The Art of Getting an Interview

Hiking in the woods of Washington.

Sneaky interview practices, are they the right choice?

The plan was to stop by Seattle for the summer and leave a few of our belongings as well as the car with some friends who also had a condo available, but mostly to leave Sacramento before the full fury of summer heat was upon us.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my time in Sacramento. We had spent the winter there and all of spring, making the most of popular biking trails and our nice club house and pool at the townhouse complex. Not to mention all the benefits of the city's proximity to wonderful places like Napa Valley, San Francisco, and Lake Tahoe. The job was great as well. The Kaiser night crew made me feel welcome as ever I had been, and the schedule was my dream, six nights on and eight off. It was like a vacation every other week.
So I tell my recruiter to find me something in Seattle and in response, I hear assignments are few in that area.
"Look, I began "I already have a place to live there and friends to join up with. So that is where I am going next."
It's amazing how recruiters can find positions in difficult places when pressed upon, especially when you make it clear that you know other recruiters willing to try. 

After just a week or two I was calling for an interview, and this later became a concern I wanted to share. 

What happened was that my recruiter called about an opportunity just outside of Seattle but didn't have all the details, and so left it up to me to dig up the rest. I called the director of the unit, and it turned out he had no idea of a traveler position, but did ask if I was interested in a permanent position, of course course the answer to that was "No".
A week later, and another similar suggestion from my recruiter had me calling an assistant director at a downtown Seattle hospital, and this time I spoke to someone who was still ill at home, and so she hadn't followed up on recruitment calls. She was pleasant at least and we spoke again when she felt better, which ended up with me getting the position.
The recruiter made a point of telling me that any of the Seattle positions could go quickly since there were fewer positions available compared to those wanting assigned in the area. Therefore me taking initiative in calling the right people was crucial.

However a later conversation with a Hospital staffing officer gave me a different perspective. This person told me that she would not work with that same staffing agency because they frequently encouraged nurses to contact directors on their own, such as myself, and that she would not hire any nurse from any agency that used such practices.

So what is a traveler to do? 

Is it fair that some nurses have an edge on the competition? What about a nurse who is just following a recruiters advice on making the calls?  
Why shouldn’t it be the recruiter’s job to make the proper contacts and follow a procedure?
This is an issue that I have rarely heard other bloggers advise new travelers to check with when selecting a recruiter and travel company, but worth considering and investigating on what kind of company you want to work for and how you want to win your assignments.

What do you think?