What's more important: higher pay or reasonable hours?
Given that many of us have a crazy amount of loan debt, I'm curious where the scale tips. Certainly everyone is different, but what's the spread? I have a relatively low cost of living in Atlanta. I would be happy to work fewer hours for proportionally less money. But other people may be trying to eliminate their debt more quickly or may be placing a higher premium on having more time later in their careers. What's the ideal take home for an NP after paying bills and loans each month? 1k, 2k, 5k (in my dreams)... Okay, okay, too many questions. I would love to get some discussion going though!
Cheers, ben
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Dealing with Different
Some times you get the best case scenario and some times you get reality. Right now I have reality. But for a brief moment things were looking well above my expectations.
Within the last week I was offered a job at a higher salary than I expected, with the expectation that I mentor new professionals, and with a choice of which team to be on. And, not incidentally, I thought I stood a real chance of being the next President of the Physical Therapy Association of Georgia (and therefore the youngest component president in APTA history). And then there was reality...
I won't say my opportunities have disappeared but the framing has changed...
My follow up questions to the job offer (sign on bonus for starting early, more time off for professional endeavors, rate of time off accrual, etc.) all came back with negative answers. Then I met with my mentor, the one that at CSM suggested enthusiastically that I run for president. He was less than enthusiastic. He was equivocal. And perhaps he was so for good reason, but, Dah!
My confidence in my ability to win the election has faltered. My desire to try anyway has not.
Life and my plans for the next few years seem less rosy. Admittedly, some of that is just the letting of wind out of my sails. This situation makes me wonder how close other NPs have come to making big career changing decisions and then either gone for it, consequences be damned, or backed off and acquiesced quietly.
I think it's time for a change and I'm not prone to run for challenges. It would just be nice to feel that a) a company is willing to bend rules to bring me on board, and b) that I had a strong advocate in my corner for running for a milestone position for an NP to achieve.
More on that come. And certainly, a blog on my nonexistent negotiation skills will follow.
Cheers,
Ben
Within the last week I was offered a job at a higher salary than I expected, with the expectation that I mentor new professionals, and with a choice of which team to be on. And, not incidentally, I thought I stood a real chance of being the next President of the Physical Therapy Association of Georgia (and therefore the youngest component president in APTA history). And then there was reality...
I won't say my opportunities have disappeared but the framing has changed...
My follow up questions to the job offer (sign on bonus for starting early, more time off for professional endeavors, rate of time off accrual, etc.) all came back with negative answers. Then I met with my mentor, the one that at CSM suggested enthusiastically that I run for president. He was less than enthusiastic. He was equivocal. And perhaps he was so for good reason, but, Dah!
My confidence in my ability to win the election has faltered. My desire to try anyway has not.
Life and my plans for the next few years seem less rosy. Admittedly, some of that is just the letting of wind out of my sails. This situation makes me wonder how close other NPs have come to making big career changing decisions and then either gone for it, consequences be damned, or backed off and acquiesced quietly.
I think it's time for a change and I'm not prone to run for challenges. It would just be nice to feel that a) a company is willing to bend rules to bring me on board, and b) that I had a strong advocate in my corner for running for a milestone position for an NP to achieve.
More on that come. And certainly, a blog on my nonexistent negotiation skills will follow.
Cheers,
Ben
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
How quickly things can change
Since returning from Belize, things have happened rapidly! To get to the crux of it, I have interviewed for a job and been offered a position. I am now having the "should I stay or should I go" theme play out with a very real set of consequences. I could leave my "comfy" 40 hour a week job which is... not 100% fulfilling. Or, I could take a salaried job that involves many more hours but also much more stimulation. (And they have better toys.) The initial offer was better than I expected salary-wise but there is little promise of adequate professional time for leadership activities outside of the facility... Salary is not my motivator. Time is.
So I asked a series of questions, and it's a good thing I did. Essentially every question I asked came back with a negative response. Literally, I had a written out best-case-scenario and not a single condition was met. That being said, the opportunity is so good that I'm not eager to jeopardize it with my shoddy negotiation skills. Although a blog on how not to negotiate could be highly entertaining, for everyone but me. ... ... nah, not worth it.
More to come on the negotiations and why I might need more professional time tomorrow night!
Cheers,
Ben
So I asked a series of questions, and it's a good thing I did. Essentially every question I asked came back with a negative response. Literally, I had a written out best-case-scenario and not a single condition was met. That being said, the opportunity is so good that I'm not eager to jeopardize it with my shoddy negotiation skills. Although a blog on how not to negotiate could be highly entertaining, for everyone but me. ... ... nah, not worth it.
More to come on the negotiations and why I might need more professional time tomorrow night!
Cheers,
Ben
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The cure for all New Professional ills... Belize
Hello all,
As the title would suggest, the blog has hit a lull because I have been taking some much needed R&R, three nights to be specific. It would have been longer, if only NPs accumulated PTO a little faster or did not have to use it quickly on things like conferences, job interviews, and hangovers...
