Hi, My name is Mark Walters, I met Dave at one of his Match Day Management Courses, and I just finished my physio degree… finally!! It’s exciting to be finished that’s for sure. But it also presents the next hurdle… getting a job.
Dave asked me to write about my experience with making this decision. I’m not the only one, in fact the most recent estimate (2013) is that 1100 physiotherapy graduates (likely more now) enter the workforce annually. Whilst most of our training is geared towards the hospital (that’s for another blog), the majority of ‘us’ will be going into work in the private sector in some form. This decision wasn’t as straightforward as I imagined.
This post is for all the current students or recent new grads that will soon go through this challenging and exciting process.
But first, a little about me.
I didn’t always want to be a Physiotherapist, I started University life studying a Bachelor of Exercise Science with aspirations to be an Exercise Physiologist. Along the way I realised Physiotherapy was my calling, so I signed up for another 3 years of student poverty to complete the DPT at the University of Melbourne.
I always wanted to work in private practice, and to be completely honest I had no idea Physios were in hospitals!
Fast forward to the final semester of the degree and the time has come for my only private practice placement (about time!). We were given the opportunity to put in clinic preferences, so I spent the whole year searching for all my ‘ideal’ clinics and gave my top 2 preferences.
The placement allocations are released, did I get my preference? Nope!
A clinic 45min drive from home (with good traffic), not ideal, but the limits were tolerable for a young enthusiastic ‘therapist to be’. From the moment I walked in the door I felt immediately like part of the team. During the placement I had three supervisors, all with varied clinical experience to learn from, but one stood out.
An individual that gave me those feels of ‘that’s the kind of Physio I want to be!’.
In the last week of my placement, the owner returned from holiday… Game Time, this was my chance to impress if I wanted a good reference. He must've liked me. I walked away with a job offer! How rad is that?! It all happened so fast.
No interview
They didn’t want to see my grades
I was still 2 months away from finishing!
I didn’t expect this! The verbal offer was followed promptly with a contract. On the table… a base salary plus commission structure. My stress was at a 6-year low. Everything was sorted, I didn’t have to face multiple interviews and rejections. Life was good!
Throughout the year I had been attempting to organise observation with one of those ‘ideal’ clinics’ I’d identified. A recently established Physio clinic, & the two owners were also registered Exercise Physiologists.
A blend of my undergrad and postgrad education, perfect!
However, ‘life’ seemed to keep getting in the way of organising said observation… I eventually met with them for an informal ‘get to know each other’ the week after end of semester. We met, we got along, their clinic looked great, and they had big aspirations for the business. Exciting, but thought honesty was the best policy, telling them I already had a job offer… but they wanted me too!
I never thought I’d find myself in this position! Two job offers! I was in the middle of a clinical love triangle… my internal monologue shifted into overdrive.
Have I jumped the gun in taking the first offer?
What if there’s something better out there for me?
Should I reconsider the first job offer? (Buyers remorse?)
It wasn’t until the semester finished when friends and my partner (also a final year Physio student… unique right?) started getting jobs lined up too. I became full blown indecisive! My partner was offered a position with a salary, somewhat larger than the base in my contract.
More questions...😖
Have I undersold myself?
Do I need to sit down with the ‘ideal’ clinic and talk numbers?
Should I keep looking for a position with a salary?
Everything became very financially oriented…😕
So, how did I make the decision?
What is important to me?
I took some time, and listed the things most important to me in my first job in priority order. (Time for whiteboard)
Opportunity to Learn 📖
Work Culture 👫👬
Work/Life Balance 💃🏻
Dollarydoos 💰
Seek support from my network
I harassed as many people both within and outside Physiotherapy to explain the Pros/Cons of each factor for both offers, seeking their opinion. This was an incredibly useful process!
The more I did it the clearer the answer became to me. Not through the opinions I received, but through the clarity of my explanation and comparisons. Inside Physiotherapy I sought the thoughts of an experienced Physio (Dave), and one who graduated last year. These both offered unique insights and experiences, which helped highlight things to look out for or to avoid.
If you’re currently a student, make sure you get to know a few people in the cohort above you, and find a mentor!
When speaking to people outside Physiotherapy there was an overwhelming consensus that I needed to sit down and talk figures with the ‘ideal’ clinic before signing the contract from the first job offer.
Talk to your inner circle
This was until I spoke to my oldest and closest friend. I sent the poor guy a novel explaining everything, including his opinion on whether I should sit down with the ‘ideal’ clinic to talk money.
He responded with a much shorter message: “Is the base salary enough to live off? And how does it compare to what you’ve lived on for the past 6 years?”.
This was the lightbulb moment that brought me back to my priorities, money was my lowest priority for a first job. It wouldn’t matter what contract was being offered by the ‘ideal’ clinic, there’s no monetary value I can place on missing out on the opportunity to learn from the supervisor I had on placement.
"My final piece of advice, don’t compare your offer to those of others! Everyone will have different priorities."
Money is the easiest way to compare, consider what has ‘value’ to you that can’t be represented by figures.
Time will tell if I’ve made the correct decision. For the moment I’m satisfied I’ve made the correct one.
Mark was a participant in one of this year's Match Day Management courses. He was a keen student, but also keen to assist others in the group who were new to their studies. Both Mark and the Enhance team hope this insight from someone going through this transition will help others navigate this exciting and confusing time.