Which job would you take?

[HotHolley]

I have to offers on the table:

The first one I would be working for a chiropractor. Hours would be M-F from 2pm-5pm except 2 days which would be from1pm-6pm. The pay would be $15/hr. The work consists of nothing except massage, and its pretty fast paced (info from the current massage therapist). So fast paced that you do not have time to chart between clients, you pretty much have to chart at the end of your day.

The main cons to this job are: My instructor said many negative things about this chiro. She disliked her so much that she pulled her clinical site away from her and starting taking her classes to different locations. Supposedly this chiro will just flip the sheets over for the next client instead of changing them out, among other things. If I took this job I know my instructor will not suggest me to other people looking for a massage therapist. And if these things are true I don't think I would want to work for her anyway.

The pluses: Guaranteed Rate of pay and guaranteed hours. The hours would work great for me, I have 3 kids and value my time with them when they are out of school.



The second opportunity would be with 1 other massage therapist. She also has someone come in to do pedicures, manicures and facials. She would furnish everything including the table and it would be a 60/40 split...me getting the 60. She has been in business for a little over a year by herself and has decided she needs someone to help with the client load she is getting....nothing outrageous yet, but its getting fairly busy.

The cons: It would not be guaranteed work. If no one came in then I would not get paid. She is open from Tue-Sat from 10 am until 8 pm. These hours would really limit me from seeing my kids.

The pros: I want to eventually open up my own practice and this would give me great experience in knowing how to do things. She does all of the advertising. And she seems to be very knowledgeable in marketing. I think I could learn a lot from her.

Right now I am very limited on where I can work. In order to work in my state of KY I will need to go back to school for an additional 100 hours. Both of these jobs I mentioned happen to be in IL (where I am currently waiting on my license from) and are just a hop skip and jump away. The problem is that this particular city is VERY SMALL, and there is nothing closer so I don't have a wide range of options to choose from until I have additional schooling to work in my state.


There you have it. What do you think?

 

[autumnbrookblue]

I am sorry this isn't more helpful, but I don't like the sounds of either one given you have children, but I'd be more inclined to take the second one.

 

[prettypinklucy]

Remember, this is just my opinion based on the info you presented ...

The first job already sounds pretty darn negative. Do you really want to go into it with such a bad perspective?

The second offer sounds much healthier in terms of stress level and work environment.

About seeing your kids: would you have to be there every day Tues-Sat and have to work every one of those days from 10-8? Or is she willing to work out a slightly different schedule?

Now about pay: If my calculations are correct, you would be working at the chiro's office for 19 hours per week. That's $285/week before deductions.
I don't know what your 60% cut works out to be but let's say it's $36/client (60% of $60). You would only need to see 8 clients to make what you would make at the chiro's (not including any tips in this equation). I know the 8 clients are not guaranteed, but she is doing advertising and if you got out and did some of your own networking, you could be at more than 8 in no time.

So the main question you need to answer is:
What is really most important to you in your choice?
-Guaranteed pay/hours?
-Time with Kids?
-Potential to earn more money?
-Work environment?
-Type of work you want to do?

I understand they all factor in together. But when you realize what is most important, I think you will know which job is best for you.

 

[YO! Eighth Account]

I also vote for job #2... with the other massage therapist.
I would see if you can set up days or times when you will be available for her on those Tues-Sat.
Say for instance... Tuesday mornings, Wednesday all day, Thursday afternoon. Friday all day, Saturday 9-2.
If Monday is always your day off you can make plans to do stuff with your kids on that day. Also, if you have a cell phone... she may let you be "on call"... so you can get errands done and she can just call you when work comes in so you don't have to sit at the "office" 24/7.
Especially when you have kids, you have to know what hours are most likely to be booked so that you can pre-arrange child care.
But I think if the MT is reasonable you should be able to work things out with her.
I just don't think you'd be happy @ the chiro's office. I know I wouldn't be!

 

[Lucky 7]

While I was tossing and turning last night I was thinking about the hours with the other therapist some more....

She only has one room and one table right now. She told me that she sees about 18 clients a week. If there is only one table and one room then only one person could work at a time. That means that 18 hours out of the week I would not be able to work. Unless she is wanting me to take over on some of those clients.

I think I need to call her and talk to her about the hours again because its not making much sense to me. I am agreeing at this point that working with her would probably be the better of the choices though. Why even take the chance with the other if it already sounds bad going in.

 

[Drum Dude]

Ocean, I have two things to say:

1) I would not discount the first option based on hearsay. I would check it out for myself before discarding the idea. You never know- it COULD be the best move you've ever made, and any potential clients that could have been referred to you by the instructor wouldn't matter to your bottom line anyway. It could just as easily be a bad option after all- but you will be in a better position to determine that if you check it out for yourself.

2) Just because the other MT is open from 10-8 doesn't mean she would have you be there the whole time. My dh has one room, and when I go to work with him, we will be sharing that single room. If a MT's "full time work day" is 4 hours, that will leave both of us plenty of time to work a "full day" and still have time left over for family activities (I understand where you're coming from with regard to kids- we have 9).

I'm just saying that either could work out, either could be great, either could be "not great". I'd check BOTH out more thoroughly before making your decision.

 

[Sarah M]

My main objection with choice number one is that you don't have time to chart until the end of the day. How many clients will you be seeing? How will you accurately keep track of the info? What are the ramifications if you accidentally confuse to clients and write down incorrect info in their charts?

And get info from the other MT about sheet flipping.

