Hard copies made easy
Most of the time you won’t need hard copies, everything happens online. But it’s a good idea to take time to make sure you have clear paper copies of all your key documents and a looseleaf or clear pocket file to keep them in.
Dealing with digital
When you are trekking across the US from job to job every few months it’s unbelievably reassuring to know that all of your docs are findable and shareable right from your phone. No need to hoick a great wadge of papers everywhere, just get cloud-competent and you are ready for anything. You don’t have to be a massive geek to be a digital filing wizz but it helps to get acquainted with some of the best tools online for collecting and organizing your Frequently Needed Documents (FNDs) as well as your personal lifetime documents like your birth certificate, marriage and/or divorce papers, health records and so on. You’ll need to keep good financial records as well – pay slips, statements, insurance records.
While you are about it, if you like to be extra safe, it’s not a bad idea to back up all these documents to a USB drive or external HD. Opening a free Dropbox or Box.com account is a great moveYou might even like to leave that with someone you trust like a family member or attorney.
One good, focused effort to set up your traveling office and all of this can be simple, smooth and easy forever more.
Digitizing your key documents
It’s not difficult to create digital copies of your documents. If you don’t have a scanner, you can just scan with your phone and upload to your preferred storage location. Be sure that you have a clear and legible copy. If you are having difficulty getting a clear image, most copy shops will scan everything for you also. They use professional machines and will adjust the contrast and brightness so that even an old and tatty document looks just fine. You just need to gather up everything and take it in.
Here’s a typical list of documents you will need when registering for a new assignment:
A health physical or a statement of good health within the past year
An N95 respirator fit test within the past year
A tuberculosis test within the past year
The current season’s flu shot
Immunization records from the past year for MMR, Hepatitis B, Varicella, and Tdap
A drug screen test
Licenses and/or registration certificates, plus other certifications required based on specialty. Check out our handy guide to state requirements.
