How to hire a geriatric physical therapist

How to hire a geriatric physical therapist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step geriatric physical therapist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a geriatric physical therapist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new geriatric physical therapist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the geriatric physical therapist you need to hire. Certain geriatric physical therapist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A geriatric physical therapist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, geriatric physical therapists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents geriatric physical therapist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Geriatric Physical Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Geriatric Physical Therapist	Physical therapists, sometimes called PTs, help injured or ill people improve their movement and manage their pain. These therapists are often an important part of the rehabilitation, treatment, and prevention of patients with chronic conditions, illnesses, or injuries.	$21-50
   Therapist	A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients... Show more	$18-38
   In Home Therapist	An in-home therapist provides case management, counseling, resource system development, support system development, and crisis intervention services for family members and children. They provide goal-oriented and structured therapy on referral issues for families that help recover from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse... Show more	$19-31

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Rehabilitation
   • Home Health
   • Social Work
   • Family Therapy
   • Discharge Planning
   • Substance Abuse
   • Nursing Home
   • Acute Care
   • Mental Health
   • OT
   • Group Therapy
   • Individual Therapy
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Physical Therapy

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
   • Care for veterans in both independent and SNF environments.
   • Screen, evaluate and treat residents with diverse disease processes in multiple SNF's.
   • Provide rehabilitation services as per patient requirement.
   • Administer therapeutic hot packs, cold packs and personally handle various electrical stimulation treatments; ultrasound, electrical stimulation.
   • Work to decrease ICU length of stay, vent days, and hospital length of stay.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your geriatric physical therapist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A geriatric physical therapist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, geriatric physical therapists' average salary in tennessee is 50% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level geriatric physical therapists 58% less than senior-level geriatric physical therapists.
   • Certifications. A geriatric physical therapist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a geriatric physical therapist's salary.

   Average geriatric physical therapist salary

   $68,810yearly

   $33.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level geriatric physical therapist salary

   $44,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 1, 2026

4. Writing a geriatric physical therapist job description

   A geriatric physical therapist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a geriatric physical therapist job description:

   Geriatric physical therapist job description example

   For 50 years, Brooks Rehabilitation , headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., has been a comprehensive source for physical rehabilitation services. As a nonprofit organization, Brooks operates one of the nation's largest inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the U.S. with 160 beds, one of the region's largest home healthcare agencies, 40 outpatient therapy clinics, a Center for Inpatient Rehabilitation in partnership with Halifax Health in Daytona Beach, the Brooks Rehabilitation Medical Group, two skilled nursing facilities, assisted living and memory care. Brooks will treat more than 60,000 patients through its system of care each year. In addition, Brooks operates the Clinical Research Center, which specializes in research for stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and more to advance the science of rehabilitation. Brooks also provides many low or no cost community programs and services such as the Brooks Clubhouse, Brooks Aphasia Center and Brooks Adaptive Sports and Recreation to improve the quality of life for people living with physical disabilities. Brooks Rehabilitation proudly employs over 2,500 clinicians and staff across the state of Florida. We are looking for exceptional people to join our culture of caring and bring our mission to life.
   
   We are seeking a Geriatric Residency Coordinator to join Brooks Rehabilitation's Institute of Higher Learning. The coordinator is responsible for coordinating/supervising the faculty and residents within the Geriatric Residency program. The program coordinator will provide didactic/psychomotor training as well as mentoring in the areas of clinical services, educational activities, professional services, scholarly activities, and practice management within the clinical residency they are appointed. They are responsible for overseeing curriculum development, implementation, and review on an annual basis in collaboration with the Residency/Fellowship Director. The program coordinator will work with the Residency/Fellowship Director to complete annual reports and periodic program reviews for ABPTRFE to maintain accreditation. The Residency Coordinator will serve as a role model to the residents within the cohort of their program and by example will strive to behave in the most professional and ethical manner possible. Ultimately, their primarily responsibility is to guide a cohort of doctorally trained professionals through an advanced post-professional clinical program, which has rigorous oversight from a national accreditation body and therefore has robust curricular and assessment requirements.
   
