why:
Access to more jobs
Working with multiple travel physical therapy agencies gives you access to more jobs throughout the U.S. If your recruiter tells you “they have all the jobs” (I’ve heard this more than once), they’re lying 🚩🚩🚩🚩.
While larger travel therapy companies (like AMN) will have more total jobs than smaller agencies, different agencies have different direct clients.
This means you only have access to that contract through that specific travel physical therapy company exclusively. So you will only be able to land that direct client/job by working with that agency.
More earning power
Working with multiple travel therapy recruiters gives you an opportunity to generally compare pay packages between agencies.
That being said, DO NOT use this as an opportunity to pit your recruiters against one other.
E.g. Don’t go to Recruiter A and tell them Recruiter B is offering this much for “this” contract, and have them try to beat it. That’s a guaranteed way to leave a bad taste in their mouth.
Also, please don’t jump to conclusions that your recruiter is “screwing you over” if you find out one recruiter is paying higher than the other for the same contract.
There are many factors that play into your pay package. E.g. Smaller companies tend to have lower overhead costs, so they can usually offer a little bit more money.
Have your pick of the litter & land your dream contract
Most importantly, working with multiple travel therapy agencies will increase your chances of scoring a badass travel PT contract!
Here’s a couple of my own stories to show you what I mean.
Story One: Three Interviews in One Day 🥵
Back in 2019 (when the market wasn’t HOT HOT HOT 🔥🔥 like it is right now), I was working with three of my trusted recruiters to land my next travel therapy contract.
I submitted to one job through each of them (all on the same day) which resulted in three interviews in one day. They were all exclusive contracts within each agency.
It was WILD. I somehow managed to take all the interview calls at work (thankful I was in outpatient at the time and had patient cancellations).
What’s even more wild is that they ALL ended up being fantastic job options.
One was a hospital-based outpatient (big green flag) in a beautiful area in NorCal.
One was a private practice outpatient clinic that saw patients one-on-one in SoCal.
And the last-minute interview was an acute rehab position in L.A.
They all had good pay rates and great productivity expectations.
I love working acute rehab, and this setting doesn’t pop up often in the travel world. So I ended up going with that one.
There’s no doubt in my mind that I would have enjoyed any of these three jobs because I screened them by asking the right questions during the interview.
Story Two: Landing that Unicorn Job 🕺🏼
Last week, I submitted to two different jobs through two of my trusted recruiters.
Neither recruiter had the other’s job on their job list (see what I’m saying!).
I ended up interviewing for each job at lunch on back-to-back days.
Based on my interview, I found out they were both awesome facilities.
One job was a hospital-based outpatient job in Torrance, CA and the other was a great acute care hospital in Ventura, CA. They both had high bill rates, reasonable productivity expectations, plenty of support, and they were both right on the beach!
What a great position to be in, AmIRight?!
I ended up choosing Torrance because it was a unicorn job that fulfilled all three of “The Big Three” for us – great pay, amazing location, AND one of my favorite settings (outpatient).
You don’t come by jobs that fulfill all three often. And the Manhattan Beach area had been on our radar for a while since we’re beach volleyball fanatics!
We take any chance we get to land a contract in a cool coastal region. Especially if there’s a great beach volleyball scene!
I’ve ran into similar situations again and again over the last couple of years.
Are you catching on yet? I put myself in these ideal situations by working with multiple travel therapy agencies.
WHICH travel physical therapy company should I work with?
Some agencies provide specific perks, like new grad mentorship, free CEU programs, scrub reimbursement, 401k, insurance coverage on day 1 vs. after 30 days, etc.
But the truth is, the agency doesn’t matter as much as your relationship with your recruiter.
Hope on a phone call with a potential recruiter before you fill out a profile and start submitting to jobs to make sure you’re vibing with them. More on this below.
Your recruiter is going to be your right-hand man/woman along this journey, and you want someone who will have your back when sh*t hits the fan.
You can take out the guess-work and connect with my trusted recruiters here.
