Freedom Healthcare Staffing Blog

April was OT Month –Thank you for what you do….

As an Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy Assistant, you are part of a vitally important profession that helps people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities. Your holistic and customized approach to evaluations, interventions, and outcomes help a child with disabilities participate in school and in social situations, assist a person recovering from injuries to regain skills, aid an older adult to stay as independent as possible, and offer the specialized support and services to people of all ages and in all circumstances that only Occupational Therapy can provide.
Freedom Healthcare Staffing wants to recognize you for what you do not only this month but all year as well. Thank you for what you do!

Feeling Lucky? Take Rebecca’s quiz for a little fun!
(The first two people that email the correct answers to all 4 questions to rloffert@freedomhcs.com will receive a surprise. Make sure you have “Liked” us on Facebook to be eligible)
1. How many calories are in a Venti Carmel Frappuccino from Starbucks?
2. How tall is Mount Fuji in Japan?
3. What is the name of the Denver Broncos mascot and what is it?
4. How many states does Freedom Healthcare Staffing offer assignments?

On behalf of each member of Freedom Healthcare Staffing, we would like to wish all our wonderful Nurses a Happy Nurse’s Week. Everyday you put patient care first, selflessly taking care of your patients and their families, under the best and worst of circumstances - often without thanks. This is a well-earned week of reflection of all the caring and hard work you do everyday.

Travel nurses need to have all their ducks in a row when it comes to getting various state licenses. The tricky thing about working in different states throughout the country is that there are not uniform policies and procedures in all 50 states when it comes to getting a nursing license. Below, see our quick cheat sheet about getting your RN License in a new state.

Compact License: The Nurse Licensure Compact is an agreement that allows “mutual recognition” of RN and LPN licenses between certain states. Since its enactment in 2000, the Nurse Licensure Compact has now grown to 24 states, listed below. Participating states allow a nurse that lives in and possesses a current nursing license in an NLC member state to practice in any of the other participating states without having to obtain any additional licensure in that state. However, if an RN or LPN permanently relocates to another compact state, he/she is required to obtain licensure in this new state of residency.
Participating states as of April 2012 include:
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Delaware
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Wisconsin

Working in a VA facility: When working in a VA facility, you are required only to have licensure in any of the 50 states. So, as long as you are licensed, you can work in a VA facility in any state. Easy, right?

Board of Nursing “walk through” states: Some states allow nurses to obtain a temporary nursing license via a “walk through” with the board of nursing. Such states will grant nurses a license in as little as one day, but only if a nurse’s paper work is in order and up to date. These states require nurses to furnish proof of a current, active, encumbrance-free license from another state. Fees and policies vary by state. For instance, some states require an appointment to be made for walk through licensures. Additionally, the length of temporary licensure varies from state to state and typically ranges anywhere from 8 weeks to 6 months. Depending on each of these state’s individual policies, fees vary and temporary licensure may be valid for as little as eight weeks or as long as six months. It is important to contact the individual state’s board of nursing, or work with your recruiter to do so to make sure you are a good candidate for a walk through, and to ensure you meet all requirements prior to appearing before the board.
Walk through states include:
California
Colorado
Delaware
Idaho
Kansas
Maine
Maryland
Missouri
Nebraska
North Carolina
South Carolina
South Dakota
Vermont

Licensure in non-compact, non-walk through states: Licensure in non-compact, non-walk through states varies by state. Obtaining licensure in these states is generally a slower process that typically must be done in advance of submittal to facilities in these states. We recommend viewing policies and criteria at each individual state’s board of nursing website, and working with your recruiter if you are interested in obtaining a license to work in one of these states.

