Start Here!
If you’re experienced in manufacturing, warehousing, or healthcare and thinking about taking your skills on the road, you’ve come to the right place! We’ll walk you through how to get started becoming a traveling contract worker, what companies to apply with, and all the things you need to know to get your foot in the door and land your first travel staffing assignment.
Here you’ll find info about:
Connect With Us On Facebook
Join our Facebook groups for industrial jobs and healthcare jobs to network with other road warriors and recruiters in the industry. Ask questions, read through old threads, and check out active job postings in the group(s).
Newsletter: The Road
Our newsletter, The Road, delivers top conversations from our Facebook groups, new job postings, and industry information right to your inbox. In travel staffing, timing is everything, so it’s important to be on top of new job postings and what’s going on in the industry to land your first or next travel assignment.
What Qualifications & Work Experience
Are Needed For Traveling Contract Work?
Industrial Projects
To become a traveling contractor for industrial projects you typically need to have at least one to two years of experience in the role you’re applying for a similar experience that’s transferable — whether that’s a traveling order selector for a warehouse or a traveling assembler, machine operator or another traveling manufacturing job.
Healthcare Projects (Travel Nurses, Travel Surgical Techs, Etc.)
If you’re thinking about becoming a travel nurse, you’ll need to have 2+ years of experience in your nursing specialty whether it’s surgical, critical care, trauma, neonatal, pediatrics, etc. In reality, the more experience you have the better because you’ll be stepping into a new healthcare setting and will be expected to acclimate quickly and provide top-level care.
Experience Needed
When companies hire staffing agencies to bring them a workforce from outside the area they’re doing so to get experienced talent that knows their way around a warehouse, industrial environment, hospital, or healthcare facility so that they can get to work right away with little training.
If you find that you’ve applied and are not getting a call back it may be that you don’t have enough experience or it could be one of the other issues we mention in 3 reasons you haven’t landed your first contract assignment. If you’re not getting callbacks or you don’t have enough experience in warehousing or manufacturing, then your best bet is to apply with local staffing agencies and get some experience. For healthcare, you’ll want full-time and consistent experience before taking the step to be a traveler. Chat with other travel nurses to learn about their experiences and when they took that step.
Which Travel Staffing Companies
Should You Apply To?
The companies you should apply to will depend upon what type of work you’re looking for. Some industrial staffing agencies, for example, only provide warehousing and logistics jobs, and others offer roles in warehousing, manufacturing, and more. Some healthcare staffing agencies only offer strike nursing jobs and others avoid strikes and only offer travel nursing. The best way to learn about the different staffing agencies is to do your research here on TravelingContractJobs.com and to check out each company’s job boards to learn about what type of roles they’re hiring for.
How Many
Companies Should I apply To?
We have done some of the research for you, so check out our pages on warehousing and manufacturing to find out more about the agencies that hire for both industries. We also have directories for industrial staffing agencies and healthcare staffing agencies. Once you’ve done your research and have found companies offering the type of roles you’re interested in, the next step is to apply to various companies.
If you want to increase your chances of landing a job and have more projects to choose from, then it makes sense to apply to all the agencies that are offer jobs in your industry. Once you’ve applied and your resume is on file (assuming you have the experience and skills they’re looking for) recruiters from the companies will reach out to you about their open positions. Recruiters hold the keys to unlocking new travel staffing assignments throughout the U.S., so it’s important that you use every opportunity to make a great impression when speaking with them. Make sure to read our post about how to talk with recruiters about travel staffing assignments so you know what type of questions to ask them.
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