Research Summary. Here are some key points about hiring rehab technicians in the United States:
Hiring a rehab technician comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting rehab technicians involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of rehab technician recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.
You can expect to pay around $28,505 per year for a rehab technician, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for rehab technicians in the US typically range between $10 and $17 an hour.
To hire a rehab technician, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a rehab technician:
Before you post your rehab technician job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business need. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a rehab technician for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.
A rehab technician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, rehab technicians 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.
Here's a comparison of the average salaries of common rehab technician roles:
Type Of Rehab Technician | Description | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|
Rehab Technician | Physical therapist assistants, sometimes called PTAs, and physical therapist aides work under the direction and supervision of physical therapists. They help patients who are recovering from injuries and illnesses regain movement and manage pain. | $10-17 |
Physical Therapy Aide | Physical therapy aides are employed under physical therapists' direction. They typically perform non-medical tasks, including helping with patient intake, setting up treatment rooms, and assisting with patient transportation to another health care facility... Show More | $3-56 |
Rehabilitation Aide | A rehabilitation aide is responsible for assisting patients with injuries, mental disorders, and illnesses in their treatment plans and medications. Rehabilitation aides monitor the patients' progress and update attending physicians regarding their conditions... Show More | $10-16 |
Before you draft a rehab technician job description, imagine the ideal employee for the role and begin creating a profile. What are they proficient in and what sort of background do they have?
Here is a list of skills that are commonly associated with rehab technician:
Here are the responsibilities that most rehab technicians perform:
Cultural fit is also an essential factor that you shouldn't overlook. Consider how your perfect rehab technician will contribute to the team dynamic and help grow the team's culture in a positive way. If you can include a clear vision of this in your rehab technician job description, it'll help attract candidates who are better suited for the position.
Rank # | State | # Of Jobs | % of Population | Avg. Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Massachusetts | 1,046 | 15% | $26,522 |
2 | Illinois | 1,041 | 8% | $28,396 |
3 | New Jersey | 750 | 8% | $26,684 |
4 | Missouri | 567 | 9% | $25,083 |
5 | Indiana | 540 | 8% | $24,798 |
Including a salary range in the job description can help attract top candidates to the position. A rehab technician salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience and seniority of the candidate, any certifications they may hold, and the prestige of the company they will be working for. For example, the average salary for a rehab technician in Mississippi may be lower than in Colorado, and an entry-level rehab technician may earn less than a senior-level rehab technician. Additionally, a rehab technician with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | $32,915 | $16 | |
2 | Colorado | $31,626 | $15 | 1 |
3 | Oregon | $30,038 | $14 | |
4 | Illinois | $28,619 | $14 | |
5 | Nevada | $27,102 | $13 |
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | University of California-Berkeley | $47,071 | $22.63 | |
2 | Minnesota State Fair | $36,700 | $17.64 | 11 |
3 | Encompass Health | $33,465 | $16.09 | 329 |
4 | Mayo Clinic | $33,385 | $16.05 | 28 |
5 | Saint Luke's Health System | $32,879 | $15.81 | 1 |
6 | Fairview Health Services | $32,844 | $15.79 | 7 |
7 | Cook Children's Medical Center | $32,818 | $15.78 | |
8 | Lexington Medical Center | $32,545 | $15.65 | |
9 | Health First | $32,360 | $15.56 | 6 |
10 | Nebraska Methodist Health System | $32,041 | $15.40 | |
11 | Dignity Health | $31,934 | $15.35 | 25 |
12 | PeaceHealth | $31,812 | $15.29 | 3 |
13 | Conemaugh Health System | $31,546 | $15.17 | 1 |
14 | Aurora Cares LLC | $31,542 | $15.16 | |
15 | Tenet Healthcare | $31,433 | $15.11 | 84 |
16 | OSF HealthCare | $31,272 | $15.03 | 9 |
17 | Spectrum Health | $31,157 | $14.98 | 6 |
18 | SSM Health | $31,092 | $14.95 | 15 |
19 | Connecticut Children's Medical Center | $30,978 | $14.89 | 12 |
20 | The University of Kansas Health System | $30,965 | $14.89 | 2 |
A good rehab technician job description should include a few things:
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right rehab technician for your business:
Post your job online:
Recruiting rehab technicians involves bringing your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they introduce their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.
It's also a good idea to ask about candidates' special skills and talents to see if they map with your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Once you've found the rehab technician candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary, as well as the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer needs to be competitive if you really like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with 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.