Contact info for all State Boards of Nursing:

Alabama Board of Nursing
770 Washington Avenue
RSA Plaza, Ste 250
Montgomery, AL 36104
Phone: 334.242.4060
Fax: 334.242.4360
Website: www.abn.alabama.gov

Alaska Board of Nursing
550 West Seventh Avenue Suite 1500
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3567
Phone: 907.269.8161
Fax: 907.269.8196
Website: www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/pnur.htm

Arizona State Board of Nursing
4747 North 7th Street, Suite 200
Phoenix, AZ 85014-3655
Phone: 602.771.7800
Fax: 602.771.7888
Website: www.azbn.gov

Arkansas State Board of Nursing
University Tower Building
1123 S. University, Suite 800
Little Rock, AR 72204-1619
Phone: 501.686.2700
Fax: 501.686.2714
Website: www.arsbn.org

California Board of Registered Nursing
1625 North Market Boulevard, Suite N-217
Sacramento, CA 95834-1924
Phone: 916.322.3350
Fax: 916.574.8637
Website: www.rn.ca.gov

Colorado Board of Nursing
1560 Broadway, Suite 1370
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303.894.2430
Fax: 303.894.2430
Website: www.dora.state.co.us/nursing

Connecticut Board of Examiners for Nursing
Dept. of Public Health
410 Capitol Avenue, MS# 13PHO
P.O. Box 340308
Hartford, CT 06134-0328
Phone: 860.509.7624 (860.509.7603 – for testing candidates only)
Fax: 860.509.7553
Website: www.state.ct.us/dph

Delaware Board of Nursing
861 Silver Lake Blvd.
Cannon Building, Suite 203
Dover, DE 19904
Phone: 302.744.4500
Fax: 302.739.2711
Website: http://dpr.delaware.gov/boards/nursing

Florida Board of Nursing
Mailing Address:
4052 Bald Cypress Way, BIN C02
Tallahassee, FL 32399-3252
Physical Address:
4042 Bald Cypress Way
Room 120
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Phone: 850.245.4125
Fax: 850.245.4172
Website: www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa

Georgia Board of Nursing
237 Coliseum Drive
Macon, GA 31217-3858
Phone: 478.207.2440
Fax: 478.207.1354
Website: www.sos.state.ga.us/plb/rn

Hawaii Board of Nursing
Mailing Address:
PVLD/DCCA
Attn: Board of Nursing
P.O. Box 3469
Honolulu, HI 96801
Physical Address:
King Kalakaua Building
335 Merchant Street, 3rd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808.586.3000
Fax: 808.586.2689
Website: www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/pvl/boards/nursing

Idaho Board of Nursing
280 N. 8th Street, Suite 210
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720
Phone: 208.334.3110
Fax: 208.334.3262
Website: www2.state.id.us/ibn

Illinois Board of Nursing
James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph Street
Suite 9-300
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.814.2715
Fax: 312.814.3145
Website: www.idfpr.com/dpr/WHO/nurs.asp

Indiana State Board of Nursing Professional Licensing Agency
402 W. Washington Street, Room W072
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317.234.2043
Fax: 317.233.4236
Website: www.in.gov/pla

Iowa Board of Nursing
RiverPoint Business Park
400 S.W. 8th Street
Suite B
Des Moines, IA 50309-4685
Phone: 515.281.3255
Fax: 515.281.4825
Website: http://nursing.iowa.gov

Kansas State Board of Nursing
Landon State Office Building
900 S.W. Jackson, Suite 1051
Topeka, KS 66612
Phone: 785.296.4929
Fax: 785.296.3929
Website: www.ksbn.org

Kentucky Board of Nursing
312 Whittington Parkway, Suite 300
Louisville, KY 40222
Phone: 502.429.3300
Fax: 502.429.3311
Website: www.kbn.ky.gov

Louisiana State Board of Nursing
17373 Perkins Road
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70810
Phone: 225.755.7500
Fax: 225.755.7585
Website: www.lsbn.state.la.us

Maine State Board of Nursing
158 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Phone: 207.287.1133
Fax: 207.287.1149
Website: www.maine.gov/boardofnursing

Maryland Board of Nursing
4140 Patterson Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21215
Phone: 410.585.1900
Fax: 410.358.3530
Website: www.mbon.org

Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
239 Causeway Street, Second Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617.973.0900 / 800.414.0168
Fax: 617.973.0984
Website: www.mass.gov/dpl/boards/rn

Michigan/DCH/Bureau of Health Professions
Ottawa Towers North
611 W. Ottawa, 1st Floor
Lansing, MI 48933
Phone: 517.335.0918
Fax: 517.373.2179
Website: www.michigan.gov/healthlicense

Minnesota Board of Nursing
2829 University Avenue SE
Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: 612.617.2270
Fax: 612.617.2190
Website: www.nursingboard.state.mn.us

