The balance between availability and flexibility varies for everyone. Here are a few tips that will help you create your ideal schedule using the ShiftKey app.
1. Request shifts in advance and cancel shift requests if your plans change
Planning your schedule a week or two in advance can help you get the flexibility you need, especially if you have other commitments, like picking up your kids from school. Bidding on shifts early may also increase the chance that they will be accepted. You’re not committed to a shift until the facility accepts your bid, so if something comes up, you can easily cancel any unaccepted bids.
2. Check the app regularly when you’re looking for shifts
With over 10,000 facilities using the ShiftKey app, available shifts can change daily or even hourly. New facilities begin using the ShiftKey app all the time, too.
Checking the app frequently when you’re looking for shifts helps ensure you see shifts you’re interested in. By tapping the 💚 next to facilities you like to work with, you can also easily see the shifts they post.
3. Reply to facility messages promptly
As an independent professional, you’ll probably be working with different facilities a lot. You know the quality of your work, but until they work with you, a facility’s team doesn’t.
Promptly replying to emails and text messages from the facilities you work with can help you build better relationships with schedulers and administrators. Keeping an eye out for facility emails and texts will also help keep you informed of important shift details.
4. Provide more than 72 hours' notice if you need to cancel
When a facility accepts your bid, you’re agreeing to complete the shift, and facilities expect you to honor this commitment.
Of course, life happens, and sometimes you’ll need to cancel at the last minute. But providing at least 72 hours’ notice helps the facility make sure their patients and residents have the care they need. It also helps your Reliability Score, as cancellations made with more than 72 hours’ notice do not impact it.
5. Unlock access to more shifts by uploading facility documents
While some credentials (for example, the flu vaccine) are not required to use the ShiftKey app, certain facilities still require them. If you want to unlock access to those shifts, upload all credentials found in the “Facility Documents” section of your profile.
6. Consider working when you travel
We hear time and again from professionals that they love the flexibility of being able to complete shifts when they travel. Our platform is active in 45 states, and you can work wherever you’re licensed as long as you’ve had your credentials verified in the state. (Uploading all state-required credentials before your trip will make bidding on shifts while traveling as seamless as possible.)
7. Download the app and turn on push and SMS notifications
When you enable push and SMS notifications, you let technology help you manage your schedule. They’re an easy way to stay in the know about shift requests, upcoming shifts and other important information. With push notifications, you’ll get updates right in the app, and with SMS, you’ll get texts.
8. Bid on multiple shifts with the same shift-start time
If you want to work on specific days at specific times, try bidding on multiple shifts for those times. While there is no guarantee that any bid will be accepted, bidding on multiple shifts increases the chances. And, as soon as one facility accepts your bid, all other bids will be cancelled, so you never have to worry about being committed to completing more than one shift at the same time.
9. Choose Instant Accept shifts
Some shifts are marked Instant Accept. If you are the first to request one, your request will be automatically accepted by the facility, and you’ll know what your schedule is right away. (Facilities set when they will automatically accept shifts, so shifts that are eligible for Instant Accept may vary.)
10. Show up for your shift early
Arriving early (especially when working at a facility for the first time) can give you the extra time you may need to launch Location Services (if the facility is using it), get settled, and meet everyone you need to meet. It also helps provide a cushion to account for things like finding parking or figuring out what entrance to use.
Working on your terms means you stop making personal sacrifices for work and, instead, fit work around your other commitments and your lifestyle. Whether you use these tips or not, the ShiftKey app can help you find a balance that works for you.
