Some recruiter-traveler relationships last for an assignment. Others apparently end with the recruiter standing next to you at your wedding.
And there would be plenty more adventures after that.
One Very Honest Conversation
From the beginning, Dierdre was upfront about how she worked. She wasn’t interested in simply moving Rachel from one contract to the next.
“I told her I was a relationship-based recruiter,” Dierdre said. “I wanted to make sure we were on the same page because I’m not a transactional person.”
That was exactly what Rachel wanted. She was new to travel healthcare and wanted someone who could walk her through the process from beginning to end—not just call when there was another job to fill. It helped that they were both pretty direct.
“Our personalities clicked immediately,” Dierdre said.
Turns out, brutal honesty can be a pretty solid foundation for a friendship.
And Then Things Got Interesting
Travel healthcare gave Rachel and Dierdre some good stories. It also gave them a few stories that probably weren’t very funny at the time. Rachel’s luck was the worst.
There was the rental car with a frozen engine in Alaska. Then Rachel’s brand-new car stalled at a stop sign on the morning she was due at orientation. That same vehicle was later totaled when another driver T-boned her in Las Vegas.
There were more serious moments, too, including an attempted mugging in Vegas and an apartment break-in after Rachel moved to Phoenix.
Through all of it, Dierdre was there.
“We have been through it,” she said. “I was able to be there for her professional and personal life.”
Fortunately, there were plenty of good times along the way. Dierdre remembers Rachel as the kind of traveler who was always ready for a new adventure and willing to get the license or certification she needed to make it happen.
Eventually, one of those assignments turned into something more permanent.
When a Travel Assignment Becomes Home
After completing several contracts at Banner University in Phoenix, Rachel accepted a permanent position there in February 2023.
By then, her relationship with Dierdre had moved well beyond recruiter and traveler. In fall 2022, Dierdre even spent a week working remotely from Arizona so the two could hang out after Rachel’s shifts.
And somewhere along the way, there was a guy.
Dierdre was there when Rachel met the man who would eventually become her husband. Naturally, she had a question for him.
“What are your intentions with my friend?”
No pressure.
Four years later, Dierdre got her answer when Rachel asked her to be the matron of honor at their wedding.
More Than the Next Contract
Today, Rachel works nights while going back to school for her BSN with support from Banner. Her travel days may be behind her, but the relationship that started during them isn’t.
For Dierdre, that friendship is a reminder of why she approached recruiting the way she did in the first place.
Some travelers want someone who can help them find the next assignment. Rachel wanted someone who would be there for the whole experience. She found that in Dierdre — and somewhere between contracts, cross-country moves and everything life threw their way, she found a lifelong friend too.
“She is one in a million,” Dierdre said.
Not a bad outcome for a relationship that started with a recruiter and a traveler trying to figure out if they’d be a good fit.