Changing Your Locale to Get a Job
As the manager of respiratory care and ancillary health techs at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, CO, Scott Reistad, BA, RRT, lives and works in one of the most desirable areas of the country. Particularly for those who enjoy the great outdoors.
Snow skiing, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and more are available within a stone’s throw of his hospital, and that means lots and lots and lots of people want to work there. But as in other areas of the country where RT graduates outnumber jobs, not everyone can.
You Gotta Go
“The best way for students to get a job is to be a simply amazing student at the clinical site,” advises the AARC member. That means being enthusiastic, proactive, inquisitive, a good listener, friendly, and asking to do and see new things.
But with more than 100 students doing clinicals in his hospital over a year’s time, Reistad admits even performing at that high level isn’t going to guarantee a new grad a job in his area. And despite the fact that few, if any, want to leave the mountain paradise that is Colorado, he says that’s what many of them are going to have to do.
“I speak with all of the students who come to clinical and ask them this: One, does your partner have their ideal job so that they are unable to move? Two, are you caring for a loved one as the primary caregiver? Three, do you have property that you must be the overseer of? If you say ‘no’ to these three questions, then you MUST leave the Denver area and get a job in RT elsewhere.”
More Rewarding Work
Of course, some new grads will scoff at that advice and decide to bide their time. But working at Starbucks® while you wait for a job to open up, continues Reistad, is not a good alternative. In fact, he says he will usually be suspicious of any applicant who has been out of school for even six to nine months without being employed as an RT because people who don’t put their skills into operation often lose those skills fairly quickly.
“Just because you don’t want to go to a rural hospital in a part of the country that you don’t want to be in, doesn’t mean that you should not actually go there,” says Reistad. In many cases, people who do bite the bullet and pull up stakes are actually glad they did because the work ends up being more rewarding than that which they would have had if they had joined the staff at a big hospital.
“Sometimes, these small hospitals allow you much greater opportunities to intubate, actually run Code Blues, insert A-lines, transport via ambulance, draw/run ABGs, do PFTs, EKGs, stress testing, etc., etc.,” continues the manager. “At times, large institutions have so many specialized folks that your scope is actually narrowed.”
Getting that kind of experience as a new therapist can pay off in the long run too, by making it easier to return to your desired location in the future. “I tell students that going to a seemingly less desirable location or hospital to gain experience will actually allow them the opportunity to move to, or back to, their desired location, as their experience will give them an advantage over applicants who do not have that kind of experience,” says Reistad.
Moving Multiplies Future Options
So while you may not want to move from the great location you’re in now to get your first job in the profession, do it anyway. “Step out of your comfort zone and get a job in a part of the country that is experiencing a shortage of RTs,” says the manager. “Get the experience that you need and then you will have more options in the future.”