As for choice # 2, that's more of a risk, but a better potential payoff. AND if the MT has only been in business for a year and she has 18 clients a week, I think I'll come work for her, too! I want to know what she's doing to market herself!

 

[Pompal 09.]

My main objection with choice number one is that you don't have time to chart until the end of the day. How many clients will you be seeing? How will you accurately keep track of the info? What are the ramifications if you accidentally confuse to clients and write down incorrect info in their charts?

And get info from the other MT about sheet flipping.

I talked to the other therapist that works there and she said typically you are seeing about 10-15 clients in a three hour amount of time. And she CONFIRMED the sheet flipping!!!



As for choice # 2, that's more of a risk, but a better potential payoff. AND if the MT has only been in business for a year and she has 18 clients a week, I think I'll come work for her, too! I want to know what she's doing to market herself!

I called and talked to her and she is seeing 6 just today! I agree she sure does have a turn out for such a short amount of time. But believe me if you talked to the girl you would be impressed as well and would see why.

I talked to her about the hours and we agreed that if I get the job (still have to give her a sample massage, and get my license in the mail ) I can come in all day Tue and Thur from 10-8, and from 9-3 on Sat (its actually only open during those hours). If on Tue and Thur I don't have any one scheduled I can leave early on some days.

So it sounds great. I'm pretty sure I have the job I just have to wait on the license, that's the main thing.

 

[|Chris]

Ew, ew, ew on the sheet-flipping! I get what you mean about the charting thing, too- I'm in my internship and they only give us 15 minutes between clients to change sheets, etc., so no time to chart then either. I have to do it at the end of the day, and for this newbie, it can be hard to remember *what* I noticed or did *when* and *on whom*!

OTOH, it sounds like the job with the other MT could be an excellent job for you! good luck! When do you give her the sample massage?

 

[Josef]

OTOH, it sounds like the job with the other MT could be an excellent job for you! good luck! When do you give her the sample massage?

Tuesday is when I give her the massage. Thanks for asking. I just got a letter from the licensing board though and I have to be fingerprinted over again. The FBI didn't accept my prints, even though the state did. It looks like there is going to be more of a delay then I was hoping. From talking to her though I really feel like she may wait for me. She is going to be moving over to a new building in the next couple of weeks anyway so it will take her a little time to transition. At least I hope she'll wait.... I could be completely mistaken.

 

[blueeyed girl]

Viewing these from the perspective of job experience, what would you be learning in each one? From the information you've given us, it sounds like the second option is the richer learning experience and more specific to your future goals. Don't forget to look at the long term as well as the short term, both costs and benefits, of each.

 

[R. P]

OTOH, it sounds like the job with the other MT could be an excellent job for you! good luck! When do you give her the sample massage?

Tuesday is when I give her the massage. Thanks for asking. I just got a letter from the licensing board though and I have to be fingerprinted over again. The FBI didn't accept my prints, even though the state did. It looks like there is going to be more of a delay then I was hoping. From talking to her though I really feel like she may wait for me. She is going to be moving over to a new building in the next couple of weeks anyway so it will take her a little time to transition. At least I hope she'll wait.... I could be completely mistaken.

Does your state offer provisional licenses? Why does the FBI have to be involved, I wonder? Do they get involved with EVERY state's applicants? Or is it the "background check"?

I would definitely talk to her about waiting on you, and maybe offer to help her move in the meantime! Keep your face in front of her, so to speak. How long will it be for the license to get to you? Week? Month? Somewhere in between? What can you do to stay with her in the meantime? Am I too full of questions tonight? I am excited for you!

 

[Rosanna]

Does your state offer provisional licenses? Why does the FBI have to be involved, I wonder? Do they get involved with EVERY state's applicants? Or is it the "background check"?

I would definitely talk to her about waiting on you, and maybe offer to help her move in the meantime! Keep your face in front of her, so to speak. How long will it be for the license to get to you? Week? Month? Somewhere in between? What can you do to stay with her in the meantime? Am I too full of questions tonight? I am excited for you!

Its part of the background check, everyone for IL goes through it. I have always had a problem with my prints though. When I was in Florida working in an office I had to be printed 2 different times and finally the chief of police had to sign off on it stating that they were unattainable. I'm afraid that may happen with this as well. If it fails this time, then they will just do a background check by name and social. But that drags it out even longer.

I don't know if they offer a provisional license or not. I'll check into that!!

Hopefully Tuesday she will tell me something definite. If not though I plan on sending her a card a few days after her massage thanking her, and letting her know that I am extremely excited about the possibility of working for her. And I'll keep her up to date on the licensing. I don't want to miss out on this opportunity.

I just wish I had gotten fingerprinted earlier in the process instead of now. Everyone in my class sent off their fingerprints and their fee for licensing as soon as they graduated. I was afraid that I wouldn't pass the national though, so I didn't want to chance losing out on a $175 dollars. So I waited until I passed it. In due time I suppose...in due time.

 

[davis]

Viewing these from the perspective of job experience, what would you be learning in each one? From the information you've given us, it sounds like the second option is the richer learning experience and more specific to your future goals. Don't forget to look at the long term as well as the short term, both costs and benefits, of each.

Your very right! I thought at first the knowledge that I would learn from the chiro would be more beneficial. But after hearing that you rarely see the charts, and even the chiro guesses on who she is working on most of the time, I decided that knowledge may not be available there anyway.

I don't mean to be harping on her. But I just keep hearing more and more stuff. I don't know how she is still in business.