WHEN should I start working with multiple travel physical therapy agencies?
From your very first travel PT contract!
Flex this muscle so it becomes second nature after a couple of assignments.
You’ll feel like a veteran traveler in no time!
How to choose a recruiter
First off, let’s talk about how to choose a trustworthy recruiter who is dependable and has your best interests in mind.
Remember – you MUST interview your recruiters before submitting to jobs with them. Filling out a profile is a ton of work and you don’t want to have to do it more than a couple of times with a couple different agencies. You’ll thank me later!
“Interview” sounds so formal, but what I really mean is you should call them, get to know a little bit about them (maybe shoot the shit a bit), and ask them how they operate.
DO NOT skip this step. Even if your friend who refers you swears by them, your personalities might not be a good fit.
Here’s some of the main points I make sure to hit before choosing a recruiter:
First and foremost: How do you feel about me working with multiple recruiters? (You can use some of the reasons listed above to justify why you choose to do work with multiple). If they act any type of way about it, 🚩🚩🚩🚩.
How do you prefer to communicate (email, call, text)? How are you most responsive? (You’ll want someone that matches your preferences.)
e.g. I get annoyed when recruiters call me all the time. I’m cool with calls if it’s time-sensitive or something urgent, but if it can be discussed through a text just as easily, let’s just do that. Call me a millennial 😜.
Tell them which of “The Big 3” – pay, setting, and location – are most important to you (numbered 1-3 in order of importance). And what your preferences are with regard to each. This lets them know what to prioritize when searching for jobs. They can also let you know whether they have what you’re looking for before you fill out a profile.
This is a me-thing, but I always let them know I prefer to keep communication as upfront and transparent as possible. I don’t like to beat around the bush and I don’t expect them to, either.
If the conversation flows well, if you feel comfortable talking to them, and if feel like you can trust them... it’s probably a good fit.
If you vibe with the recruiter after the call, then great! If you don’t, send them a respectful email or text and (respectfully) tell them that after talking, you don’t think it’s a good fit.
This is probably controversial, but it’s my personal preference to feel like my relationship with my recruiter is like that of a friend.
Actually, the best recruiters I’ve worked with ARE my friends. It’s not like a business relationship (yes, I still realize it is). But who’s more likely to have your back when something comes up? Your business partner or your friend? 🤔
Here’s a great example (see image below ↓) of a recruiter who was not a great fit for me. Fun fact: He was actually the first travel therapy recruiter I ever spoke with.
If your recruiter talks to you like this, please, for the love of good, run the other way. Dodged a bullet with this one.
Good thing I asked him if he was okay with me working with multiple recruiters from the start! I can only imagine what the email would have looked like after I told him I accepted a contract with another recruiter.
How to communicate (respectfully) while working with multiple travel therapy recruiters
The most important thing to understand here is that respect and transparency are EVERYTHING in this relationship.
The moment you or your recruiter lets disrespect or animosity creep into a conversation.... it’s just hard to come back from that.
Remember that you’re doing what’s best for you, your life, and your situation. I feel strongly about that, and so should you.
BUT, also don’t be the jackass who operates from an “it’s all about me” mentality. The travel therapy world is small and it WILL come back to bite you if you stick around long enough.
Before you get started working with multiple travel therapy companies, I also want you to understand that the hustle is REAL!
You’re going to be juggling texts/emails/calls with several recruiters at one time, clarifying pay packages and job details, taking interview calls on the fly at work, etc.
IT’S A LOT! But just like your first week on contract, the more you do it, the more it becomes no big deal. It’s just a part of the gig!
The hustle may be real, but it’s 1,000,000% worth it! This is us on our 9-week honeymoon in SouthEast Asia. This trip was made possible by the flexible lifestyle taking travel PT contracts allows.
Now, let’s play out a job search scenario where you’re working with 2 travel therapy recruiters
Okay, now let’s get into it. Let me set the stage for how you should handle a situation where you’re submitting to jobs through multiple travel therapy agencies.
