MightyRecruiterThe patients that come into your facility will be interacting a lot with your physical therapists, so you want to make sure everyone you hire is highly qualified for the job. In order to get the best working for you, a well-written, detailed job description is mandatory. You want everyone applying for the job to understand what is going to be expected of them and what skills they should already be coming in with. It can save you a lot of hassle to spend a fair amount of time writing your job description so that you do not end up with an unwise hire. The physical therapist sample job description below is a good example of the kind of material you need to include, so keep reading to learn more about this essential step in the hiring process.
Physical Therapist Job Summary
You will be responsible for alleviating pain and restoring function to patients’ mobility. You will be providing one-on-one care with patients and set goals for everyone to meet. You will also need to educate patients about any exercises they need to perform on their own time.
Physical Therapist Job Responsibilities and Duties
- Provide quality care to patients by determining what their needs are, setting goals and evaluating progress to see if any changes need to be made
- Administer various physical therapy treatments, which include applying physical agents, initiating traction and providing massages
- Evaluate the effectiveness of certain treatments and recommend changes when needed
- Instruct patients on how to perform certain exercises so that they can continue to perform them on their own time
- Following the discharge of patients, follow up with them to see how they are doing and if they could benefit from more sessions
- Maintain patient confidentiality
- Ensure all equipment remains fully functional at all times and schedule repairs if they become necessary
- Maintain a clean, safe working environment by ensuring the facility remains in compliance with state and local standards
- Update your knowledge of physical therapy regularly by attending workshops
Physical Therapist Skills and Qualifications
- Certified to work in physical therapy
- Able to travel to patients’ homes in case they cannot come to our office, reliable transportation is a must
- Comprehensive knowledge of physiology and health
- Able to maintain a clean work environment
- Able to work with others
- Friendly, personable demeanor
- High energy level
- One year of physical therapy experience desired but not mandatory
Company Profile
The Massey Care Facility has been helping people throughout Phoenix, AZ since 1989, and we have earned a stellar reputation within the city for providing patients with top-of-the-line care. Our physical therapists are known for being more than just therapists for patients. They are also friends, so if you being part of a team that operates more like a family than a business appeals to you, then send in your application today.
Writing a Job Description Best Practices
- There are some general rules you should follow any time you are writing a job description whether it is for a physical therapist position or something else entirely. Make sure you follow these rules so that your description can be absolutely perfect.
- Do include as much descriptive information as you can about the job. That includes mentioning whether it is full-time or part-time, what the hours would be like and what benefits come with the job.
- Do include contact information within your description. That means giving the email address you want people to send resumes to or what your business’s address is if you want people to drop off their resumes in person.
- Do organize your skills list from most important to least important. If you take another look at the skills list in the physical therapist sample job description, the most important qualifications are listed first. As the list moves down, traits that would be nice to see but are not ultimately essential are brought up.
- Do not write a job description that is excessively long. Too much information could overwhelm a job seeker. A good rule of thumb to follow is to ensure your description is no longer than 700 words.
- Do proofread or have someone else proofread your job description before making it public. Too many typos could make job hunters think you did not care about the listing.
With this sample and these rules in your back pocket, you are in a great position to write an outstanding physical therapist job description.
Physical Therapist Job Responsibilities
The part of the physical therapist job description where you list out all essential responsibilities is where you really draw in candidates. In this section, jobseekers can envision themselves working for your company. This is a great first step for making sure qualified candidates actually end up sending in their resumes. It is also good because unqualified jobseekers can see if they are capable of handling the responsibilities. You encourage the right people and discourage the wrong people to apply with the job responsibilities section.
As you are trying to think of physical therapist job responsibilities, you want to think about what the person will do practically every day. You would not want a new hire to go into the first day expecting one thing only to discover the job is a lot different than anticipated. If the therapist only needs to do a task once a month, then it is acceptable to leave it off. Focus on the most important aspects of the position in your physical therapist job description.
To help you begin listing your own responsibilities, here are a few examples that are common for physical therapists:
- Plan physical treatment programs for patients to help alleviate discomfort or restore physical abilities
- Record progress and evaluate patient’s condition at regular checkpoints
- Determine when a patient is healthy enough for discharge from a program
- Inform patients of what activities they need to conduct at home
Physical Therapist Job Specifications
After reading your physical therapist job description, a jobseeker should know beyond a shadow of a doubt whether he or she meets the basic requirements. You should write a list on the description containing relevant skills, talents and personality traits that a successful candidate would possess.
There are a few ways to go about writing the job qualification and skills section. First, you should think about what skills are essential to have. These are the traits that are absolutely mandatory for someone to be successful. Then you need to figure out what skills are beneficial but not ultimately essential. You should feel free to include these superfluous traits, but make sure to categorize them on the physical therapist job description as “preferred” rather than “required.”
If you cannot come up with any physical therapist job specifications on your own, then talk to other people at the company. They can help you come up with ideas. Current physical therapists can tell you what qualifications were the most useful in getting started in this industry. You do yourself a great favor when you ask for others’ input. Here are some common physical therapist qualifications to get your mind on the right track:
- Doctorate degree in medicine or a related field
- Certification in physical therapy
- Three years of experience working in an outpatient rehab facility
- Ability to troubleshoot medical equipment
- Able to meet deadlines
