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How to Ace Your Travel Nurse Interview (and What to Ask)
Your phone rings.
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It’s a hospital calling about one of the travel nursing jobs you submitted to.
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Now what?!
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First, don’t panic.
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A travel nurse interview is usually much less intimidating than it sounds, and if you’ve interviewed for a staff nursing position before, a lot of it will feel familiar.
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But there’s one big difference:
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They’re interviewing you, but you should also be interviewing them.
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This is your chance to figure out what you’re actually walking into before you agree to spend the next 13 weeks there.
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Auto-Offer or Interview?
After submitting to a travel nursing job, one of two things may happen.
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You might receive an auto-offer, meaning the facility reviews your experience and decides to offer you the position without an interview.
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Or the hospital may want to talk with you first.
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Travel nurse interviews are often fairly short and may happen over the phone or by video.
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And sometimes that phone call comes when you aren’t expecting it.
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Keep your phone handy while you have active submissions.
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How to Prepare for a Travel Nurse Interview
The basics matter.
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Find somewhere quiet where you can actually hear the interviewer and they can hear you.
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If it’s a video interview, make sure you’re well-lit, your camera is positioned appropriately, and yes, put on something professional.
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Scrubs may basically be healthcare pajamas, but this is still a job interview.
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Introduce yourself clearly, thank them for calling, and let them know you’re excited to talk with them.
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Then focus on what makes you valuable.
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Be confident about your experience without coming across as though you know more than everyone at the facility.
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You may also get clinical questions related to your specialty and the patients they serve.
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If they ask about something you haven’t done before, be honest.
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You don’t have to know everything.
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Talk about the experience you do have and show that you’re willing and able to learn.
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Questions YOU Should Ask
This may be the most important part of the interview.
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You need enough information to decide whether this assignment is actually right for you.
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A few things we’d absolutely want to know:
What are the typical nurse-to-patient ratios?
What are the floating expectations?
Which units could you be floated to?
What is the facility’s cancellation policy?
Could travelers be expected to charge?
What patient populations will you commonly care for?
Is there specialized equipment you should know about?
What are they looking for in a traveler on this unit?
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And if you already know you need specific days off during the assignment?
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Bring that up before you accept the job.
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It’s much easier to discuss a wedding, birthday, family visit, or other commitment now than after you’ve arrived and the schedule is already being built.
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Remember: You Can Say No
An interview isn’t just about convincing the manager to hire you.
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It’s also an opportunity to discover that you don’t want the job.
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If the patient ratios make you uncomfortable, the floating expectations fall outside your experience, or something simply doesn’t feel right, that is valuable information.
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You’re about to travel across the country and commit roughly three months of your life to this assignment.
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Ask the questions now.
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A good interview should leave both sides with a better idea of whether this is actually a good match.
Check out of this helpfull toolkit to guide you in your interview so you can ask the right questions and figure out if it's a good fit for you. 👇
Finish Strong
Before you hang up, thank the interviewer for their time and the opportunity.
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Let them know you’re looking forward to hearing back.
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Then let your recruiter handle the follow-up.
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It can be tempting to track down the unit manager yourself if you haven’t heard anything, but your recruiter already has channels for communicating with the facility.
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Use them.
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And one more thing:
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The hospital interview is not the place to negotiate your travel nurse pay package.
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Questions about your compensation should go through your recruiter, not the hospital manager interviewing you.
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Want the Full Story?
There are a lot more little things you can do to make a great impression while also making sure you get the information you need.
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In this episode of Travel Healthcare 101, John walks through travel nurse interviews from start to finish, including auto-offers, phone and video interview tips, clinical questions, what to ask the manager, schedule requests, follow-up, and why pay negotiations don’t belong in the hospital interview.
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Watch Travel Healthcare 101: How to Ace Your Travel Nurse Interview
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And then comes the call you’ve been waiting for:
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They want you.
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Exciting? Absolutely.
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But an offer doesn’t automatically mean it’s a good contract.
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Before you say yes, you need to understand exactly what you’re being offered and what you’re agreeing to.
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That’s where we’re headed next.
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Next: How to Evaluate a Travel Nursing Offer →
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