One Day, One Job » physical therapy

Athletes’ Performance

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:50:25 +0000

One essential part of the job search that is rarely mentioned is working out. You won’t often read about it career advice books or have your college’s career counselor advise you to get a gym membership, but I think that it’s extremely important. The self-discipline required to stay in good shape is the same that is required to land a job. Beyond that, the gym provides a good break from job searching and can even be a decent place to do some networking. But what if you’re a professional athlete? Going to the gym has a completely different meaning in relation to your job search—it’s absolutely essential. The problem is that most gyms don’t cater to athletes. They cater to people who are trying to lose a few pounds, socialize, or watch tv while “working out.” Athletes’ Performance is a different kind of gym. They aim “to provide the finest methods, specialists and facilities seamlessly integrated to efficiently and ethically enhance [their] athletes’ performance.”

How Will You Perform?

Athletes’ Performance has taken a scientific approach to training that is built on three core principles: improving performance, decreasing injury potential, and motivating through education. They currently have locations in Phoenix, AZ; Gulf Breeze, FL; and Carson, CA with an extremely ambitious plan to “roll out 125 sites over the next five years in 25 key metropolitan areas.” Obviously that kind of growth can’t happen while only catering to pro athletes, but I’ll bet there are plenty of non-professionals who would pay a significant premium to work out and train like they’re pros. Niche gyms are a growing market, and Athletes’ Performance seems to be well positioned to take advantage of the fact that not everyone is happy with an elliptical machine and some free weights. If you’re intrigued, you should check out jobs at Athletes’ Performance. Most of their “entry level” openings are located in Frisco, TX for what must be a new location. These positions include Performance Consultant (Sales), Performance Nutritionist, Performance Physical Therapist, and Performance Specialist. You can apply online for these jobs, but you better have a background in sports.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you train at a gym like Athletes’ Performance?

Easter Seals

Willy Franzen — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:00:32 +0000

We’re going to keep it short today, because we have an Easter Egg Hunt to attend to. As we search for the golden egg, you can go hunting for that perfect entry-level job. One place to look is an obvious choice for today, Easter Seals, which is a non-profit organization that “provides exceptional services to ensure that people living with autism and other disabilities have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play.” Started as the National Society for Crippled Children, Easter Seals is an organization that has adapted to the changing needs of people with disabilities over time. The one constant has been a focus on resurrection and new life for the people whom Easter Seals helps.

Easter Seals offers jobs in five categories: Camping and Recreation, Professional, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech-Language Pathology. Each category has job listings from local Easter Seals offices, and many of these jobs are entry-level and geared towards new grads. Not all jobs with Easter Seals are listed online, so you may want to check with your local office to find more opportunities.

We’ll be back with full-length posts tomorrow. We hope you’re excited for more in-depth information on the best entry-level jobs for new college grads.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Still looking for that “golden egg” of a job, check out our archive of entry-level jobs.

RehabCare

Willy Franzen — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:00:19 +0000

The Sunday after Thanksgiving of my Junior year in college, I made the 4 hour drive back to school to face the onslaught of papers, group projects, and exams that professors love to assign at the end of the semester. I wasn’t back at my house more than 10 minutes when my roommates called me outside to watch as they turned on the Christmas lights they had put up while I was gone. As they turned on the lights, I took a step back to take in the beautiful icicles and animatronic reindeer that adorned our roof. My foot slipped, my body slid down the usually grassy, but on this night muddy, slope that sat between the sidewalk and the street, and my hand came down on the sidewalk like a sack of rocks.

My roommates laughed their asses off, and I finished unpacking. Later that night I couldn’t fall asleep because of the pain. I could barely move my right arm. At 4:45 AM I drove myself, one-armed, to the hospital. They took x-rays and told me that my scaphoid bone in my wrist was broken (they didn’t put me in a cast because medical care in Ithaca, NY is a joke, but that’s another story). My GPA during that semester was my worst in college. Since I’m right-handed, I couldn’t type, write, or even cut food with a knife. I relied on my group members to finish our projects, I needed extensions on my papers, and I had to request a laptop for my exams (because typing was possible after a couple of weeks). Because of the physical limitations that I had, I mentally checked out for the rest of the semester. I just didn’t know how else to deal with not being able to do anything that I wanted or needed to do.

I didn’t need physical therapy, but I realized how even an injury like a tiny little broken bone in the wrist from a really stupid fall can completely alter your life, if only temporarily. For some people an injury or disability can mean the difference between paying rent and being homeless. RehabCare, as a leading provider of physical rehabilitation program management services, helps people recover more quickly. They currently have employees in over 1,250 hospitals, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities throughout the United States. RehabCare also owns and operates freestanding rehabilitation and long-term acute care hospitals.

So, if you’re about to graduate and are looking for a career as a Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, or Speech Language Pathologist, take a look at RehabCare. They have jobs all across the US, and they’re really recruiting college students hard. In fact, we look at corporate Careers pages all day long, but RehabCare’s Careers page stands out from the rest. We think the way a company communicates online about their job opportunities tells a lot about how they value talent. If we’re right about that RehabCare must be an excellent place to work.

While some companies have entry-level hiring programs, it appears that RehabCare’s approach is a little different. They have a tuition reimbursement program called Opportunity U that compensates you for putting your education to use at RehabCare after graduation. RehabCare’s site does allow you to search for jobs, but we think for someone at the entry-level that’s a waste of time. They want to talk to you before you apply! Many companies can’t even take the time to notify you that they’ve received your resume, but RehabCare will arrange for one of their recruiters to personally contact you to talk about your aspirations. You can also contact their recruiters directly if you have the urge to be a little more proactive.

If you’re not quite ready to talk to a recruiter yet, you can take a look at RehabCare’s blog for college students. You can read about therapy success stories, how they’re using text messaging to reach college students, or the Nintendo Wii as a therapy tool (we had to mention that since we just gave away a Wii). While you’re on their blog, take a look at their campus recruiting schedule to see if they’ll be visiting your college.

We almost looked past RehabCare because their corporate site looks a little outdated at first glance. Luckily we kept digging and found that they are a groundbreaking company when it comes to online employment branding. With so much effort going into doing the recruiting process right, we think anyone interested in rehabilitation should look to RehabCare for great entry-level job opportunities.

Note: On April 22nd we revisited entry-level jobs at RehabCare.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you have a stupid college injury? Tell us the story in the comments section.