You’re about to finish your current contract or quit your perm job and it’s time to start looking for your next travel physical therapy job (not much point in starting the search earlier than six weeks out from your start date, by the way).
Right off the bat, you let each recruiter on your team know as soon as you’re ready to start looking. This gives them all an even playing field for landing you your next contract. No surprise here – the one who’s most on top of it is probably going to win.
For the purposes of this explanation, we’re going assume you’re working with two recruiters (the same rules apply to 2+ recruiters).
We’ll refer to them as Recruiter A and Recruiter B.
Okay, so now Recruiter A has a travel physical therapy job you’re interested in. You give her the green light and she submits your profile.
Now’s the time to let Recruiter B know you’ve submitted to a job through another recruiter.
I recommend this for a couple of reasons:
Mutual respect and transparency – duh!
Recruiter B now knows it’s crunch time. If they’re a good one, they’ll start sifting through their job list to try and find a great job that will appeal to you.
Now, the job you submitted to through Recruiter A calls for an interview. You absolutely crush your interview – no surprise there, because you already read The Ultimate Guide to Travel Therapy Interviews.
It’s time to tell Recruiter B that you’ve had an interview.
This will light even MORE of a fire under their butts to hustle and find you something great, because they know an offer may be coming your way soon! They know they need to get you submitted to a job & interviewed ASAP before you accept the job submitted to through recruiter A.
Stay with me here.
Somehow, Recruiter B came up with your dream travel physical therapy job out of nowhere (that unicorn job that’s the perfect setting, a great location, and high-paying) and you obviously submit to it.
You now have your official job offer from Recruiter A in hand, and you have 24-48 hours to respond from the time the offer came through.
You finally (time is crawling at this point, you guys 🤣) receive an interview from the job through Recruiter B. You ace your interview again. Now you have two great offers on the table and you have your pick of the litter.
Now comes the part that stings.
You thought long and hard about it, and you’ve decided to take the job you submitted to through Recruiter B. Now you have to let Recruiter A know your decision.
There’s no easy way to do this. It’s awkward. It’s sad (because you know they hustled hard for you and you really do appreciate their efforts). It’s honestly kinda brutal.
But out of respect, you have to let them know! You can approach this however you like, but I put transparency above all in this situation and let them know exactly WHY I went with the other contract over their job option, so they know I wasn’t just choosing “loyalty” over them with my other recruiter.
Send them a sincere thank you and let them know how much you appreciate and respect their time.
Here’s an example of what I said to my recruiter (just last week) when this exact situation played out!
If they do get upset with you after you follow up with them, it was probably never the right fit in the first place.
Just know that there are more fish in the sea!
I continue to communicate with each recruiter with as much respect and transparency as I can. If I’ve done that and they still want to leave my team, then so be it! The ones who are a good fit will stick around.
You may think the likelihood of this scenario is slim to none. But I’ve had this scenario happen 5+ times in my four years as a travel PT.
I’ve accepted really great offers at the last minute several times. And I’ve never regretted it, because it’s always ended up being a fantastic travel physical therapy job.
Closing Thoughts
Your main takeaway should be that when you keep your recruiter updated, it’s a win-win for everybody. By being a bad-ass communicator, you get 2+ recruiters hustling hard to find you a great gig, you maintain mutual respect by keeping them in the loop, AND you’re giving them a fair shot to swoop in and find you something better.
It’s important to mention that recruiters do value and appreciate loyalty – AKA you working with them most, if not all the time.
And know that if you’re not loyal to one recruiter, they make take a higher margin on your pay package than they would a “loyal” traveler.
I get it from their point of view. But I also want to land the best possible contract for me. And I know the best way to do that is to work with multiple travel therapy recruiters, so that’s what I continue to do. And it sure has paid off.
By creating a badass team of trusted travel therapy recruiters and honing my interview skills, my travel physical therapy jobs just keep getting better and better!
