What to Expect in Your First OT Job
What to Expect in Your First OT Job
Starting your first OT job is exciting and, if you are anything like I was, a little terrifying. You spend years learning how to be an Occupational Therapist and now someone is actually paying you to do it. However, there is always a gap between what you learn at uni and what actually happens in real life practice and it can be daunting to bring it up.
My first job was in Goulburn, about 3 hours from my home in Sydney. It was also the first time I lived away from home. I was trying to work out how to be an OT and how to be an adult in a new town, all at the same time. Looking back there are a few things I wish someone had told me.
Real Clinic Practice
When you are at university, you learn all the theory and you do your placements. However, placements are closely supervised and your first job may not be. It certainly won’t be after a few weeks. All the decisions and documentation are yours and your are responsible for it all. That is not a reason to panic, but your should be prepared for it.
You will discover that a lot of what you have to do in practice has very little to do with the treatment techniques you learned at uni. Communication, time management, navigating organisational system and building relationships with clients and families are job skills that will make a huge difference in your first year. A lot of these skills will be learned on the job.
Choosing Your First Setting
New graduates can enter almost any area of OT practice. Here are the most common starting points (and please note some of these areas are overlapping):
Community Based Roles in Disability and Rehabilitation are probably the largest source of new graduate roles in Australia right now. In these areas you will generally have a varied caseload, a lot of independence and you will spend a significant amount of time in clients’ homes. Good supervision is important in this setting, so be sure to ask about it before you accept a role.
Paediatric Roles in private practice or early intervention are popular with new grads and the demand for paediatric OTs in Australia is strong.
Hospital Roles offer excellent clinical experience and usually strong supervision. They can be competitive to get as a new grad but worth pursuing if you want a solid clinical foundation.
Aged Care Roles give you broad clinical experience and are often more accessible to new graduates. The pace can be demanding but it is a good place to develop skills.
What Employers Are Actually Looking For
When I was hiring new graduates for my practice, clinical skills mattered, of course, but they were not the only thing I was looking for. I wanted to know if someone could communicate clearly, whether they could manage their time, and whether they could ask for help when they needed it.
Curiosity matters too. The new grads who developed fastest were the ones who asked questions, sought out professional development and took an interest in the broader profession, not just their own caseload.
The First Few Months
Give yourself permission to find the first few months hard. You are not alone; most new graduates do. It is completely normal to find the learning curve quite steep. My advice is to try to find a supervisor or mentor who can talk to you honestly, and to connect with your peers who are at the same stage. The Occupational Therapy community in Australia is not that large and relationships that you build early are likely to last.
If you are looking for your first role, or thinking about what comes next, OT Jobs Australia (otjobsaustralia.com.au) lists roles across all settings and locations. It is focused on OT jobs so you can search for exactly what you want without wading through unrelated jobs. You can also set up a job alert so new roles matching your preferences come straight to your inbox!
Head over to the Graduate OT Jobs page to see what is currently available.
