Finding a job in today’s economy is becoming a challenge in some areas. Part of the problem is that so many massage therapists (and people looking for other jobs too) often think is that a job will meet their needs for security and that when they go to work for someone that they ‘deserve’ to make the highest wages. Jobs just like money are a place where we project many of our unmet early needs which are now unconscious onto. An employer will hire massage therapists and become the power figure telling you what to do and what not to do. Whenever there is a power differential created there is plenty of room for projection.
Many massage therapists just blindly approach their job search without really knowing what they are doing or where they really do want to work. I have my office in downtown Seattle and I can’t tell you the number of phone calls I have gotten through the years with just people with their voices shaking asking if I was looking for someone to hire them. They didn’t bother to look at my website or call to ask what kind of business I was in or even if I was hiring.
If you really want to find a job in the massage profession do your research and find out what kind of job you do want and figure out ‘exactly’ where you want to work. Instead of approaching people blindly go in and get a handful of massages. Get to know the massage therapists there and network with them. Find out if you like the environment, the service, the massage therapists, the rooms - everything.
Figure out what you need to make an hour and how many hours you need to work to pay your bills, take vacations, save for retirement, put the kids through school - everything.
Go into the place or places that are tops on your list and figure out how to get a job interview or find out who you need to talk to. Instead of focusing on what you want from the job - tell them what you are going to do for them. How will you get and retain clients which is the heart of any massage business. Just because you are going to be an employee doesn’t mean you get out of marketing and educating clients. A massage business will be as successful as their massage therapists are at building the business for them.
Show them what you will do for them. How is your massage different from everyone elses? What do you have to offer that no one else offers?
Use the Napoleon Hill of ‘Think and Grow Rich” method of getting a job-
First. Decide EXACTLY what kind of job you want. If the job doesn’t already exist, perhaps you can create it.
Second. Choose the company, or individual that you wish to work with.
Third. Study your prospective employer, as to policies, personnel, and chances of advancement.
Fourth. By analysis of yourself, your talents and capabilities, figure out WHAT YOU CAN OFFER, and plan ways and means of giving advantages, services, developments, ideas that you can successfully deliver.
Fifth. Forget about “a Job”. Forget whether or not there is an opening. Forget the usual routine of “have you got a job for me?” Concentrate on what you can give.
Sixth. Once you have your plan in mind, arrange with an experienced writer to put it on paper in neat form and in full detail.
Seventh. Present it to the proper person with the authority and he will do the rest. Every company is looking for (massage therapists) who can give something of value, whether it be ideas, services, or connections. Every company has room for the (massage therapist) who has a definite plan of action which is to the advantage of that company.
You can read more about finding a job in massage by visiting my website www.thebodyworker.com ’s Job Center and read my lastest article on my blog on “What Massage Employers Want”
November 6th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Julie,
I also get a lot of phone calls from people that don’t announce their name or anything else–they just say “Are you hiring?” I wouldn’t answer that question over the telephone any more than I would cut off my nose. I always figure if they’re too lazy to come in person, they’re too lazy to work for me. Even if I was desperate for help, I wouldn’t say “yes” to that question over the phone.
If a job-seeker says something like “This is Mary Smith. I’m a licensed massage therapist and I would like to drop off a resume. Is there a convenient time for me to stop by your office?”, that person is a lot more apt to get an appointment with me.
Many times, if I’m not personally looking for a therapist, I may know someone who is and I’ll send a good prospect somewhere else, but I’m not going to do anything for someone who just calls me up and says “are you hiring?” That is not the way to impress an employer.
Laura Allen