4 Factors to Consider When Deciding Where to Start Your Career

By Kelsey Swope, MOT, OTR/L

Mentor Services OT Coordinator

You are fresh out of school. Your fieldworks serve as your primary experiences. They have guided you to know which setting is best for you. Yet as the options pile up, so do the questions.

Is one specific setting the best place to start as a new grad?

Should I diversify my experiences early on before settling into a setting I see as a career?

Other questions can crop up from just picking a setting, let alone figuring out which employer offers the best experience in that setting.

Is there mentorship for new grads?

Does the employer offer a competitive salary in comparison to its competitors?

Will I have an opportunity to grow within the organization?

The questions, much like the settings and employers they’re based on, can seem endless.

Honestly, the process itself can become endless and overwhelming.

This piece chronicles mentor services OT coordinator Kelsey Swope, MOT, OTR/L. Here’s the situation she was in as a new grad just five years ago: She had two great offers on her plate. Kelsey found herself making every breakdown imaginable, from comparing responsibilities and salaries to costs of living and professional development.

As evidenced by you reading this on foxrehab.org, Kelsey ultimately chose to join Team FOX. Over the course of these five years, she has advanced gone from a new grad, to mentor, and now she leads the occupational therapy end of our mentor services department. The journey has been fulfilling, and we hope every new grad can feel the same way about their first career choice.

In the following piece, Kelsey focuses on the factors that led her to make this career choice. They ranged from the private practice’s patient population to their leadership structure. This is done with the intent to provide you with questions you can use to evaluate potential employers, whether FOX or anywhere else.