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Career Path.....

Ugh! Wondering what is the best type of work to do is take my career. I'm so lost and stuck on whether to take a spa, chiro or something else. What would you guys think??? Could really use the help and advice seeing I am a newbie.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on September 15, 2009 at 1:27pm

Hi MoonEyes,

I have started a new group to help new folks getting started at http://www.massageprofessionals.com/group/almostandnewlylicensedthe...

I hope you will join us!

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Permalink Reply by Darcy Neibaur on September 15, 2009 at 4:43pm

I have just been in the massage business for 2 years and love it. I have only worked in the spa setting. All I can tell you about the chiro setting is hear say, and it has been said to me that it is a very fast pasted setting for massage, doing 15 minutes massages all day long. Any where from 12 - 16 massages in a day.

Where I work now, I work 4 days a week, 5 hour shifts my choice. I do anywhere from 2-4 massages during that time. Just depends how busy it gets. Most massages are 60 or 90 minutes. Once in a while I get a 2 hour massage. All I do is massage. The appointments are booked by the front end staff. My employer just paid for me to take a 16 hour Hot Stones Massage CEU class. So we will begin doing those in October. The laundry is sent out so there is no fuss with it. Everything is supplied. The tables are all electric. We get paid for sitting if nothing is booked. It is great. I am truly enjoying this profession.

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Permalink Reply by Angela Palmier on September 18, 2009 at 1:10pm

Hi there,
The beautiful thing about this profession is that you have soooooo many choices, and yet, there's the problem of soooooo many choices! Ironic, huh???

I'm not sure how "new" you are to the profession, but if you are fairly new, the one piece of advice that I would give is that take this time to refine your skills that you learned in your program---this is a great opportunity for you to work on your assessment and palpation skills, that sort of thing. If you find yourself drawn to something, then explore it, maybe take some classes on it---or even look for a "mentor" in the areas that you are most interested in and see if they can give you some advice??

Angie

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Jo King on September 19, 2009 at 5:12am

I think you should look for all opportunities. Try different things and you'll discover what you like and don't like.

If you had never tried chocolate or strawberry ice cream, but knew what vanilla tasted like, how can someone say which to try? You have to try them both to see what you like.

When I started I told lots of people I was a massage therapist and looking for work. Through word of mouth I learned of opportunities and took every one I could. Some worked out, some did not, but I learned things along the way. All helped me get to where I am now, right where I want to be. I could not have known I wanted to be here before those experiences.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher V Acosta on September 20, 2009 at 4:57pm

You really have to try and see what you like. For my externship as a student, I worked on student athletes at USF and I enjoyed it. I'm currently working at a spa and I enjoy how my clients are booked for me, laundry is done, and I don't have to push to make the sales because sales staff handles that. Am I satisfied? For the most part but I'm still searching for more that will make me happy and keep me excited. I'm currently working on my website and going to look into taking personal clients - maybe rent out a space or get back to working with athletes and maybe even travel.