Mississippi Board of Nursing
1080 River Oaks Drive
Flowood, MS 39232
Phone: 601.664.9303
Fax: 601.664.9304
Website: http://www.msbn.state.ms.us/

Missouri State Board of Nursing
3605 Missouri Blvd.
P.O. Box 656
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0656
Phone: 573.751.0681
Fax: 573.751.0075
Website: http://www.pr.mo.gov/nursing.asp

Montana State Board of Nursing
301 South Park
Suite 401
P.O. Box 200513
Helena, MT 59620-0513
Phone: 406.841.2345
Fax: 406.841.2305
Website: www.nurse.mt.gov

Nebraska Board of Nursing
301 Centennial Mall South
Lincoln, NE 68509-4986
Phone: 402.471.4376
Fax: 402.471.1066
Website: www.hhs.state.ne.us/crl/nursing/nursingindex.htm

Nevada State Board of Nursing
5011 Meadowood Mall Way, Suite 300
Reno, NV 89502
Phone: 775.687.7700
Fax: 775.687.7707
Website: www.nursingboard.state.nv.us

New Hampshire Board of Nursing
21 South Fruit Street
Suite 16
Concord, NH 03301-2341
Phone: 603.271.2323
Fax: 603.271.6605
Website: www.state.nh.us/nursing

New Jersey Board of Nursing
P.O. Box 45010
124 Halsey Street, 6th Floor
Newark, NJ 07101
Phone: 973.504.6430
Fax: 973.648.3481
Website: www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/medical/nursing.htm

New Mexico Board of Nursing
6301 Indian School Road, NE
Suite 710
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Phone: 505.841.8340
Fax: 505.841.8347
Website: www.bon.state.nm.us

New York State Board of Nursing
Education Bldg.
89 Washington Avenue
2nd Floor West Wing
Albany, NY 12234
Phone: 518.474.3817, Ext. 120
Fax: 518.474.3706
Website: www.op.nysed.gov/prof/nurse

North Carolina Board of Nursing
4516 Lake Boone Trail
Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919.782.3211
Fax: 919.781.9461
Website: www.ncbon.com

North Dakota Board of Nursing
919 South 7th Street, Suite 504
Bismarck, ND 58504
Phone: 701.328.9777
Fax: 701.328.9785
Website: www.ndbon.org

Ohio Board of Nursing
17 South High Street, Suite 400
Columbus, OH 43215-3413
Phone: 614.466.3947
Fax: 614.466.0388
Website: www.nursing.ohio.gov

Oklahoma Board of Nursing
2915 N. Classen Boulevard, Suite 524
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
Phone: 405.962.1800
Fax: 405.962.1821
Website: www.ok.gov/nursing/

Oregon State Board of Nursing
17938 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd
Portland, OR 97224
Phone: 971.673.0685
Fax: 971.673.0684
Website: www.osbn.state.or.us

Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing
P.O. Box 2649
Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649
Phone: 717.783.7142
Fax: 717.783.0822
Website: www.dos.state.pa.us/bpoa/cwp/view.asp?a=1104&q=432869

Rhode Island Board of Nurse Registration and Nursing Education
105 Cannon Building
Three Capitol Hill
Providence, RI 02908
Phone: 401.222.5700
Fax: 401.222.3352
Website: www.health.ri.gov

South Carolina State Board of Nursing
Synergy Business Park, Kingstree Building
110 Centerview Drive, Suite 202
Columbia, SC 29210
Phone: 803.896.4550
Fax: 803.896.4525
Website: www.llr.state.sc.us/pol/nursing

South Dakota Board of Nursing
4305 South Louise Ave., Suite 201
Sioux Falls, SD 57106-3115
Phone: 605.362.2760
Fax: 605.362.2768
Website: www.state.sd.us/doh/nursing

Tennessee State Board of Nursing
227 French Landing, Suite 300
Heritage Place MetroCenter
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: 615.532.5166
Fax: 615.741.7899
Website: http://health.state.tn.us/Boards/Nursing/index.htm

Texas Board of Nursing
333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-460
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512.305.7400
Fax: 512.305.7401
Website: www.bon.state.tx.us

