Certified massage therapists provide their client's massage treatment for muscle relief, joint pain, and other health problems. They help them relax, relieve stress, and improve circulation for pain-free movement and an overall healthier body.
You have the opportunity to work in a massage parlor, a health care facility, or as an independent freelancer visiting your clients in their homes. Working together with physicians and physiotherapists is also common. You will consult your clients to understand their conditions to the fullest, explain the treatment you provide and answer any questions they might have.
You will need to know and use techniques that are both safe for you and your clients. You will have to be friendly and customer-oriented, tending to your clients' needs in a professional manner while keeping your equipment and area clean and safe to use.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a certified massage therapist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.06 an hour? That's $52,134 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 22% and produce 35,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many certified massage therapists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, empathy and integrity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a certified massage therapist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 63.8% of certified massage therapists included customer service, while 9.7% of resumes included massage therapy, and 5.7% of resumes included individual needs. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming a certified massage therapist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 18.8% of certified massage therapists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.0% of certified massage therapists have master's degrees. Even though some certified massage therapists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a certified massage therapist. When we researched the most common majors for a certified massage therapist, we found that they most commonly earn associate degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on certified massage therapist resumes include diploma degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a certified massage therapist. In fact, many certified massage therapist jobs require experience in a role such as massage therapist. Meanwhile, many certified massage therapists also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or customer service representative.