Before being presented to a job site, your agency or recruiter will need to request your permission to present you. They do this to have your “name cleared”, which means that the site will clarify that you have not already been presented to them with another agency in the last 12 months, nor have they had a bad experience with you in the past.
If you were originally interested in that site earlier in the year with agency A, and was presented over, but didn’t end up working with the site, you will still only be able to proceed with that site only with agency A, and not other agencies. This is something important to know because you will want to make sure that the current agency/recruiter you are talking to is a good fit. Because once you agree to be presented with that agency, you won’t be able to work with that site through another agency within the next 12 months.
Many agencies have the same job options, so you will want to make sure you get presented to the site with the best agency for you. Initially, I used the approach of first come first served. That means, that the first agency that presented me with the job, I would go with them. Eventually, you realize you should take your time because maybe another agency you have a better relationship with has that potential job option too.
If an agency sends me a job listing, I don’t necessarily ask other recruiters if they have that job too, but I will talk to them to see what jobs they have available, and it’s possible they have the same one. That way if you really like a particular site, you don’t have to work with a specific agency you dislike just to be able to have a great assignment.
Another thing to keep in mind, is to be careful with recruiters presenting you to sites without asking for your permission. It has happened to me before and I know plenty of other travel NPs that this has happened to as well. This can happen when a recruiter sends you an assignment option, and you reply “I am interested”. This means I would like more information, but the recruiter takes it to mean I would like to move forward and presents me to the site without me knowing.
Fast forward to months later, another recruiter approaches me with the same job offering but in a different location. I give my approval to be presented, and the site says that I was already presented by another agency so they cannot move forward. This is frustrating because I didn’t give my permission to be presented to them in the past, and I don’t even remember which agency presented me, nor do they provide that information. So, I lost an incredible job opportunity due to this. Keep in mind, many sites have locations in different towns and states so this can exclude you from multiple job sites within 12 months.
I hope this tip benefits beginner travel NPs and serves as a reminder to experienced travel NPs.
