The best way to keep your therapy career in great shape is to do exactly what you tell your patients: Be Active!
Resumes/Career Information
This might seem like a no-brainer but keeping your resume updated is important. Don’t forget to include white paper publications, blog articles, or other projects you may have worked on outside of work & school.
For one on one help with your resume, contact a recruiter: careers@myptsolutions.com
Resume Basics
- Schools attended (undergrad & grad), list areas of specialty or topics/classes of interest
- Settings: List settings you have experience with including populations
- Work Experience: When describing your work experience, you don’t need to include a lot of information, just give a basic description of the setting, population you worked with, and a couple key achievements or unique accomplishments.
- Certifications/Specializations/Licenses: If you have a specialization, be sure that it is highlighted in your resume along with licenses you have. In this section, you can also list the certifications you have and any other key skills i.e. Spanish proficiency, 3 years of direct experience of spinal bifida & cystic fibrosis, etc.
Posting your resume to public sites like Indeed or Monster is essential if you are actively looking and it’s always FREE. These sites are frequently visited by human resources professionals and healthcare recruiters. Creating a LinkedIn account is equally important for either job searching, networking, or just doing market research.
- Career Info (salary) – Salary for physical therapists varies depending on your location. According to Monster.com’s Healthcare Analytics,
- States with the most openings: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois
- States with the high salaries: California, New Jersey, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island
If you are interested in market research for a specific city or state, contact a recruiter and request salary & job market analytics.
- Continuing Education: Post-professional degree – not only do more and more PT’s have PhDs but who wouldn’t want a nice salary boost? According to USNews, the top five physical therapy graduate schools are:
- University of Southern Cal – LA, CA
- University of Delaware – Newark, DE
- University of Pittsburgh – Pitts, PA
- Washington University in St. Louis – St. Louis, MO
- University of Iowa – Iowa City, IA
- Specialist certification: Specialist certification is the primary indicator of advanced clinical knowledge, experience, and skills in a special area of practice. This certification also helps to assist consumers and the health care community in identifying experienced physical therapists with the specific treatment they are seeking. (Note: If you are not interested in immediately pursuing a post-professional degree, consider getting a specialist certification instead)
ABPTS Specialties
- Cardiovascular & Pulmonary
- Clinical Electrophysiology
- Geriatrics
- Neurology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics
- Sports
- Women’s Health
- Licensing: Getting your license in other states is a great way to market yourself. Visit our Licensing Info page for more information or contact a recruiter to find out how you can be licensed for free!
- Leadership Development: Mentoring – use LinkedIn to find other professionals in your area. Or visit the APTA website. They often have listings of professionals who are interested in mentoring. Many PT Schools have mentoring programs; if you did not utilize this program as a student, contact your counselor and ask about mentors for alumni.
- Self-Assessment Tools: how will you know where you are going if you don’t know where you are? Use THIS self-assessment tool as a map for your career!
- Get Involved: Most cities have local Events Calendar where you can find volunteering opportunities or community events such as 5k runs. No matter what you participate in, it will help in a big way to help you stay connected with locals and even potential clients. Remember – Networking is simply being kind and helpful to others. You don’t have to sell yourself or a product, just think about how you might help that person, maybe by referring them to a clinic or simply introducing them to someone they might want to know.