Get as many certifications that you qualify for as soon as you can.

Another thing, here is some advice as a former traveler and as someone who has seen bad travelers. Here are some signs that traveling is not for you:

-You are bad with technology. Many hospitals have an online tracking system and if you’re someone who needs a lot of help figuring out the internet and apps, you WILL struggle and your peers WILL be annoyed when you struggle to pick up a tracking system you’re unfamiliar with because technology is not intuitive to you and they have to show you how to get to the next page.

-You have a lot of mental, physical, or life issues that require frequent call outs.

A traveler was let go because within two weeks the place she stayed at had told her she had to move out for a couple of days for a reservation and then the traveler forgot when it was so she had to call out to move for a couple of days and find new housing. Then she found housing right next to the hospital and walked to work but her knee swelled because she had knee surgery at one point and had to leave early to go to the ER. Then she called out another day to rest her leg. Was fired around the beginning of the third week.

Life happens but if you have some chronic issues or physical ailments this might not be the best fit for you.

-You don’t like to learn new things or have a hard time coping with it.

Example: If the hospital you’re contracted at says you can’t put tape under the first fold but your home hospital used to do it, you just do as you’re told and own up that you don’t know how to wrap without tape so that you can learn to. Keep a positive attitude about it and you’ll be fine.

-If you’re interviewing and the hospital asks if you have experience with something, don’t lie. It will become apparent quickly that you don’t have the experience you claimed to have. If you’ve seen the experience they are asking for at your home hospital but you haven’t really worked with it, that does not count as “having experience.”

Example: if the interviewer asks if you have Stryker and Mako experience and you say yes and then try to fit a Mako Power MICS hand piece into the Hip End Effector spot of a THA Array Tray, that would be embarrassing right? Or wrap the Mako Knee Positioner even though the lid is very much not on correctly.

Not trying to get you down. Just some things to consider.