Want to know you can land a job after graduation? Try massage therapy

(ARA) - Finding a job she loves didn't take recent massage therapy graduate Megan Mackie nearly as long as she thought it would. Mackie, 27, used her school's job portal website to speed and streamline her search.

"When I received my license in the mail a whole slew of possible jobs came up and I went on enough interviews to discover exactly the kind of massage therapy position I wanted," says Mackie, who graduated from Cortiva Institute. Shortly after, she landed her first job in the massage therapy field.

For the Cortiva Institute's busy job portal, more than 6,000 clicks per month are not unusual. And for students like Mackie, who visit the job portal hoping to find positions as professional massage therapists, the results are very encouraging.

Students earning a diploma in professional massage therapy have excellent chances of landing a rewarding job in their chosen field upon graduating. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor's 2009-2010 Occupational Outlook Handbook states that employment for massage therapists is expected to increase 20 percent through 2016, faster than average for all occupations.

"There are currently more than 500 active job postings covering employers within our markets - Chicago, Seattle, Tampa, Boston - to name a few," says Brian Jeran, director of career services and continuing education for Cortiva. Jeran oversees the school's job portal. Since postings expire after 90 to 150 days, Cortiva has been averaging more than 100 postings per month."

Through Cortiva's online job portal and frequent campus job fairs, massage therapy school grads can find employment in established private massage therapy and acupuncture, health care, chiropractic and/or wellness centers. Within the medical community, there are continuous part-time and full-time employment opportunities within private chiropractic and/or acupuncture centers. Alongside the clinical applications for massage therapists, there are jobs in day spas, fitness centers, destination resorts/spas and even cruise ships.

And much of that success can be attributed to the quality and range of employers that use the site to recruit employees. "I absolutely seek out Cortiva grads for their qualifications," says Shannon Klemp, co-owner of a Massage Envy franchise in Hoffman Estates, Ill. "They are very prepared when they graduate, they are ready to go and their professionalism is second to none." In addition to using Cortiva's busy job portal, Klemp also makes use of the school's ongoing job fair, held in various locations near Cortiva campuses. But for Klemp, Cortiva's job portal is "my No. 1 recruiting tool next to our internal careers website."

For Cortiva graduate Anne McGrath, 56, of Winchester, Mass., in addition to the job portal and relationships with employers, it's Cortiva's willingness to go the extra mile that makes the difference. "A particular massage therapy studio I contacted did not have a job opening, but they were willing to refer me to other studios in the greater Boston area who might be hiring without even meeting me. I can only surmise that this willingness to help a grad out was based solely on the fact that I graduated from Cortiva," says McGrath.

Cortiva's efforts on behalf of its students and graduates have become even more important as the country slowly recovers from the recession and concerns about job security continue to linger. Many of those seeking jobs and job security will likely find both in the health care industry. Some health care fields, like massage therapy, offer greater flexibility and variety in career opportunities. A massage therapist can achieve certification in approximately one year and work in a wide range of settings, from a chiropractor's office to an upscale hotel or day spa.

Mackie is now working at Balanced Body Integrated Wellness in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, close to where she makes her home. "I really like this job because it is geared toward the clinical side of massage and the treatments I give help people recover from injuries and live a better quality of life," she adds.

For more information on Cortiva Institute's School of Massage Therapy, call or visit www.Cortiva.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent