I have already said that I am not a physical or occupational therapist--I am a professional recruiter and contracts administrator. But I do get excited whenever I get a new opportunity to recruit for--I think it is as exciting for me as for the therapists I recruit!
I enjoy hearing about people's work and about the different environments in which they work. I like talking to people about what they enjoy about their physical and occupational therapy jobs, and describing a new opportunity.
I recently have been talking to some people about a unique opportunity that involves auditing facilities and it is great to hear from people who like the chance to travel and see new facilities and learn about cutting edge practices.
I think I am close to filling this position, but I know I will be just as excited when the next opportunity presents itself.
As the Director of Operations for RepuStaff, I wear many hats every week. One of the most important yet most difficult tasks I face is recruiting contract physical therapists and contract occupational therapists. Finding contract therapists in Indianapolis, IN, or those that want to move here, has never been easy. Being in the staffing realm as long as I have, I find this interesting. If you are a traditionally employed person, consider this for just a moment. How much vacation time to you have? Who has to approve when or if you can use your vacation time? Do you have to deal with politics at your place of employment? If you don't need health insurance, do you get an option to take home more income? As a contract therapist, YOU get to take YOUR vacation when YOU want to. You don't have to pay attention to the office or facility politics since you aren't employed there. As a contractor, you are generally paid $3-5 per hour more than your regular hire counterparts, more than that if you don't need insurance benefits. Most people who are adverse to contract positions just think about the "uncertainty" of the positions. In this economy uncertainty is the only certainty! Even "regular hire" positions aren't certain or stable. With contract, you at least have a notice period before your assignment will end. Do you get that as a regular hire? As a contract therapist for RepuStaff, you can be CERTAIN that there is a team behind you making sure you have seamless transitions between assignments.
Why not give contract therapy staffing a try? The only thing you have to lose is more money!
I've been in the employment business for a long time, 12 years in fact. The changes I have seen in that relatively short amount of time have been simply astronomical! What has happened to the days of CareerBuilder, Monster and the good old newspaper ads? They are, for the most part, gone. In this economy, most of us would consider ourselves the "passive job seeker". We are the people who aren't necessarily looking for a new opportunity, but would possibly consider an opportunity if it fell into our lap. How do these opportunities "fall into someone's lap"? Why is it that these situations seem to always happen to other people? You have to put yourself into a situation where the jobs come to you. I am talking about nothing more than networking! Networking has become as easy as a click of a mouse. There are so many social and professional networking sites to choose from. Surround yourself with people you admire, both in and out of your field. Post blogs, set up group pages, "tweet" on your activities on a given day. You will be surprised how many people will start to pay attention. Just be careful! Don't post anything that can come back to haunt you! That party you attended last weekend where you were wearing the lampshade might be funny on your social networking sites, but you wouldn't want it to be anywhere near your professional sites. If its out there anywhere, anyone can find it. Be smart about what you post, but still have fun. These days the saying holds even more truth...."It's not what you know, but who you know."
Keep "tweeting", I'm reading!
Liz
One of the most common questions I get asked when folks ask me what I do for a living is, "Why would anyone want to be a contract therapist?". Well I have all sorts of answers to that question!
As a contract therapist, you have more flexibility than anyone else in their career. You get to choose when and where you work. If you don't like the location, the setting, the people, you don't have to work on that assignment. If you want to only work 24 hours per week, that's ok. If you want to work 40 hours this week and none next week, that's OK too.
You don't have to worry about getting involved in the polics of the facilities. You go to work, do your job and go home. You have a pre-negotiated contract assignment with your hours and days off specified before you ever step foot in the door. There is no bantering back and forth for a pay increase. As a contract therapist, chances are you are making about 20% more money than the staff therapists at the facility!
I could go on and on, but I will save the rest for another post...just to keep you on your toes!
Are you a contract therapist? Please post your comments. We want to hear from those of you who have first hand experience!