Joking aside, I do not want to turn this into a travel blog. That is what my nonproductive blog is for. But I will say that meeting people with incredibly different lifestyles, cultures, and perspectives can do wonders for your resolve and productivity. It turns out to be a funny contrast between making me want to run from responsibility (most notably to tropical destinations) and reminding me how passionate I am about my reasons for putting my nose to the grindstone. I cannot say that the appeal of 6 months or a year of travel did not hit me hard, but I really do see the importance of working for change within our profession and culture more clearly.
So if you want to read some travel ramblings, read from the link above. And if you're waiting for the next NP blog, keep waiting. It should happen soon and be about a concept on the horizon within the House of Delegate to promote NP involvement in APTA leadership on a non-voting level... I hope enumerate the reasons I believe this to be a horrible idea.
Cheers, or perhaps Kampai, Ben
As the title would suggest, the blog has hit a lull because I have been taking some much needed R&R, three nights to be specific. It would have been longer, if only NPs accumulated PTO a little faster or did not have to use it quickly on things like conferences, job interviews, and hangovers...
Joking aside, I do not want to turn this into a travel blog. That is what my nonproductive blog is for. But I will say that meeting people with incredibly different lifestyles, cultures, and perspectives can do wonders for your resolve and productivity. It turns out to be a funny contrast between making me want to run from responsibility (most notably to tropical destinations) and reminding me how passionate I am about my reasons for putting my nose to the grindstone. I cannot say that the appeal of 6 months or a year of travel did not hit me hard, but I really do see the importance of working for change within our profession and culture more clearly.
So if you want to read some travel ramblings, read from the link above. And if you're waiting for the next NP blog, keep waiting. It should happen soon and be about a concept on the horizon within the House of Delegate to promote NP involvement in APTA leadership on a non-voting level... I hope enumerate the reasons I believe this to be a horrible idea.
Cheers, or perhaps Kampai, Ben
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A challenging situation and a dangerous subject matter
I imagine some of the other NPs out there have more experience on this one than I do. I've been with the same employer for going on 4 years, ever since I graduated. So now I'm weighing my options and considering moving to a different company. How on earth do you discretely have conversations with your potential "next" employer when you're at work 8:30-5? I have a 30 minute lunch break, a student, and about zero privacy. Don't get me started on my utter lack of paid time off, in the event I actually make it to the interview stage. Does one call in sick? Schedule a day off without explanation? Lie? I have a knee-jerk, honesty response which could get me in trouble soon. Not to mention there are all sorts of inadvisable things about writing this type of blog in the first place.
I see the risks of putting this information out on the interwebs. I'm banking on the benefits outweighing those risks. But in fact, I'm happy to report it's getting a bit more treacherous! The Move It Blog is up to 75 visitors and counting. It's even getting some attention from APTA staff, and no, not just my ex-roommate ;o)
My philosophy is that we are in an age where there is no sense in not having a commonality of resources and shared experiences. I love being a PT, especially a neuro-PT! I take the opportunities before me for advancing my clinical expertise and trying to foster leadership cred, but that isn't always enough. As New Professionals, we have unique stressors. I would like to think that this blog will eventually give voice (and not just my own) to remedies for, or at least ways to handle, that kind of stress.
Something that would help me would be a periodically updated list of PT negotiation skills and advice for job hunting in a depressed economy. Any know any? ... Bueller?
Back to the resumé ~ ben
I see the risks of putting this information out on the interwebs. I'm banking on the benefits outweighing those risks. But in fact, I'm happy to report it's getting a bit more treacherous! The Move It Blog is up to 75 visitors and counting. It's even getting some attention from APTA staff, and no, not just my ex-roommate ;o)
My philosophy is that we are in an age where there is no sense in not having a commonality of resources and shared experiences. I love being a PT, especially a neuro-PT! I take the opportunities before me for advancing my clinical expertise and trying to foster leadership cred, but that isn't always enough. As New Professionals, we have unique stressors. I would like to think that this blog will eventually give voice (and not just my own) to remedies for, or at least ways to handle, that kind of stress.
Something that would help me would be a periodically updated list of PT negotiation skills and advice for job hunting in a depressed economy. Any know any? ... Bueller?
Back to the resumé ~ ben
Thursday, March 4, 2010
A Blog on Beginnings
So, I believe a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage of being an NP is the concept of a fresh start. Perhaps it's a byproduct of being a "not burnt out" PT. We are in a field with huge opportunities. The strength of our position is that each new thought, each emerging initiative is an invitation to recreate our careers. For me, PT nerd that I am, that's an exciting idea. I think I may be coming to the realization, though, that that ability to change paths might also be a contributor to physical therapy burn out.
