more about finding the right job after graduation...

[Amr R]

Now if You are paying all overhead and just paying me to show up and work I might consider this and I agree $20 an hour is about the same as 40k a year. But massage is hard work.. and these prices are not the spectacular. If I had no other decent options maybe.

so i didn't want to hijack the other thread, but i'd like to talk about this in more depth. here in NWIndiana, massage goes for about the same - $60 to $80 per hour is typical in a spa or chiro's office, but self employed therapists with low overhead go as low as $40 to $50, plus travel costs if they're doing outcalls. a lot of chiro's offices hire new graduates and pay $10 per hour (ouch!) and book their days full! obviously, that's the job i'm trying to avoid. there is a "beauty salon" i've been in contact with and the owner is offering commission based pay at 45%, sessions ranging from $60 to $90 depending on the massage. i like this. but i'm not sure if i'm cut out to work in a "beauty salon" - seeing as how i have dreadlocks, don't wear makeup, etc. the owner has certain expectations of her employees regarding their appearance and while i may disagree with them on principle, i understand and respect her right to project a certain image. clean and professional is good for me. "salon", not so much. but we'll see.

anyway, another prospect i have - that sounds like a better fit for me, is a wellness clicic opening up in a couple of weeks. one of the owners came to my school clinic looking for new grads. (he had been in contact with our school's director over the last couple of months) i gave him a massage and he seemed pleased. we exchanged contact information and he called me a few days later to book another massage. we met yesterday evening for a massage and then discussed his goals for his business, my goals as a therapist, marketing ideas, etc. and we really seem to be on the same page here. his background is in business, which is the side of the clinic he'll be managing. his partner is an MD and is handling the wellness side. so, i have an appointment to meet with both of them this evening (they both still have day jobs until they're clinic opens) and we'll talk about the logistics... they are planning to hire 3 therapists to start, one full time and the other two to be on-call until things pick up and they can afford more than one full timer. he said flat out that he wants me to be his full time therapists. he admittedly knows nothing about massage and bodywork and is just immersing himself into it to learn all he can for the purposes of advertising and making sure the treatment rooms are appropriate - a tour of which i'll be getting tonight. i'll also be learning more about the other health care services that will be offered. but when we talk about money tonight, i don't know what to push for. i would like a similar deal to the salon, but it sounds like they'll want me to be there all day regardless of whether or not i'd be massaging. that means an hourly rate of....? i have a lot of experience working as an office manager/administrative assistant and can spend my not-massage time helping out with paper work. in the past i was paid $35 annually for that kind of work.

so, what do you think i should ask for? if i put in 40 hrs a week, spending about half of that time working on clients and filling in the other half doing administrative work, i feel like $20 per hour is a good place to start. but i'm afraid that the reason this guy came to our school for therapists in the first place is because he wants to pay a lower wage. he did ask me what therapists get paid around here and when i said "some pay as low as $10 per hour" he scoffed and said "i'm not trying to do that!" i responded by saying "good! because i wouldn't work for $10 an hour." knowing this, he's still pursuing me. i should find that promising, right?

i'm nervous, because this seems like it could be a great opportunity for me. i don't want to blow it, but i also want to make money.... my husband's work is seasonal and we're soon going to depend on my income. if i can't find something "ideal" i may have to resort to working nights doing chair massages in VIP rooms at the local casino. it would suck, but it pays well and offers great benefits

thanks for having the patience to read through my long winded concerns. i feel like i'm under a lot of pressure to make all the right decisions the first time around. like i have no room for error.

oh, and p.s. - i totally rocked my final the other night!! :

 

[Cat]

more about finding the right job after graduation...

When I was working for a Chiro, I was paid 35% per massage. When I wasn't massaging I was cleaning, doing laundry, helping the desk clerk, etc at $10/hour. I thought that was quite fair, especially for my first job out of massage school. And I was promised that as time went on and I built my clientele up I would get a higher perceneforum.xxxe. Unfortunately I had to leave that job, but it was a great jumping off point and I learned a great deal (mostly that I never wanted to work with insurance again in my life! They took their insurance out of my pay... not cool).

I would suggest to not get so caught up in finding "the right job" right out of school. I think one of the best decisions that I could have made for myself up to this point was to keep my horizons broad and getting experience in both the chiro and spa aspects of the profession. It helped me to really figure out what my passion was in massage, and where I wanted to go with it.

 

[Pompal 09.]

more about finding the right job after graduation...

I would suggest to not get so caught up in finding "the right job" right out of school. I think one of the best decisions that I could have made for myself up to this point was to keep my horizons broad and getting experience in both the chiro and spa aspects of the profession. It helped me to really figure out what my passion was in massage, and where I wanted to go with it.

you're probably totally right about that. i may be better off with an attitude more like yours...

thanks

 

[Hazzaaaaaaa]

more about finding the right job after graduation...

The fact that the guys is looking to hire students could be a red flag for a cheapskate. I know a few people and companies who always hire students because they will work for cheap so they work them for a bit until the student realizes they are being taken advaneforum.xxxe of and quit they hire another one. Just a revolving door of cheap labor.
Not saying it is but it could be, so I would be on guard for lowball offers with your experience in office manager/administrative assistant you should have a good base to ask for a decent wage.I wouldn't fall into the mindset of just take a job to get experience, especially massage it is hard work and easy to get burned out on.

It is hard to say what a good wage is it varies from place to place $20 an hour would be good here in Colorado but in Manhattan that would probably be enough to live on the streets. If I was you I would ask for At Least what you think is a good office manager/administrative assistant and then a little more for the massage becouse it is hard work, easy to get burned out on and you just invested money into it.

Just my 2cents.