So I’ve had the opportunity to mentor a few students since becoming a physical therapist and there are plenty of things to teach them, to help them fine tune, to grow their independence, etc. Honestly, I’ve had really intelligent students that will be great as physical therapists, the part I’m more concerned about is their work ethic, common sense, life skills, etc. I’m not going to go into all of it right now, more so because recently I had a student ask me what they should look for in a job and what they should ask in an interview, so I’ll focus on that. My list isn’t perfect but it’s a place to start.
Topics of discussion with a prospective employer:
- Compensation. We aren’t all worried about money. Figure out your priority and find an employer that is willing to meet you halfway. Maybe you are ok with a smaller salary if you have more time off? Maybe you want more flexibility to manage your own schedule? I don’t know, but figure it out and talk about it. What is the spread on base salary versus bonusing? Some companies will offer you a lower salary because they have high compensation for bonus, but then as you get raises your bonus value goes down and at the end of the day, you’re making the same money after 5 years of experience as you were as a new grad. Make sure you understand their compensation plan.
- For me: I like to be in control of my time. I didn’t get into physical therapy to get rich. I did it because I care about people. So I’m going to be there for my patients. But I want to be able to live my life too, and for me that means travel, which requires more time off.
- Productivity. How do they calculate productivity? If a patient cancels, is it your fault? Are they focused on number of patients seen? Number of new evaluations? Are they focused on number of units billed? Type of units billed? What’s the expectation here? How important is the number of visits each week? And how does that compare with the mandatory work hours.
- For me: Again, I will see as many people as I can, as long as I can give them good care. I don’t feel I should be “punished” for a patient cancelling. They have lives and things come up. We also need to provide more grace to patients having to cancel because they may have a sick child or parent, they may have other issues, and to “punish” (cancellation fees, kicked off the schedule, etc.) them on top of it all? How does that help?
- Schedule. You’ve made it far enough to have obtained a doctorate. I’d like to think that didn’t happen on accident (but you’d be surprised), and that you know how to manage your own schedule. Obviously, your employer wants at least 40 hours from you, how much freedom do you want in scheduling those hours? Your schedule should be regular for predictability and patient needs, but life happens, are you allowed to make adjustments?
- This will have another blog of its own at some point. For me: I’m smart I understand that my employer wants me to work 40 hours a week AND see at least 55 patients a week. Got it. Now, if I have something come up (not something superficial, last minute like wanting to go boating with my friends that day), can I move my hours around to keep the 40 hours and still see 55 patients? Or are you just going to make me use PTO?
- Documentation. Do they provide time for documentation as part of your normal 40 hours? Most don’t. How quickly do you HAVE to have the documentation done? You shouldn’t wait until the last minute because there’s no way you’ll remember everything you did and thought, but if you have some blank space in your work day, why not do it then rather than give up your time?
- For me: Like I said, most employers don’t give you documentation time. I haven’t had a big issue with that. I can get most notes done during the visit or at lunch. The most I am left with at the end of the day is 3 or 4 notes, at about 5 minutes each, I’m done in 20 minutes. The important part here is, can you do them from home? Yes, you still have to adhere to HIPPA, but that’s possible from your couch. I would rather go home at 7pm, get my dinner and do my notes than sit at the clinic for another 20-30 minutes and get home and start dinner that much later.
- Education. Do they offer courses themselves? Do they have reimbursement opportunities? What do they have in place for possible specialties?
- For me: I want the freedom to choose my own continuing education, so I prefer a lump sum available to me.
- Bonuses. This is a nicety. Depending on the area they may offer a little incentive to attract new therapists. Even if it’s not advertised, don’t be afraid to ask. Some really push this for new-grads to help with those student loans.
- For me: Why not get the sign on bonus? I didn’t have any student loans, which made it even sweeter. I just got to pocket the money. If you’re leaving another job and they want their money back for some continuing education, you can usually get a sign on bonus from your new employer to cover those fees.
- Growth. What does the employee structure look like? Is there potential for growth? Do they try to higher within the company? Do you want to be a clinic director at some point? Adjunct professor? What is the relationship between the company/clinic and the neighborhood/city?
- For me: I like developing people and leading people. I love being a clinician, but I get to help more people if I can teach more people how to help people. That’s a confusing sentence, but I trust you get it.
Every setting is different and has different demands. I wouldn’t say any setting is harder or easier but they are more suited for different people. Use this list to find a setting and employer that allows you to flourish and avoid burn out. You went to school for 7 years, do you really want to quit after 3?
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions or want me to elaborate!
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