Will clinics take on newly qualified therapists?

[pinkprincess]

Very interested to hear feedback on this topic.

I qualified in Remedial Massage in Sydney last year (June). I have just moved to London.

I recently rang a small number of clinics / yoga studios etc in the London Area to offer a demo massage and see if they would take me on as a therapist. Almost all of them asked me when I graduated and when I said last June, they told me that they only take practitioners with at least 2 years experience. Obviously I understand that I will need to phone a lot of places, but I was initially rather disheartened that they wouldn't even look at me.

My diploma took one year to complete and was 9.30-5.30 x 3 days a week. So we were in class about 20 hours a week. On top of that we had to complete 100 hours supervised clinic hours before we could graduate. I believe that Australian standards are quite high and from what I understand (I am interested in your opinions here) the number of hours training I have had is acceptable by UK standards.

My question is, is this demand for experience from clinics the norm? If so, how does one start out? Can anyone give me the names of London clinics that are open to considering newly qualified therapists? As is happens I am slowly building a mobile home-visit client base independently, but I would dearly love to be in a clinic environment where I can build and share my knowledge with other therapists.

Thoughts anyone?

Warm regards

Henry

 

[BanJo]

I didn't have this problem when I first started out. Admittedly, it wasn't easy to get work in a clinic, as there are more therapists than posts and it did take me a few months. The problem is that many clinics will only employ one or two therapists for each modality, so there will not be a vacancy until they leave.

However, if you are able to tell them that you've been working from home for a while, it may help.

Lesley

 

[That DK]

try just visiting large hotels spas in Central London and talk to clinic managers - bring with you your CV, diplomas and picture.

When you just phone them usually you speak to the receptionist.

 

[captnmorgan]

Hi Henry
Just keep trying - you will find somewhere.
I own a clinic in Brighton, and have massage therapists there amongst other health therapists. It is not a consideration to me how long someone has been practicing when I take someone on. For me it's much more to do with their energy, attitude and personality - I want to know - What will this person bring to my clinic, and Can we have a good working relationship.

Best of luck with your search. The right place for you will come in time.
Aragorn

 

[Grerasearmwag]

Hi Henry

As has already been said you need to go round in person and see if you can start doing some exchanges with some of the local therapists, that will let people know about you and how you work.

The majority of therapist work independent as you are starting to do but it is a long slog to get yourself established, if you can find three or four other therapists in your situation then you could consider pooling your resources and setting up a practice between you

 

[onyekachi ezejelue]

This is an interesting thread, because I'd wondered about how many therapists of the same treatment type a clinic would employ?

I've contacted a couple of clinics and whilst they seem to have been keen to rent the rooms, when I've visited they already had a least one therapist offering the same treatments as me. So, my thoughts were either
a) I'd pay for a room and apart from my few own clients that I have - would not get any more (crisis of confidence, would make me worry if I lost the clients I've already got[])
b) I'd end up taking clients from the other therapist (because I'm brilliant and modest with it_ ,something I wouldn't really feel comfortable about doing.

Do clinics employ/rent to more than one therapist of the same type and what happens if clients do start moving between therapists - or is it just a case of "its the clients choice"

Finx

 

[.:Jazzi<3:.]

Hi Funnybunny

In a good clinic the patients are advised to go for the most appropriate treatment available depending on the dysfunction, saying that people seem to go to the person they gel with and only occasionally move for a few treatments when necessary which is about normal.

You can have more than one person doing a therapy as we all adapt our own way of working you can get 10 different massages from 10 different massage therapists.

It is helpful to have a variety of different disciplines though

 

[jayant]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the information.

I think I might have been cutting out potential clinics by assuming they wouldn't want another therapist doing the same treatment.

It is still early days for me yet business wise. I'm building up my courses, qualifications, experiences and skills and collecting a few clients along the way.

Cheers

Fin X

 

[Ancient Wisdom]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the response and feedback. Do you mean getting a loan, taking out a commercial lease on a property and creating our own clinic?

Kind regards

Henry

 

[rocksss]

Hi Henry

You might find it easier to take a short term lease with easy in and out options, that way you do not have so much pressure, you can share the expenses of equipment and advertising etc

 

[homedman]

Hi there, just wanted to say... keep looking and don't give up. I have just landed THE most amazing job ever (and I love it), working in a clinic. I have no experience either. On the therapist front we employ 3 aromatherapists, me full time and 2 part time - to cover all the hours that we are open. 3 of us do Hopi and 2 reflexology, with other more specialist therapies coming in part time. Also, on busy days it means you aren't limiting the choice of treatment available to the public and there is always someone to cover the phones and the shop floor. So on the plus side, you get to learn about all the other different remedies too, I'm sure that is the same for most other complementary health centres / shops.
Anyway, if I can do it so can you, if it is meant to be then it will happen! Keep your pecker up.
P
x

 

[jonlamotta]

We do and have taken on newly qualified therapists at our clinic. They have to give us a treatment first, we won't taken on anybody who doesn't make the grade.

Keep trying. Knock on doors and convince them. Tell them you will give them a treatment. To be honest there are loads of therapists who are not newly qualified who I wouldn't let in. It isn't about that. They are either good or they aren't. Some are just naturals, even if they are just out of college.

We do take on therapists if we have one already, but it depends on work load and if we don't have enough work then it doesn't matter how good they are. The big problem we have is that therapists expect us to get all the work for them. You have to get clients yourself, even if you are in a clinic setting and you have to get them to come back to you.

At the end of the day if you are good then you will get clients, you just need to get that break and convince. Good luck.