There are 3 secrets to your success as a travel PT.
After traveling for over 10 years, here are my top 3 secrets to becoming a successful travel PT even as a new grad and tips associated with each.
Secret #1:
You can travel as a new grad.
Since I established WanderlustPTs in 2016, I have coached and mentored thousands of new grads to becoming traveling therapists.
Tip 1: The interview is the key to finding the right job for you.
By asking the right questions on the interview, you can determine if the job is right for you.
For new grads seeking out a traveling position or permanent position, not all jobs are appropriate, and it is important to know what questions to ask during the interview to help weed out those that are not.
If you want support at your job, and you ask the traveling company, if there is support or another therapist available, and their answer is none, then maybe that is not the right job for you.
Asking the right questions during the interview is vital AND as important, if not more, understanding what the answers mean. This will help you to get a feel for if it is going to be a supportive environment as a new grad.
Tip 2: Be flexible with setting and location as a new travel PT.
It’s important to be flexible. You are traveling to do just that. The more open you are to location and setting, the more opportunities you will have. If you only plan to travel within a 2 hour radius of you home town, you might want to reconsider the travel gig.
You need to be flexible and open to new places and try different settings, especially as a new grad. It is not feasible to say “ I want a job in City X for this start date in this setting.”
It doesn’t quite work like that. The job options are predetermined based on where there is a need, so you need to be willing to those places, not really the other way around.
Being flexible also means having licenses in the states that you want to travel to (and that the market supports). Because the market is competitive, you often times need to already have a license in the state you are applying for in order to be considered for the job. I have 8 state licenses, and when I started traveling, I had 4 within the first year.
The compact license makes it easier to get licenses in other state ONLY IF your HOME STATE participates in the Compact license.
If you home state does not participate in the compact license, you cannot either. It is not enough to simply get licensed in a state that is a compact state then try to participate- it does not work like that.
Tip 3: Value experience over money as a travel therapist.
When you are flexible with location and setting, it allows you to find jobs that will be good experiences as a new grad. By good experience, I mean one with an orientation, a support staff, reasonable productivity standards. I stress the importance of taking the good job that will be a good experience with the support you need and want over a job that offers more money.
I can promise you, the money is going to be great either way, but if the job is bad, usually no amount of money will compensate for a bad experience, this is why I stress to value a good job experience over money.
Secret #2:
Recruiters and Companies can make or break your experience (and paycheck).
It is important to know who to work with, how to negotiate, and how to work with multiple companies, in order to optimize your ability to find the right job for you and get paid.
TIP 4: Always use recommended recruiters.
There are a lot of companies and recruiters out there and unfortunately, different ways they could take advantage of you; That is why it’s important to speak with recruiters who you know you can trust that are recommended from travelers who have a few years of experience and know what to look out for. (Not ones that cold call you out of the blue or that you meet at a career fair.) There are actually 2 parts to this tip:
1) Always work with recruiters who are recommended.
2) Work with multiple recruiters. PLURAL.
While most companies share a lot of the same jobs, they also have jobs that are unique to them. SO it is important to Work with multiple recruiting companies to increase your job options, and in today’s market, that is key. I would recommend 3 as a solo traveler and 4 as a team.
Click here to be connected with the recruiters that I recommend.
Secret #3:
Having a Step-by-Step process and Mentorship will empower you, help you to avoid mistakes, and eliminate overwhelm as a new travel therapist.
One of the metaphors I use often is-
You wouldn’t jump into a pool without knowing how to swim, so don’t do that with your career. A lot of the horror stories exist about travel PT because the traveler didn’t know what to look for, what to do, or what questions to ask, but a lot of these mistakes can be avoided.
Trust me, I made the mistakes, so you don’t have to. But I couldn’t possibly share EVERYTHING you need to know in just our short time together today, SO that’s why I created the blog, WanderlustPTs (and a step-by-step online course), to put out content and resources to help guide new grads confidently become travel PTs and make their journey into travel PT easier than mine was. And that leads me to my final tip.
Tip 5: Educate yourself.
PLEASE Educate yourself and please consider me your travel therapy coach, your mentor, or career coach. Reach out, ask questions, let me help you when you are ready to take that step.
Ready to learn more about Travel Therapy?
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