- How to find a travel physical therapy job?
- How does the job search process work for travel PTs?
- When to start the job search process as a new travel therapist?
What is travel therapy and how does the job search process work?!
I gotchu. If you haven’t already, Click HERE to access my FREE Webinar on how to gain your freedom, travel the country, grow clinically, and pay off student loans as a travel PT.
In Summary, here’s how the job search process breaks down:
1. Speak with a Recommended Recruiter.
Talk to a 2-3 recommended recruiters about your plan and submit your application, resume, & skills checklist with the recruiting company. Use recruiters who have been referred to you from someone who knows what to look out for and has been doing it for a while (not your friend just started traveling). Click here to get connected with the recruiters that I and other WanderlustPTs know and trust with our career and paycheck. It’s never too early to connect with the recruiters that I recommend, but ideally, having a conversation with them on the phone anywhere from 6 months to 6 weeks before you plan to start traveling is a typical timeframe.
2. Once it’s GO TIME, review a list of the current job openings.
About 4-6 weeks before you are ready to start traveling, based on your criteria & start date, your recruiter will send you a list of current job openings, so you can start interviewing for open positions. Or they will notify you when something opens up that meets your criteria. I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning when this job list comes! All the opportunities feel like unwrapped presents! Is it just me?!
3. Briefly Research the area.
I say briefly because good jobs open & close relatively quickly, so you need to act fast if it is an option for you. Consider researching: job details, facility details (if given), location/ area, housing options. This way, you have an idea of what the area is like before you choose to interview there, and you don’t waste anyone’s time if you don’t want to go there.
4. Recruiter submits you to the positions of interest.
Submit or “sub” is another way to say put in your application for review at the facility. Only if you would interview for the position, request recruiter submit you to the position. This does not mean you have to accept the job, just that you are interested in the position and would like to interview for it, if they are interested in you.
*TIP: Be sure to get approval before submitting. If they submit you without approval or without your blessing to do so, find a new company. More on working with multiple companies at once here.
5. Phone interviews
If the company is interested, they will set up a phone interview, or they may just call you directly. Be sure to Interview the facility as much as they interview you. It is up to you to determine if the job is the right fit for you, so you want to be sure to cover all the bases and leave no rock unturned. Ask ALL of your questions. You do not accept or decline the job on the interview. The facility will notify the recruiting company after the interview whether you get the job. Just because you interview, does not mean you have to accept the job. Click here to download the 10 MUST-ASK Interview Questions.
6. Contracts
If the facility likes what they hear, the facility will tell the recruiting company to offer you the job. The recruiting company will call you to let you know and if you also liked the position and phone interview, and the contracts are established. The typical length is only 13 weeks because that is usually the least amount of time that you can find short-term housing for, so this tends to be industry standard. But they can vary depending on the needs of the facility or your needs. For example, if you have a wedding or family vacation planned and want to end sooner than 13 weeks you could see if that is an option. If you wanted to extended it a little longer, in order to stop a contract right before the holiday, that may be an option too.
If you are at a location, and you enjoy it and want to stay longer, and if the facility likes having you and still has a need, you could extend your contract.
However, you cannot stay for equal to or over 1 year in one metropolitan area, if you want to continue to be a traveler.
On average, I spend about six months in each place, but have spent anywhere between three months all the way up to 11 months in one place.
7. Congrats, Therapist!
Once you get details of job: pay, contract, you can accept or decline the position, and sign the contract!
And Congrats, Therapist! You have a Travel Therapy JOB!
Want a Step-by-Step Guide on How to Become a Travel PT?
Click below to grab my FREE Download, The Travel Therapist’s Checklist, everything you need to do to gain your freedom, travel the country, grow clinically, and pay off student loans as a travel PT.
LEARN MORE
