Blog #30 - When should I look for a private practice job?

As a 4th year physiotherapy student, you should have an idea of where you would like to work when you graduate.

You may not of experienced all your placements yet, but majority of you will know that you want to work in private practice and therefore fulfilling your placement obligations in alternate areas of the profession will only broaden your scope of practice.

If you know you want to be in private practice, then be sure to see if you can have a private practice placement, perhaps even more than one. If you can not secure a placement in private practice, then go and seek work experience in the clinics you admire and would like to get a job role when you graduate.

Business owners are always on the look out for great staff and especially graduates that have drive, motivation and initiate private practice experience. A potential employer will happily employ you in your 4th year so that they can train you in all facets of their business so that when you start in the new year, you can hit the ground running.

Hot tips for 4th year students:

1. Start looking now for a job role for next year. The students that get in first, get the best jobs. Don't wait until you have your certificate to start the job search. By 4th year, if you do not know if you are going to pass and think you better wait until you get your certificate or graduate, you will be left with the dregs of choice when it comes to a job.

2. Try and get private practice placements where you would ultimately like to work next year. Approach that clinic and see if they are willing to take on a student for placement. Your university should be grateful that you have found them another private practice placement, as they are hard to come by, hence why alot of physio students do not get a private practice placement prior to graduation.

3. Do your research into the clinic you would like to work for when you graduate. This will give you the upper hand when applying and during the interview process. Discuss with your potential employer why you really want to work in their business and what they would be looking for in a potential graduate employee.

4. Create a video of yourself to add to your resume so that a potential employer can get a gauge on your personality prior to meeting you and offering you an interview. As business owners, we hire mainly on attitude and personality as you all graduate with the same skill level. You may not be able to deliver your resume in person, if the location is remote from where you are currently studying, so this is the next best option.