As a therapist that works in industrial rehab, one of the most interesting parts of my job is analyzing job tasks. I spent half a day, on a garbage truck. Talk about hard work. A truck with two men on the back picks up an average of 20,000 to 30, 000 tons of trash per day. That means each person on the back throws 10-15 tons of trash in the back of the truck. Rain, shine, sleet, or snow……200 or 950 they still work. They spend most of their time jogging between close stops and longer stops stepping up on a 20” step to ride on the back of the truck. A therapist might suspect many back injuries from this population, but shoulder injuries and foot/ankle injuries top the list. You could imagine these gentlemen (with a few ladies) have amazing fitness and core strength. The height of throwing the trash in the back of the truck combined with being turned at an angle when they throw seems to be the guilty culprit. This puts them in a position to over use the rotator cuff rather than using the prime movers. To get a rotator cuff repair back in shape to throw 20,00 pounds/day (x5!!!) is a challenging rehab. Most of these men really like their job. They are people that prefer working outdoors and love the physical challenge. Some even compete with each other to see who can get their routes done faster, as if their job wasn’t hard enough already. It is a privilege to be able to help these workers regain their function to get back to work. There are many interesting Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy jobs in Indiana. I’m lucky to have one of them!
I read this morning on www.foxnews.com that most economists are predicting that the economic downturn will end in the third quarter of this year. The article states that unemployment will average 9.1% this year but will not reach the forecasted high of 10.7%.
I think this is really good news for everyone even though the healthcare industry, and allied healthcare staffing in particular has not been hit as hard by the economic downturn as those in other industries. Jobs have been fairly plentiful for most physical therapists and occupational therapists here in Indiana. However it will be nice to see hospitals and other facilities start hiring other healthcare workers again. Hopefully we will see the tide turning soon.
I am not a physical therapist. I don’t even play one on TV. But I do know of a physical therapist working for RepuStaff in Indiana who I think has one of the coolest jobs around. It is not exactly what you would call a physical therapy travel job, but she does get to travel.
Our client is the one of the large cities in Indiana. Within the city, most of the on-the-job injuries are naturally with the folks who are doing the most dangerous jobs to keep the citizens safe. Those include cleaning up after storms and tornadoes, clearing snow, picking up trash, and cleaning and maintaining public areas. That does seem natural, since those are the most physically demanding jobs.
Our therapist gets to go to six different locations within the city to provide physical therapy to injured workers. She says she gets to meet the most interesting people who do the most interesting jobs. She says every day is different and she loves it. She enjoys meeting new patients and developing a relationship with them and then has the satisfaction of seeing them return to work. She tells me that one of the best parts of the job for her as a physical therapist is seeing someone go back to doing the job they love.
It seems that all we hear on the news every day is doom and gloom. Recession, job cuts, high unemployment, bailouts. Terrible news, filled with so many people in Indiana and throughout the country out of work.
The bright spot in all of the gloom seems to be allied healthcare staffing. I did a search on one of the job boards today for occupational therapy jobs in Indiana and got 33 results. I did another search for physical therapy jobs in Indiana and got 53 results. The same held true for occupational therapy assistant careers. You folks in the contract therapy staffing world are still in demand in Indiana and across the US. In addition, the demand for international occupational and physical therapy jobs is increasing.
For those of you who made a huge investment of time and money in your education, you can find your return on that investment in increased job security and expanded career opportunities that are scarce in the current economic environment. Congratulate yourself on a choice well-made and look forward to opportunities that can enhance your career even further.
With this post, RepuStaff enters the brave new world of blogging!!
RepuStaff was founded in 1995 by Billie Dragoo. You will get to know her in later posts, but for now know that she is an ardent advocate for women and children. She started the company in her kitchen to provide allied healthcare staffing for her clients. She contracted physical therapy jobs in Indiana, occupational therapy jobs in Indiana and travel therapy jobs throughout the Midwest. The business has grown a bit since those early days, expanding into contract therapy staffing, international therapy staffing and other types of contract staffing. However Billie is still an active owner and CEO her values and principles still drive our business on a daily basis.
Throughout the coming weeks and months we hope this blog helps you learn more about RepuStaff and our therapists and healthcare professionals. They are a great group of people from a variety of disciplines and they are talented, hardworking and dedicated to high quality patient care. Some of them will be regular contributors to this blog, so be sure to visit frequently to hear what’s on their minds.
For now, thank you for taking the time to read our inaugural post and spend a little time getting to know RepuStaff.
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