A common platform many healthcare professionals enjoy using is Vivian. This is a great place to search for and apply to jobs while talking to recruiters.
However, for new travelers, navigating the platform can be a bit daunting. We sat down with Marissa Morgan, a lead recruitment specialist, to get her input on Vivian best practices.
Question: Who should use Vivian?
Marissa: Obviously, if you’re a healthcare professional, then Vivian is the app for you. If you are a healthcare professional new to traveling, then Vivian is a great place for you to start looking for assignments. It’s convenient because everything is all in one place. You can shop around for different agencies and look at different rates. It’s a great starting block for people looking to start traveling.
Likewise, if you are a seasoned traveler looking for a new agency, Vivian is also a great option for you! The platform allows you to speak to recruiters from lots of different agencies and see various rates.
This may be a hot take, but I personally think if you have two or three trusted recruiters that you talk to regularly and they send you jobs consistently, then you do not need to use Vivian. The jobs on Vivian can be found on agency job boards. If you’re talking to a few trusted recruiters and looking on Vivian, you’re going to see duplicate jobs. Nothing on Vivian is new. Vivian is just convenient because it’s all there in one spot.
Question: What should travelers know from a recruiter’s perspective?
Marissa: I think travelers need to know that Vivian is not an agency. Vivian is a connection platform. It’s a place for travelers to connect with recruiters and agencies while browsing for jobs. That said, because there are multiple agencies on this platform, it’s important to remember that a lot of the agencies have the same jobs. If you see a hot job in a niche location and you see it posted multiple times, that is just one job. You do not need to click apply on all of them, because you’re going to have the exact same conversation with several different recruiters, and it will get frustrating for you. It will feel like déjà vu.
It is also important for travelers to know that if they select Okay to Contact next to their references, that might be a green light for some recruiters to contact your references without checking with you first. I never call references without speaking with the candidate first. However, not all recruiters operate the same way. If you apply to tons of jobs, each recruiter could call your references. Just keep that in mind when listing references. Maybe give your references a heads up that they will likely start getting a lot of phone calls from recruiters about you.
Question: What are some best practices on the platform?
Marissa: My first piece of advice is to only apply to jobs that you are truly interested in and jobs that you are qualified for. A good rule of thumb is to only apply to jobs where your credentials match the credentials that are being advertised. If you don’t know what something stands for, you probably do not qualify for it.
My next piece of advice is to keep a spreadsheet of all the recruiters you talk to, and the jobs you discuss with them. This will help keep things organized and organization is key when it comes to Vivian. You will speak with so many recruiters about various jobs, and it will inevitably start running together. So keep a spreadsheet with the name of the recruiter, the agency they work for, and the job you’re discussing.
My last piece of advice has to do with organization. Vivian saves every single document you upload. I’m not sure if there is a way to archive or delete old files, but if you upload multiple resumes, please label them based on the date you uploaded them. That way recruiters can easily determine what is the most recent document.
Question: Why should travelers upload as many documents as possible to get their profile to 100% completion?
Marissa: Right now, the name of the game is speed to market. The more you have uploaded, the less recruiters have to request from you. This means less back and forth, resultiing in faster submissions. Positions open and close so quickly and it is a competitive market! So if you’re serious about finding a travel position, it would really benefit you to have as much information on your profile as possible.
Question: If a traveler sends documents to one recruiter on Vivian, does that mean all recruiters will have access to this information?
Marissa: Great question, and the answer is no! Remember, Vivian is not an agency. None of the recruiters on Vivian talk to each other. This is why it is so important for travelers to upload their documents through the app and not just send them to recruiters individually. Recruiters don’t share your information.
Something else to keep in mind is that your full social security number and date of birth are required to submit you to positions. Even if you fill this information on Vivian, recruiters can only see the last four digits of your social. Don’t be surprised if you’re asked for your social- it is necessary to submit to most facilities.
Pro tip: If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your social over Vivian, text or email, you should ask the recruiter to give you a call. Alternatively, if you’re applying to a position through Travel Nurses, Inc., you can always upload your social securely in our app. Everything is encrypted, so your information is safe and secure!
Question: Last question! Should travelers work on getting their references completed through Vivian or will recruiters still have to call their references anyways?
Marissa: Personally, I think they should! We can submit you to positions using Vivian verified references. Once you get an offer, we will have to go through our own reference verification process and call the references. However, collecting references is often the biggest time-suck when submitting someone to a position. So having the completed Vivian references eliminates that downtime and is a fast-track for you to be submitted.
As I mentioned earlier, if you list someone as a reference, they will start getting calls from recruiters. But if you go through the Vivian references verification process, this could greatly reduce the number of calls they receive. Most agencies can use those references, so there’s no need to call the references prior to submission. It’s really a win/win.