Utah State Board of Nursing
Heber M. Wells Bldg., 4th Floor
160 East 300 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Phone: 801.530.6628
Fax: 801.530.6511
Website: www.dopl.utah.gov/licensing/nursing.html

Vermont State Board of Nursing
Office of Professional Regulation
National Life Building North F1.2
Montpelier, Vermont 05620-3402
Phone: 802.828.2396
Fax: 802.828.2484
Website: www.vtprofessionals.org/opr1/nurses

Virginia Board of Nursing
Department of Health Professions
Perimeter Center
9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 300
Henrico, Virginia 23233
Phone: (804) 367-4515
Fax: (804) 527-4455
Website: www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing

Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission
Department of Health
HPQA #6
310 Israel Rd. SE
Tumwater, WA 98501-7864
Phone: 360.236.4700
Fax: 360.236.4738
Website: www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/professions/nursing/default.htm

West Virginia State Board of Examiners for Licensed Practical Nurses
101 Dee Drive
Charleston, WV 25311
Phone: 304.558.3572
Fax: 304.558.4367
Website: www.lpnboard.state.wv.us

Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing
1400 E. Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.266.2112
Fax: 608.261.7083
Website: http://drl.wi.gov

Wyoming State Board of Nursing
1810 Pioneer Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82001
Phone: 307.777.7601
Fax: 307.777.3519
Website: http://nursing.state.wy.us

Did you know that in addition to our Travel Nursing Division Freedom Healthcare Staffing has a Travel Allied Division? The Allied Division works with Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants, and Speech Language Pathologists on travel assignments in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, outpatient, and home health jobs.

We are very excited to announce that we are increasing the size and scope of our Allied Division with the hire of Rebecca Loffert, our new Allied Staffing Division Director. You’ll hear from Rebecca on this blog from time to time, and please feel free to contact her at rloffert@freedomhcs.com, or (866)463-0385 ext. 115. Welcome to the Freedom family Rebecca, we are so glad to have you on board!

In honor of this exciting step for Freedom, check out some of the amazing things going on in the world of Allied Healthcare:

• Physical Therapists in California are using motion capturing video games to increase range of motion in paralysis patients. (via First Coast News)
• Speech Language Pathologists are helping autistic children communicate with the help of iPads. (via the Daily Herald)
• U.S. News & World Report named Occupational Therapist a Best Job of 2012. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupational therapist employment will grow 33.5 % between 2010 and 2020. (via U.S. News & World Report)

Elizabeth Broder
Marketing Manager

One of Freedom’s most important initiatives is to support The Joint Commission and its National Patient Safety Goals. We’ll be talking about these goals periodically in this blog.

We all know the importance of patient identification. The question is: do you stop to use two patient identifiers every time you provide care, treatment or services? If you answered “No” to the question, this is the goal to review.

The following information will help you in obtaining this goal (taken from the Joint Commission’s website):

Goal: Improve the accuracy of patient identification.

Requirement: Use at least two patient identifiers when providing care, treatment or services.

Implementation of Goal:
1. Two patient identifiers are used when doing the following:
• Administering medications or blood products
• Collecting blood samples and other specimens for clinical testing
• Providing other treatments or procedures

2. The patient’s room number or physical location is not used as an identifier.
3. Containers used for blood and other specimens are labeled in the presence of the patient.

A Patient Safety Solutions issue has these suggestions for patient and family involvement:
• Educate patients about the risks related to patient misidentification.
• Ask patients or their family members to verify identifying information to confirm that it is correct.
• Ask patients to identify themselves before receiving any medication and prior to any diagnostic or therapeutic interventions.
• Encourage patients and their families or surrogates to be active participants in identification, to express concerns about safety and potential errors, and to ask questions about the correctness of their care.

Be the best nurse you can be!

Michelle Campbell R.N. B.S.N.
Vice President of Clinical Services

Please join us in congratulating Freedom Recruiter Hank and his wife Stephania on the birth of their first child, beautiful daughter Teagan!

Little 6 lb. 2 oz Teagan May replaced Hank’s yellow lab Remy as the cutest member of the Longhenry clan on February 9th.

Teagan is a great sleeper who is already taking after outdoorsy mom and dad! At just a few weeks old, Teagan is currently accompanying her family on a snowmobiling trip up in the Colorado mountains.

