How To Get A Job As A Health Coach As A PT/OT/PTA/COTA/OTA/SLP

If you are looking for a remote job that you can do as physical, occupational, speech therapist or assistant, then look no further than a job in health coaching! In this article we’ll highlight how to transition from a rehabilitation career into a stay at home position in health coaching. 

What is a health coach position?

Health coaching is where you guide individuals through various goals. These goals may be a fitness goal, a weight goal, a lifestyle goal, a stress management goal, or a combination of these and other goals. 

You'll rely on your nutrition, anatomy, human science, and rehabilitation knowledge to help guide people through their individual goals.

You are almost doing therapy, but in a much more basic way - you sort of touch on several professions but without going too deep to prevent encroachment into these professional treatments. 

You'll have documentation, patient check ins, home exercise or home plan programs that you'll create, and work as a team with other health coaches or professionals too to help your patient achieve their outcomes. 

Why do I love health coaching as a remote career idea for physical, occupational or speech therapy professionals as well as assistants?

1.  No extra education needed (although sometimes health coaching certificates are now being asked for). Health coaching is slowly becoming more regulated and so I would try to get into this field without a certification but as you began to enjoy and know this is the career for you, then I would suggest looking into a certification as likely the standards will only get harder.
2.  You can work from home
3.  No physical labor
4.  You continue to get to help people in a significant way
5.  You continue to get to use your medical degree
6.  It may be really fun to work in growing technology and there may be new ideas you can contribute or upward/lateral growth you may be able to do

Top pros of being a health coach:

• Being a health coach can be very rewarding
• Being a health coach uses many of your health care skills, so it’s a very easy and relevant transition
• There is little to no extra education needed as it’s a relatively unregulated market although this is starting to change if you want to work for employers. If you want to start your own practice, then no certification is required.

Top cons of being a health coach:

• There may not be a lot of full time roles, this may be a more common contract role, side hustle or part time role (Noom often does hire full time so don't take this to be set in stone and always do your own searching). 
• This can be a competitive role as you’ll have ATCs, nutritionists, nurses and many other non medical professionals vying for these roles
• With all of your medical knowledge, you may feel limited in what you can do and say as a health coach
• This is often done virtually, which can sometimes be limiting. 
• It may not always pay the same as your clinical salary.

Day in the life of a health coach:

Your day as a health coach, whether it be contract, full time or part time, if you work for a company could include performing evaluations, performing treatments, emailing/messaging/or calling current patients for quick check ins, and writing up your documentation.

In many ways, it's similar to a clinicians' day. I think the biggest difference is that often these patients are cash based, so there shouldn't be the insurance limitations we often face. But on the opposite side, paying cash does add an added pressure for quicker results. 

Depending on where you work, you may also be asked to do other roles like emailing, marketing, branding, and client out reach to help spread the word about health coaching. 

On the more clinical side, health coaching may involve education on nutrition, rest/relaxation/mediation, exercise, hydration, time management versus often in therapy side we are more limited in this scope and focus more on just the physical nature of one's condition. 

What is the average salary of a health coach?

According to salary.com, the average salary of a health coach is $61,650 and an hourly rate of $19.98 according to Indeed.com. But these standards can really vary as you have many health coaches who likely do part time, contract, or full time. 

Requirements to become a health coach:

• Currently you do NOT need a healthcare degree to be a health coach. So you can be any type of a therapist or assistant. It does help to have a healthcare background or experience.
• Some companies may want health coaching certifications (many of which are not too expensive or complicated to get but are become more required)
• Usually prior remote or tele health experience is helpful but not required
• Usually a quite room and remote ability, such as computer are required

How to find these health coaching jobs:

• There are new virtual health coaching companies popping up all the time, but searching health coach or health coach + professional title is usually the best way
• You may also want to search health educator or health education
• You may also want to search directly companies and then see what jobs are posted directly on their sites (ie. Go to Noom and search jobs on Noom.). This is a smart way because sometimes these role may have different titles or you may see related roles you would have never found on Indeed.

Best course to help you get a job in health coaching?

I've created a remote careers course, that has step by step video guides, resume template, cover letter template, interview questions and answers for virtual reality, health coaching, recruiting, sales, technology/marketing, and ergonomic careers. It also includes free resume editing!

Learn more here: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/remote-jobs-course 

Who is best fit for a role in health coaching?

I think this role is great for someone who really loves patient care and wants to continue patient care, but perhaps can’t lift any more or wants to be more at home.

This is also for someone who can be creative and is eager to learn new technology and skills.

I think if you are someone who really likes more holistic or a global wellness approach, then you'll find health coaching more freeing than your current patient care.

This role could span beyond just being a treating clinician. Within these companies, perhaps you can work instead as health writer, social media manager, affiliate manager, clinical educator, and more!

How to find health coaching jobs:

Step 1.

Look up a list of common health coaching companies. There are new companies starting all the time, but a short list include Noom, Humana, Aetna, many other hospitals, Google, Amazon, Delta, many tech companies, Calm.com, Medtronic, Fitbit to name a few

Step 2.

Apply to these companies directly and try to set up job auto notifications if possible to alert you if new jobs post.

Step 3.

I would personally email or call too if you can, as there may not be positions but they may be getting ready to hire. This can sometimes bring you to the top of the pack.

Step 4.

Connect with recruiters from these companies and message them for free by hitting “connect” and sending a message/note with your connection.

Step 5.

Also set up alerts on Indeed and LinkedIn for these companies and jobs

Step 6.

Use multiple titles while you are searching. Get creative! Try different search terms like health coach, health educator, health coach PT (substitute SLP or OT or PTA or COTA), functional medicine coach. 

How to get these health coaching jobs as therapist or assistant?

Getting a health coaching job can be pretty competitive as you are fighting with other professionals such as ATCs, nutritionists, and other people outside of the health care industry that have received their health coaching certification. 

But common mistakes we've seen is not updating and tailoring your resume to a health coaching position, not including a cover letter, not preparing for an interview, and not sending a thank you email shortly after. 

In addition, try to stand out by taking additional education with unlimited CEU programs, get experience working remotely as a telehealth contractor, a health coach, a group exercise instructor or other related roles to help you express your skills in your interview.

You could even do some free practice on family and friends to help get your feet wet in this field and help demonstrate in your cover letter and interview your readiness and ability to easily transition into health coaching.

Summary:

I really hope this article has helped outline another amazing remote career that you as a physical, occupational, or speech therapist or assistant can do!

If you want a more in-depth guide into each of these career routes you can go to each of the respective blog posts here:

• How to get a utilization review/care coordinator job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/how-to-become-a-utilization-reviewer-rehabiliation-professionals
• How to get a recruiting job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/travel-therapy-recruiting
• How to get a sales job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA : https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/medical-sales-job-guide 
• How to get a telehealth job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/telehealth-job-guide 
• How to get a virtual reality job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/job-in-virtual-reality 
• How to get a Technology (product, project manager, customer success, clinical trainer) job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA :  https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/technology-job-guide 
• How to get an Assistive Technology job as a PT, OT, SLP, OTA/COTA, PTA: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/assistive-technology-job-guide 
• How to get a health coaching job as a PT, OT, SLP, COTA/OTA, PTA: https://www.alternativehealthcarecareers.com/blog/health-coach-job-guide