5 Ways to Spend Your Time Between OT Graduation + Starting Your First Job
So you’ve graduated OT school - woo hoo! You scheduled your board exam for a couple of months away and know you’ll be spending the majority of your time studying. But what should you do when you’re not studying? What else is important? The time between graduation and actually starting to practice as an OT can feel kind of like living in a limbo. At least it did for me! While I dedicated a good chunk of my time to studying, I still found I had quite a bit of free time. So I wanted to chat about some productive (and fun!) ways you can spend time when your nose isn’t buried in the books.
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Take a vacation, or staycation: Are you surprised this was my first point? Well, the first thing I did after I graduated was go on a little road trip exploring a ton of national parks. Hubs and I went to the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, floated down the Colorado river and even hopped over to Utah to explore Bryce Canyon. We spent about a week and some change traveling in different locations and exploring and it was a blast. I’d worked so hard and wanted to celebrate graduating from OT school. During this time I did not study or even think about studying and it was GREAT. So, if you’re wondering if it’s okay to take a little celebratory trip, my answer is: treat yourself!
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Work a part-time job: I worked as a Certified Newborn Care Specialist during this time for a couple reasons. First, I absolutely love babies but if you know me, you already knew this one. Second, it helped me stay on top of infant development and brush up on all those milestones I’d learned in pediatrics. Lastly, I was able to put away some extra money that went towards actually paying for expenses related to the NBCOT including study materials. The rest went towards savings. note: I did not start paying on my student loans during this time. I only did a few shifts a week because studying for the board exam was definitely my top priority and where the majority of my time went.
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Get ahead on the job search: Okay so you do NOT have to start job hunting during this time. I did not actively search for jobs or do any interviewing during this time. However, I did start organizing myself by researching salary in my areas, “favoriting” some jobs that popped up on Indeed, and worked on a cover letter template and getting my resume together. I wanted to just have a good idea of positions available and figure out my favorite search engines for when it was time for me to actively start my job search.
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Establish a good routine : If you’re someone who thrives on routine, this is a good one for you. You can take this time to explore what morning or evening routine works best for you. For me, I tried to wake up and have breakfast every morning before I’d start studying so that when it was time for me to start working I’d already be in the habit of waking up and having breakfast. Take this time to figure out what works best for you to start and end your day on the right foot.
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RELAX: Alright last one, and possibly the most important - chill out. Trust me, when you start working you will likely feel like you’re hitting the ground running. Prioritize yourself and your mental health during this time. You’ve worked hard through OT school, and yes you should be studying, but also give yourself time to relax and just do whatever it is that brings you peace and joy.
Although I didn’t chat much about the actual process of studying for the NBCOT exam - don’t worry! That’s definitely a topic I’ll be covering soon. In the meantime, you can check out THIS Instagram post where I share more about my NBCOT experience and even provide the resources I used while I studied :)
Hey!
