Location, Location, Location. Usually location has a great deal to do with determining whether or not you are interested in working at a specific facility. However, there are factors that make a long commute, or packing up your bags and moving, worth your while.
What Makes Your Therapy Job Worthwhile?
The number one thing that determines therapy job satisfaction is not a great salary, a comprehensive benefit plan, or having a convenient location…(although all those things are important.) What job satisfaction really boils down to is feeling VALUED and APPRECIATED by your CO -WORKERS and your patients. Your co-workers are the number one factor in how much you enjoy your job. Of course we all know that this factor is out of our control, and we need those valuable life skills of getting along with whomever we happen to be working with… but what if you could choose your work environment based on whom you would be working with?
As a physical therapist, you have a myriad of therapy job opportunities before you. When you apply for a new position, take time to spend a day observing in the gym. Are there any therapists here that you might be able to learn from? Who are you going to be able to ask for suggestions when you run into difficult cases? When does the clinic staff spend time together, just for fun?
The best practice environment is one where the staff works together as a team; where co-workers are looking out for each other and everyone works together to manage the patient caseload. Maybe your clinic isn’t anything like this now… but you have the authority to influence it in that direction.What can you do to create this type of environment? Reading Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and discussing each chapter as a staff is a good place to start.
And then…flip the coin. What about those times when you have great co-worker relationships, but you’ve learned all you can from them? Loyalty to your current co-workers will certainly hold you back from moving into new opportunities. How will you know when a new opportunity is worth breaking your current employer or co-worker’s trust?
We’ve watched therapists wrestle with all these questions. And no one can really answer them, except the person who is testing out each new opportunity. However, when you find yourself in a position where you are ready… ready to try something new – we’ll be happy to introduce you to the myriad of therapy job opportunities that await you.