Congratulations Hank and Stephania, and welcome to the Freedom family baby Teagan!

Elizabeth Broder
Marketing Manager

One of Freedom’s most important initiatives is to support The Joint Commission and its National Patient Safety Goals. We’ll be talking about these goals periodically in this blog.

Today, we are reviewing effective communication among caregivers. According to the Joint Commission’s web site “Ineffective communication is the most frequently cited category of root causes of sentinel events.” Below we will cover steps in receiving information and review confusing abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations

The following information will help you clearly and safely communicate as a caregiver (taken from The Joint Commission’s website ):

Goal: Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers.

Requirements:
 For verbal or telephone orders or for telephonic reporting of critical test results, verify the complete order or test result by having the person receiving the information record and “read-back” the complete order or test result.

 Standardize a list of abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations that are not to be used throughout the organization.

Implementation of Goal:
o The receiver of the information writes down the complete order or test result or enters it into a computer.
o The receiver of the information reads back the order or test result.
o The receiver of the information receives confirmation from the individual who gave the order or test result.
o The organization develops a standardized a list of abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations that are not to be used throughout the organization.

For a great reference, review The Joint Commission’s Official Do Not Use List . In addition, your hospital should have a “Do Not Use” list. Locate this list at each facility you visit to note any changes. For a quick exercise, take a few moments to think of suggestions for the list or of situations that could cause ineffective communication.

Michelle Campbell R.N. B.S.N.
Vice President of Clinical Services

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d give you the rundown on travel nursing and romance in this week’s blog post. Birds of a feather flock together, or so we’re told. Perhaps this explains why so many travel nurses are in relationships with other travel nurses!

At Freedom Healthcare Staffing, we work with many travel nurse couples. Some of them are dating, and some of them are married, but almost all of them met on the road on various travel assignments throughout the years. Case in point? We asked our Facebook page if any of our friends had travel nurse love stories. Freedom nurse Brenda Tashiro said “I met my husband while I was a traveling nurse in New Mexico over 10yrs. ago. In fact, we will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in July. We are going on a cruise to Europe.” Congratulations Brenda, and enjoy that cruise!

Some of you may be familiar with our awesome recruiter Ryan. He met his lovely wife Kristina while working a strike where she was a travel nurse. They have been married for 9 years and have two adorable children.

Freedom currently has several couples out on the road who work assignments together. They all agree that travel nursing is a great career to share with a significant other. In case you are curious about the process of getting hired with your significant other by a healthcare facility, here’s the breakdown.

Your recruiter will submit you and your significant other to a healthcare facility as a package deal. No matter if you have the same specialty, or different specialties, your recruiter will work to find a facility that is hiring your specific combination of expertise. As a package deal, the facility has the option to hire both of you, or neither of you. We work with many, many facilities, and as long as they have the staffing need, they are open to hiring couples.

Some couples have specific requests about their shifts. For example, there are nurses who are open to working any kind of shift, as long as both they and their significant other are on the same shift. That way, when they aren’t working, they can spend time together. Other nurses in relationships will have each person working his or her preferred shift. It is all a matter of preference, and our recruiters and facilities have worked to customize plans for all kinds of requests.

In terms of housing when travel nursing with a significant other, some couples share a Freedom Healthcare Staffing or self-arranged housing unit. This situation can be economically beneficial because each person is still given his or her own housing stipend. Other couples choose to have individual housing assignments in the same area. Again, there are many options for couples who travel together.

In short, a lot of you have found love on the road, and continue to travel with your companions even after settling down in your relationship. With the options and flexibility offered to you, we can certainly see why.

Do you have any stories about love on the travel nursing road? We’d love to see them in the comments section below.

Elizabeth Broder
Marketing Manager

One of Freedom’s most important initiatives is to support The Joint Commission and its National Patient Safety Goals. We’ll be talking about these goals periodically in this blog.

Today, we are reviewing medication safety. This post will cover the look-alike/sound-alike (LASA) drugs and the proper labeling of medications.

The following information will help you in obtaining this goal (taken from The Joint Commission’s website ):

Goal: Improve the safety of using medications.