We have these opportunities, we're exposed to these new ideas and we either incorporate some parts, ignore it all, or, potentially, change everything... So on some level, our choices become a) become insular, b) become flippant, or c) add something to an ever-shrinking plate. oy!~
So because this blog, admittedly, has become self-centered, what are my beginnings? What is out there to to be ignored, incorporated, or added? Clearly, the supervisor position I've talked about in the past is not working out. (Hurray! for a door closed :o) To begin or not begin: Last night I hosted/moderated a panel discussion on 'what's wrong with rehab..." The title was obviously a bit different but the objective was clear: Talk about the problems-> discuss what should be done. The panelists, all at once stimulating, challenging, and intimidating, spoke clearly on 3 themes:
Theme 1) The way we validate what we do, does not validate what we do.
Theme 2) The lack of validation, however unintentional, is jeopardizing everything we stand for, e.g. improvements in health, clinical consistency, and, well, beneficence (the idea we are good--in fact better--than substitutes).
Theme 3) Advocacy is our shot at redemption. And I chose the word redemption carefully. We went wrong. As a profession, yes, but within a flawed industry, emphatically yes, we went wrong. To not protest is to consent by acquiescence. The fight was never downhill, or really even level, but the longer the status quo holds, the steeper our path to correcting the wrongs.
The beginning I now face, once again, is the question of how to address a demonstrated need for change. I would like to build a resource center for patients and professionals who are not satisfied with the status quo. I want to empower people to identify the flaws, articulate the arguments, and champion the cause of process improvement in health care/rehabilitation. How do we tackle the huge problems as New Professionals? I know it's wrong to wait on others to take action! It's just so hard to take a breath and make the leap when we have soooooo many possible roads to travel.
I would like to end with a fantastic quote from Mark Twain that I worked into the panel: "All large political doctrines are rich in difficult problems -- problems that are quite above the average citizen's reach. And that is not strange, since they are also above the reach of the ablest minds in the country; after all the fuss and all the talk, not one of those doctrines has been conclusively proven to be the right one and the best."
word. Ben
We have these opportunities, we're exposed to these new ideas and we either incorporate some parts, ignore it all, or, potentially, change everything... So on some level, our choices become a) become insular, b) become flippant, or c) add something to an ever-shrinking plate. oy!~
So because this blog, admittedly, has become self-centered, what are my beginnings? What is out there to to be ignored, incorporated, or added? Clearly, the supervisor position I've talked about in the past is not working out. (Hurray! for a door closed :o) To begin or not begin: Last night I hosted/moderated a panel discussion on 'what's wrong with rehab..." The title was obviously a bit different but the objective was clear: Talk about the problems-> discuss what should be done. The panelists, all at once stimulating, challenging, and intimidating, spoke clearly on 3 themes:
Theme 1) The way we validate what we do, does not validate what we do.
Theme 2) The lack of validation, however unintentional, is jeopardizing everything we stand for, e.g. improvements in health, clinical consistency, and, well, beneficence (the idea we are good--in fact better--than substitutes).
Theme 3) Advocacy is our shot at redemption. And I chose the word redemption carefully. We went wrong. As a profession, yes, but within a flawed industry, emphatically yes, we went wrong. To not protest is to consent by acquiescence. The fight was never downhill, or really even level, but the longer the status quo holds, the steeper our path to correcting the wrongs.
The beginning I now face, once again, is the question of how to address a demonstrated need for change. I would like to build a resource center for patients and professionals who are not satisfied with the status quo. I want to empower people to identify the flaws, articulate the arguments, and champion the cause of process improvement in health care/rehabilitation. How do we tackle the huge problems as New Professionals? I know it's wrong to wait on others to take action! It's just so hard to take a breath and make the leap when we have soooooo many possible roads to travel.
I would like to end with a fantastic quote from Mark Twain that I worked into the panel: "All large political doctrines are rich in difficult problems -- problems that are quite above the average citizen's reach. And that is not strange, since they are also above the reach of the ablest minds in the country; after all the fuss and all the talk, not one of those doctrines has been conclusively proven to be the right one and the best."
word. Ben
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Catching up on catching up
I would be remiss to let a full week go by after CSM without a follow up blog! The event itself was a whirlwind with lots of learning, networking, and a great deal of fun. True to NP form, we rush to prep for it, we cram in as much as humanly possible, and then we drag ourselves through the following week. Basically, in spite of that pesky fatigue business, it's as fast-paced, stimulating, and PT-geeky as a week can be. I had a blast. The following 5 work days, though, oye! Stress almost seems more intense until the next 'real' break. I needed to catch up on sleep and read a distracting book just to reset my brain. I'm afraid I don't have much else to contribute tonight. I am prepping for a panel discussion taking place on Wednesday. More on that after the event, "Is Our Dynamically Changing Health Care Environment Jeopardizing Successful Rehabilitation Outcomes?". Yours truly will be serving as moderator. Good times...
Cheers,
Ben
Cheers,
Ben
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