3 Steps to Starting Travel Therapy in 3 Months

Abruptly bouncing into travel physical therapy is not necessarily the best strategy for success during your first contract, but then again not every situation can be ideally planned out.  A surprising number of travelers have had to tackle this tasks in an abbreviated time frame.  For one reason or another they need a change, and fast!  Breakups, financial woes, or even a corrosive current work environment could be ample impetus to get the heck out of Dodge!  Starting travel therapy ASAP might just be their best bet.

The condensed timeline will complicate some aspects of this first contract.  Starting from scratch will undoubtedly be stressful, but then again, most travelers opting for this route will be doing so in response to a greater stressor.

For those of you who read last weeks post (6 Steps to Start Travel Therapy in 6 Months) you will notice some drastic differences.  Time is tight and lengthy steps such as obtaining multiple state licenses will likely be too time consuming.  In this plan we recommend that you find work within the state you are currently licensed in, but far enough away that it could not be considered a “reasonable commute”, requiring you to duplicate expenses, and thus ensuring you can maximize the tax benefits of tax free stipends.  There are some states that will license you quite quickly (ie. Oregon) but you will need to be very selective and move quickly if you hope to be licensed before your target date.  Also, once the PT Compact License has officially been enacted you will no longer be as limited for this first contract if your home state is part of the compact. For the ease of explanation, we will take the in-state option, but just keep in mind that there are some possibilities to get licensed in this brief window of time.  Once you have secured this first contract you can then aim your focus on other state licenses to really begin exploring this amazing country.

Below we have broken down the 3 steps to starting travel therapy in 3 months.  Again, this is not the ideal path to take, but if you find yourself in a crunch just know that it is possible to have an amazing travel experience taking this unconventional path.  Don’t panic.  There is still plenty of time to land a great job in a great town!

1. Find Recruiters

Time Line: 3 months

Goal: 1-2 reliable recruiters

Finding a travel job in a pinch will require open and honest communication with your recruiter.  As I wrote last week: Working with recruiters is so important we have written about it HERE, and HERE, and were even asked by WebPT to write about it HERE. And other blogs reflect the same frequency.  This is an important step. We have our Recommended Recruiters List that we pass on to our readers should they be interested as well.

Even with this tight timeline it should be quite easy to find a recruiter whose personality and working style meshes well with your own.  You will know within one or two conversations whether or not the recruiter on the other line is someone you feel comfortable working with. 

In this area, 3 months is ample time to find the perfect recruiter relationship.

2. Quit Current Job

Time Line: 1-2 months

Goal: A peaceful and professional exit

Leaving is the hardest part.  We both struggled to make the final commitment to tell our employers that we are leaving to travel.  You have invested time and energy and emotion into your work and coworkers.  It is a difficult discussion to have, there is no denying it.  As uncomfortable as it may be the best thing you can do is to leave your clinic in a position where they are not put in undue distress.  Providing a 30-60 day notice should be more than courteous, and will allow for them to find another therapist to fill your (big) shoes at the clinic. 

Burning bridges is never a good idea, especially in the interconnected world of physical therapy that we now live in.  Be professional and try to ruffle as few feathers on your way out as possible.

3. Secure travel job

Time Line: 2-6 weeks

Goal: One awesome travel therapy job in a hurry.

With the help of your recruiter you will, by now, have identified a few cities and treatment settings that look appealing to you.  Now comes the big decision to submit to the positions.  Working with a couple of recruiters will broaden your search some and also allow you to have some negotiating power between the two agencies should it be needed. 

Have your recruiters submit you to a few jobs and be prepared for interviews to come rolling in.  Some jobs will jump all over your resume, and others will remain radio silent.  Do not get discouraged.  There are jobs all over the country filling up at any moment.  Just because you did not get an interview at one position does not mean there is anything wrong with you.  It most likely means that they had already found a quality candidate before you even had your packet sent over.

After you have rocked out your interview your recruiter will notify you of a job offer.  Here is where you can negotiate some of the finer details of the contract.  Tweaks in pay, days off, benefits, etc.  Be confident in the value you bring and always stick to your guns.  If you get an uneasy feeling in your gut that your contract is “just not right” you do not have to sign it.  Run the details by a friend, or us for that matter.  You may not always land a contract that has you laughing all the way to the bank, but you should never feel taken advantage of.  You are in control.  Only sign on to something that leaves you excited for the adventuresome career you are about to embark on!

Whew!  There you go.  3 steps to start travel therapy in 3 months!  It is a whirlwind at this point but I am confident you can do it!  The first contract is always the hardest.  Once you have nailed down your first travel assignment future jobs will be a walk in the park! 

 

Written by: Stephen Stockhausen