When Will I Start Receiving Bookings?
✅ Quick answer You start receiving booking requests as soon as your profile is 100% complete and live. New locums start with a 4-star rating and a 90% reliability score — putting you in a strong position in the matching algorithm from day one. Some locums receive their first request the same day they go live. |
Step 1 — Check Your Profile Is Live
Look at the Profile Progress Bar at the top of your dashboard.
What you see | What it means |
Green and partially filled | Profile in progress — not yet live. Click the grey “?” icon beside the bar to see which sections still need completing. |
Solid green | Profile complete and live — practices can find and book you now. |
Step 2 — Complete All Profile Sections
Every section below must be complete for your profile to go live. Use the checklist to identify any gaps:
• ✅ Personal details and contact information
• ✅ Professional qualifications and GDC registration
• ✅ Professional photo
• ✅ Skills — add every relevant skill, including specialist qualifications. Practices filter by skills before sending requests.
• ✅ Availability calendar and working days
• ✅ Travel distance preferences
• ✅ Hourly rate
• ✅ Stripe connected (Get Paid section)
• ✅ Compliance documents uploaded and verified
💡 Skills are the most commonly incomplete section Practices search for locums by specific skills — conscious sedation, implant nursing, intra-oral scanner, orthodontic nursing, and others. If your skills section is empty or incomplete, you will not appear in those searches even if you are the closest available locum. Add every skill that applies to you, including those you use regularly but may not have thought to list. |
Your Starting Score as a New Locum
New locums on Airlocum start with a 4-star rating and a 90% reliability score — the same thresholds that experienced locums aim to maintain. These are also the targets to protect as you build your history: 90%+ reliability and 4.5+ stars are the benchmarks that keep you in early notification waves consistently.
The matching algorithm uses your score to determine how early you are notified when a practice posts a shift. Starting at 4 stars and 90% reliability puts you in early notification waves alongside established locums. See How the Booking Wave System Works for full details.
⭐ Protect your starting score Your reliability score is calculated from your last 10 shifts. Cancelling or no-showing on early shifts will reduce a score that would otherwise have kept you competitive. Accept shifts you are confident you can complete, use Check-In before every shift, and deliver consistently — your score will stay high and improve from there. |
If You’re Live But Not Receiving Requests
If your profile is at 100% and you’ve been live for a day or more without receiving a request, work through these checks:
Expand your travel distance. The most common reason for low request volume is a travel radius that’s too narrow. Increasing it opens up more practices immediately.
Update your availability calendar. If your available days aren’t current, you won’t appear for shifts on days you haven’t marked as available.
Review your hourly rate. If your rate is above the typical range for your area and role, fewer practices will include you in their search results. The Airlocum support team can advise on competitive rates for your location.
Check your skills section. Add any skills you may have missed. Even common ones like fluoride application or intra-oral X-rays are worth listing.
Request a free profile review. The Airlocum support team will review your profile and advise on any improvements. Contact them via live chat — response time is under 2 minutes.
Ask support to reach out to practices on your behalf. If you’ve worked through all of the above and are still not receiving requests, the Airlocum team can actively
Related Articles
• How Airlocum Matches Locums with Practices
• How the Booking Wave System Works
• How to Sign Up as a Locum on Airlocum
Last updated: March 2026 | Category: For Locums — Getting Started