   The Geriatric Residency Coordinator position is a part-time position (24 hours/week). There are opportunities within Brooks Rehabilitation to work full time if you are interested in also providing patient care.
   Responsibilities:
   
   Management and Supervision of the Residents/FiTs
   Supervises a resident who manages a specialized caseload.
   Provides valuable guidance and instruction through a process of inquiry during clinical mentoring.
   Consistently performs appropriate assessment of residents throughout all aspects of the residency program, including during the clinical mentoring.
   Performs clear and accurate documentation within all aspects as it relates to accreditation as well as feedback to the residents.
   Leadership/Supervision
   I nterprets, supports and models organizational philosophy, policy/procedures, and objectives.
   Completes timely performance evaluations consistent with organizational policy & procedures.
   Establishes and maintains a healthy culture and chemistry amongst the cohort of residents.
   Promotes team effort within the department(s), programs, and the organization.
   Mediates conflict resolution among staff and residents.
   Prioritizes workload, incorporating unexpected assignments as needed.
   Maintains open, reciprocal communication with residents, staff, supervisor, colleagues, and leadership.
   Maintains confidentiality in all written and verbal communication, including staff and resident records.
   Participates in marketing, public relation efforts, and community education activities as needed.
   Supervises and Assesses assigned activities for clinical residents within the program.
   Supervises and Assesses faculty and mentors within their appointed program.
   Collaborates with faculty of other Brooks IHL residency/fellowship programs to identify opportunities to leverage strengths and expertise to obtain valued learning opportunities.
   Identifies opportunities to support and improve Brooks Clinical Operations through processes developed within the residency program and through collaboration with system leadership.
   Clinical Management
   Supports and contributes to Brooks clinical staff development efforts to ensure competency in established professional Standards of Practice, departmental policy, procedure and protocols, and awareness of professional, organizational, fiscal and healthcare trends.
   Establishes and maintains standards for Physical Therapy care to ensure compliance with professional, ethical, legal and regulatory and organizational standards.
   Maintains professional and job-related competency; keeps abreast of trends and developments in the profession.
   Functions as a clinical and patient care subject matter expert/resource to staff, patients, and families.
   Assures compliance with program accreditation as well as licensure requirements for all residents and fellows within the residency and fellowship programs.
   Program Development
   Maintains ongoing intra and inter-departmental coordination and communication for the purpose of program development and improved service delivery.
   Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with external agencies/individuals who may provide a service and/or role within the residency.
   Interprets performance improvement data and implements change.
   Ensures state of the art treatment is provided by the residents in accordance with professional standards of practice, fiscal, ethical and legal parameters.
   Actively recruits and communicates with potential applicants from within Brooks as well as from outside.
   Promotes the program through support of and participation in educational opportunities, during professional meeting/conferences, and through other venues.
   Assists with development of the curriculum for the clinical residency programs in conjunction with the Residency/Fellowship Program Director.
   
   Qualifications:
   
   Physical Therapist, licensed in the State of Florida. Minimum of five years of experience in physical therapy with experience in the following areas:
   
   Clinical mentoring;
   Didactic and Psychomotor teaching within a clinical residency and/or fellowship preferred;
   Scholarly Activities (such as publications, presentations, etc);
   Advanced clinical practice skills;
   DPT and/or advanced clinical degree preferred;
   Residency and fellowship curriculum design, development, and evaluation preferred;
   Completion of a clinical residency and/or a clinical fellowship preferred; and
   ABPTS Certification within Geriatrics is required.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right geriatric physical therapist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with geriatric physical therapists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit geriatric physical therapists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your geriatric physical therapist job on Zippia to find and recruit geriatric physical therapist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit geriatric physical therapists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new geriatric physical therapist

   Once you've selected the best geriatric physical therapist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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