NOVA new grad salary.

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rlw237

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Hello everyone!

I just finished up my schooling and graduation is on Dec 16. That means I'm applying for jobs and studying for boards. I had 2 offers in pittsburgh, pa for 54.5 and 60k both outpatient ortho clinics. I also applied for a job in northern Virginia and was offered 65k. I feel the Pittsburgh salary is where it should be, but the Nova salary was lower that I expected and researched.

Does anyone know what new grads make around the Gainesville, centre ville, haymarket area? Also, I checked the salary websites and they range from 75-85 in these areas.

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I am surprised at the offers from the Pittsburgh area. Since Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas are more inner city type atmospheres with a high patient volume, I would expect that the salaries would have been higher...

I have also checked other websites for salaries and many state that the middle 50 percent averages range between 70-80k, but I'm not sure if these averages take into account prior work experiences/ fresh out of PT school grads.
 
OP - I assume you have taken a look at:
http://dptfinances.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/hello-world/
It's not "granular" enough to give you the info for a specific metro area, but at least you can get a feel for starting salaries.

I used to live in the Northern Va area, and still go back often to see family and friends. If you do take a job there, make sure you find a place to stay near work, or on a public transportation route. Traffic is absolutely horrible, and I think the area was ranked 2nd to LA for traffic congestion.
 
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I used to work up in NoVA. I was forced to keep moving west to afford it. I ended up in Ashburn and Leesburg. the problem is, the main chains just look at NoVA being rural so they do not account for the extreme cost of living. therefore, they drag down the salaries for everyone else. There are a bunch of POPTs also that drag down salary. I would say 65-70 would be max earning at most PT outpatient up there. nice area, good schools, horrendous traffic, but you will live like you are poor.
 
After some negotiation I was able to get 70k 1st year and 75 k after my 1st year is complete. I'm happy with this. My fiances family lives in Gainesville so it was our goal to move down.
 
Just a bit of perspective, in Denver, CO I was offered 48k as a new grad. CO is saturated with PTs so potential employers offer less in exchange for location.

I know it's different everywhere. Good job on negotiating.
 
After some negotiation I was able to get 70k 1st year and 75 k after my 1st year is complete. I'm happy with this. My fiances family lives in Gainesville so it was our goal to move down.

Would you mind sharing with us some details on how you negotiated this? It could be really helpful for those of us who plan to negotiate salary when we graduate from PT school. Thanks.
 
Sure. I was always taught when it comes to salary negotiation.. Never show your cards first! The main thing with negotiation is how are you going to make the company more money? Seeing patients? No! seeing patients on weekends, after work hours, during aquatic therapy, at local events, wellness programs and so on will make them money. What kinda certs are they looking for? Are you willing to get aquati therapy cert, women's health, lymphadema (just examples). They are hiring for a reason, find out what it is and use that to your advantage.

when the employer asked what I had in mind, I stated. "after performing my own research I feel the information That I gathered may be unrealistic as a new grad, therefore I evaluated my financial situation and determined how much I need to pay all my bills and be able to save for a house for my fiancé and I". My next statement was. Do you agree the cost of living is higher in Virginia than in Pittsburgh. They agreed and we started on a tangent about the Virginia housing market. I tried redirecting the question 2 more times, but she was good haha she brought me back to what salary was I thinking. I reciprocated with "what salary range do you have in mind for a new grad, and I will tell you were I feel I fall". 90% of the time you get them to show their cards with this question. So if they say 62-68k, your shooting for 66-68k and you need to tell them what you will do TO Make THem Money!! Im the best at treating patients is not worth the 68k you want.

However, she was good. Her answer "we decided on a range, but would like to hear yours first". So I said I have two offers for 62-65 currently. And she said no problem we can match that. I never said my number, I just said I have two offers for x amount. They sent me a proposal for 65 1st year and 70 2nd with a 2k relocation bonus. So I counter offered with 70 first year, 75k second and restated my reasons why I am worth the extra salary. (I can work nights, weekends, and want to gain two certs ASAP. Also, my cscs and year or personal training was very beneficial in negotiating.

Hope this helps. I rambled, I apologize for that haha.
 
Well done, rlw237!

I said I have two offers for 62-65 currently. And she said no problem we can match that.

For folks who will negotiate their pay: If you hear the other person say "we can match that", you know that they DO have room to go up. For that reason, if you have offers in hand already, I'd recommend overstating them a bit. For ex., if you have offers for 62-65, say that you have offers for 65-68 (or some higher range). Worst case, you can always fall back on the original offer.

- If the other person replies "we can match that", then you know they can afford you, and you can probably get even more if you negotiate courteously like rlw237 has done.

- If the other person says "we can't go higher than that" then most likely you are at the top of their range. Now you can either accept what they offer, or try to negotiate some side benefits such as employer-paid tuition reimbursement, relocation costs, extra vacation, etc. However, be careful not to come across as a money-grubber. Money is important, but there are intangibles to be considered too such as your work environment, the commute time, your colleagues, etc.

Two things you should absolutely do before negotiating:
1. Research the salary for the position, for the specific area you'll be working in; your university probably does a salary survey of recent grads of its DPT program. Take other published salary surveys with a grain of salt.
2. Practice, practice, practice the negotiation. Get a classmate to role-play and take turns being the interviewer and interviewee. Ask him/her to throw out objections to your reasons for asking for a higher salary, and think of a way to handle those objections. And -I can't emphasize this enough- always be courteous and professional when you negotiate.
 
rlw237 and jblil, Thank you so much for the negotiation details and advice. This is really helpful and valuable to a lot of us!
 
Not a problem!! Also, I don't know how true this is, but to me it make sense. I was told by a financial advisor that your first salary is the most important salary of your professional career. The reason. If you take a job at 50k to start, with a 3% raise every year your 5 yer salary will be 56k, ten years will be 63k. Assuming you follow the 3% raise, anything higher will be a higher bump along with a promotion. Therefore, if you start at 60k at 3% raise a year, you will make 71k, 84k after 10 years. So by deciding, negotiating and knowing your worth to the company you could potentially make 100k more in ten years by taking a 60k vs 50k job after extrapolating out. Obviously, this is a simplistic example, Does not factor in anything but salary and base raise of 3%. However, outside factors could significantly make you more money over time with a higher starting salary.
 
Correction: it will be greater than 100k, because 5Okx10=500k, 60kx10=600k so 100kdifference. With the 3% raise each year you can add another 50k + to the 100k. Therefore, some of our student loans will be paid off in 10 years from being a good negotiator and not a settler.
 
I was told by a financial advisor that your first salary is the most important salary of your professional career. The reason. If you take a job at 50k to start, with a 3% raise every year your 5 yer salary will be 56k, ten years will be 63k.

True up to a point. Since raises are typically a percentage of your base salary, the higher a base you start with, the quicker your salary ramps up. However, don't count on 3% raises every year. Some years it may be more, some years it may be less. Lately stagnant salaries have been the norm in a lot of fields, and I have also seen pay cuts, esp. during the 2001-2004 bust (when the dot-com bubble collapsed) and in the past few years as we're trying to fight our way out of the recession.

Typically you won't have a lot of leverage in negotiating your first job offer, unless you have prior experience. But after a couple of years you become more desirable to employers as you have developed more skills and expertise. That is your opportunity to make more money, by switching companies. If you stay at one place for a long time, you'll certainly fall victim to "salary compression" (Google it).
 
rlw237, you went to NOVA in Florida? How did you like it? Would you recommend their program?
 
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