Help me find a (non-sexual) spa in Toronto that will hire a not-yet-registered massage therapy graduate.

July 5, 2012 8:05 AM

Help me find a (non-sexual) spa in Toronto that will hire a not-yet-registered massage therapy graduate!

I recently graduated from massage therapy school, but because of a variety of factors, I won't be able to complete all of my licencing exams and requirements until sometime in the fall.


In the meantime, I am $33570 in debt- $10570 of which is consumer debt that I accumulated while in school- and I'm having trouble finding work, even fast-food.

I want to start paying down my debt and I really want to move out of my crummy, earwiggy basement room in the suburbs into something a little bit nicer- or at least closer to downtown. But the creditors are calling, and I don't really have an income to speak of; I've been scraping by doing clinical drug trials for cash. Plus, I need to make enough money that I can work less than full time hours; I need time to study so I don't get rusty before my exams.

Ideally, I'd like to find work in a spa or clinic, doing massage. But most of the ads that I find require you to already be registered- or they're the craigslist "spa" ads requesting hot ladies 18+... and I suspect, somehow, that that's not what I'm looking for.

I know that there are legitimate (no offense to anyone in the sex industry) spas that will hire unregistered people to do massage, at about $15/hour, but I have no idea where or how to find them. So, aside from fruitlessly combing ads, emailing resumes and filling out online job applications for hours every day, what can I do?

posted by windykites to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Best answer: Work the phones. Call all the spas that hire registered massage therapists and ask them if they hire not yet registered ones. If they say no, ask them if they know anyone who does. Phone every spa and rehab clinic in the GTA. Did you graduate from a Toronto school? Talk to your school. Ask them. Oh, and while you're talking to all those spas and clinics, ask them if they have any non-RMT positions you could fill until you get your licence.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:19 AM on July 5, 2012

Have you considered getting a portable table and setting up a business doing house calls? You'd probably have to make very clear in your ads that you are a student offering discount rates as you study for your RMT exams to ward off the happy ending types as well as make clear that you aren't offering an insurance-covered service.

The other thing would be to look more at places that are primarily salons that offer some massage treatments -- they often aren't certified RMTs.

I'm not sure about Great American Backrub, but it doesn't seem like they'd use certified RMTs.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:28 AM on July 5, 2012

Best answer: On another note, this place: http://aphroditesalonspa.ca/ is opening in my building soon, and since they aren't open they probably also aren't staffed yet. Might be worth touching base to see what kind of staff they're hiring.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:27 AM on July 5, 2012

Best answer: body blitz is really, really lovely, they might not hire you to do massage before you're registered, but what about working as a spa attendant until you are?
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:12 AM on July 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Would you be willing to do some other sort of work in a spa while you wait to get the time and money to get registered? I know in other industries (hairstyling, tattooing) it's very common for someone still working on getting trained and licensed in their industry to work as a receptionist, assistant, general 'round-the-store-helper-type in the sort of place they want to work. There seems to be an understanding (I don't know if it's explicit or implicit) that once they're trained and licensed, they will be able to work at the same shop. And a spa looking for a receptionist or attendant might give preference to you over other applicants if they know you're working toward getting licensed.
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:21 AM on July 5, 2012