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New Massage Therapist looking for advice on job hunting

Hi there!

My name is Katy, I am a recent graduate of a massage school in Indianapolis. I interned for the Woodhouse Day Spa back in June and am presently working for them full time now that I'm graduated. I love the environment and I get along well with my coworkers. I have no complaints at all about my workplace, but I still have a gut feeling that working in the spa industry itself does not suit me or my skills. I would love to be able to work for a physical therapy or chiropractic office, where I can be in a position to actually help rehabilitate people. The problem is, I don't know where to go to find jobs in a medical setting. When I have gone to job listing sites, the majority of the massage therapy listings are for spas, and about 80% of those are for Massage Envy.

Does anyone have any recommendations of places I can go to look for jobs in a medical setting? I do plan to go to offices in person and hand out my resume, so I'm not just relying on online postings. I just want to look at as many options as possible to find the right fit to match my skills. Thanks in advance for any advice and help!

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Taylor on November 6, 2014 at 9:52am

Hi Katy! Does your school have a career director? Ours did in Tennessee and she gets business listings from the area and forwards them on to us. Also, we have had several massage therapists come in to drop in their resume from time to time that we keep on file if no positions are open. Thirdly, (and be careful of listings) check Craigs List. My two offices I work as an independent contractor (Chiropractic office and a Massage Clinic) have posted ads on there previously.

Best of luck to you and welcome to the field :)

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Permalink Reply by Katy Blandford on November 6, 2014 at 10:30am

Thank you, Melissa! My school does not have a career director. The school I went to was somewhat newly established, my particular class was the 4th year it had been open. I will check out Craigslist as well as just handing out my resume to local medical offices.

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Permalink Reply by Nic Huette LMT on November 13, 2014 at 9:06am

Katy,

There is a website called simplyhired.com and I have seen several job postings for massage therapists on there. It might be that people use it more in my area than yours, but worth checking out.

I would also recommend you call around to all of the chiropractic offices in your area to see if they offer massage therapy. Some places aren't actively seeking out a massage therapist, but if you can talk with the chiropractor they might be open to hiring you part time or renting one of their rooms to you.

I highly recommend trying to find a part time spa job as well as a chiropractic office to work in. You will get valuable experience in both settings.

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Permalink Reply by Ash farmaha on November 25, 2014 at 8:23pm

Hi Katy, I put my resume on Indeed.com, I live in Michigan, so am not sure if they work in your area, but it is worth looking into, I got a good job from there, And when I was looking for a replacement for my last job I found a grt MT from Criagslist. A lot of employers advertise there. Good Luck

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Permalink Reply by Neal Lyons on February 1, 2015 at 1:54pm

medical massage jobs are available at the following places:

sports facilities
rehab facilities
hospitals/clinics
chiropractor offices
sports teams (traveling job)

consider reaching out to a mentor in the field who is already practicing. they are usually connected. LinkedIn is a great networking tool for this.

consider tapping into your schools referral/alumni network. talk to the director/career placement office.

offer to intern initially for free to get exposure and get them a chance to learn about you and your skill set. it gives them a risk free way to evaluate you. many of our students have successfully done this to get their way in the door and later secure full time jobs.