Requirements:
o Identify and, at a minimum, annually review a list of look-alike/sound-alike drugs used by the organization, and take action to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs.

o Label all medications, medication containers (for example, syringes, medicine
cups, basins), or other solutions on and off the sterile field.

Implementation of Goal:
o On a yearly basis or when entering a new facility, you should identify and review the facility’s LASA drugs list. Also, be aware that this list can change annually. Additionally,the Institute of Safe Medical Practices (ISMP) has published a comprehensive list of LASA drugs

o Labels for medications should include drug name, strength, amount, and when warranted, the expiration date and time. All medications need a label when transferring from the original packaging to another container. Also, all solutions and medical containers on and off the sterile field must be labeled.

Medication safety is something we can help improve with awareness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “The existence of confusing drug names is one of the most common causes of medication error and is of concern worldwide.” As travel nurses, we can do our part by properly labeling the medication and solutions we use.

Michelle Campbell R.N. B.S.N.
Vice President of Clinical Services

What is your online image?

These days, employers look beyond your resume, references, and interviews when making hiring decisions. You might look great on paper and rock your phone interviews, but if you aren’t getting hired, your social image might be to blame. According to Recruiter Ryan Mordecai, your social media presence is under constant scrutiny. “The first thing employers do is check social media to see if you are somebody they’d want to work with.”

As a traveling healthcare professional, most, if not all, of your interview process with your recruiter and the hiring facilities occurs via phone and email. Unlike more traditional positions, this means that you might not have any face to face interactions with the people deciding whether to hire you. That’s why it is crucial to maintain a professional image online.

If utilized correctly, your social image can actually be a great tool to advance your career. Below, our expert recruiters give their best tips on harnessing the power of the web to make you a standout candidate!

1. Email
Not only is your email address featured prominently on the top of your resume, but it is probably the medium through which you and potential employers first contact one another. Whether you are asking questions about a position, or trying to set up an interview, your email address and email etiquette can make or break your chances in this early stage of job-seeking.
Although it might not seem important, having a professional email address is crucial if you want to be taken seriously in the healthcare industry. Your email address should include your name, so you are easy to find in an inbox, and should not include anything overly personal or inappropriate. For example, if your email address is currently hotnurselady5@domain.com, you are hurting your image before you even have a chance to type a sentence. If you are married to your current email address, but it does not meet professional criteria, we suggest creating a new account to be used for work purposes, and auto-forwarding messages sent to your old address to your new one.

In terms of email etiquette, in the age of smart phones emails are treated as professional and official correspondence. As a general rule, it is best to respond to emails as soon as you receive them, and you should respond to any work related email in no more than 24 hours. Any longer, and you are signaling to the recruiter or hiring manager that you are no longer interested. What does this mean? If you don’t currently check your email at least once a day, now is a good time to start doing so! Timely emails and responses are a great and important way to convey interest in a position.

2. Facebook and Twitter
We recommend utilizing the privacy features of all social media sites you frequent. Technically, unflattering pictures of you partying in college and on your personal time probably have nothing to do with your work effort and aptitude. However, if you let people see these pictures, it can and will negatively affect your professional image if potential employers are looking for you on these sites. Make sure your Facebook wall, photos, and posts are viewable to friends only and that your Twitter account is set on private. Finally, be sure to have a default picture that allows you to be seen as a professional. This means appropriate attire, no lewd gestures, and as a rough measure nothing you wouldn’t want your parents or children to see. “If you seem more interested in partying than working, you are unlikely to get hired,” explains Ryan. This is especially important if you interact with employers, recruiters, or facilities on Facebook.

3. LinkedIn
Set up a LinkedIn account. It’s easy, free, and a fantastic tool for building your online image. Take some time to fill in details about your work history, specialties and certifications. Connect with a past employer or colleague and ask for a LinkedIn recommendation. Having a complete profile with recommendations is a great way to stand out to potential employers.

We challenge you to take an hour out of your day to help your career. You can greatly improve your candidacy just by tweaking your email address, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Being aware of your web presence and maintaining your online identity are two of the most important tools for job-seekers in this day and age.

Have any questions about online presence or tips for maintaining a professional web identity? As always, we’d love to hear from you in the comments field.

Elizabeth
Marketing Manager