Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

[Bby v.]

Hi All,

I am hoping to get some ideas on ways I can effectively evaluate a massage therapists hands-on skills in 10 minutes! My usual M.O. is a luxurious hour.

So how to get good info about a therapist in a fast and furious 10 minutes?** What are your thoughts? t017

**Please no debates on how 10 minutes is not enough time to find out diddly-squat...That's what I get and I gotta make it work! :lipsaresealed:

Thanks so much.

 

[Yeshuaman]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

Seems like if you can only afford 10 minutes then you would want to assess skills on ONE body part.
Areas that could be done ...
Neck
A forearm
Feet

OR
if you are assessing specific skills then just have them demonstrate a sample of skills...
MFR technique
Orthopedic assessment
stretching
whatever you value in a therapist

 

[Lord of the Flies]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

What kind of skills are of prime importance? Swedish, Deep Tissue, or some specific modality?

What type of clients will the therapist be dealing with? Ortho/Neuro, Chiro, Clinical, Mixture or Spa work?

That may help us give you a little more pointed advice.

 

[sheriff]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

I will be assessing swedish and deep tissue skills in a spa setting.

Thanks.

 

[Breanna]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

In that kind of time crunch, I'd think the neck would be one of the best gauges. Necks can be sensitive areas to work, and I'd rather assess someones ability to address a more complicated area, than a part that they could "get away" with more.

 

[1992-luvinlifegurl]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

I am with JaeMarie...Neck. If I can only get 10 minutes of hands on time (one assumes that you are actually allowed to interview them longer off the table)... then they better really shine @ necks. :

If they are confident in their neck work, the rest will probably fall in line. I remember in MT school we had the warnings about the anterior triangle and the posterior triangle. (Which tends to make one afraid to touch the neck at all...LOL) Then my instructor said, "Ok, now that we've got that out of the way, I'm going to show you how to work on the neck. Because no student of mine is going to leave this school without learning how to do good neck work." :

I have a local MT who comes in to the spa where I work 2-3 times per year just because she likes my neck work. (Believe me there are plenty of other MTs closer!)

The only other thing I'd be concerned about, particularly if the MT being interviewed and giving the massage is young or new to the profession... is flow. IMO, That's something that's hard to judge in such a limited amount of time.

 

[Geo]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

I will be assessing swedish and deep tissue skills in a spa setting.

Thanks.

For me, in a spa setting, I would look at my numbers of clients requesting swedish vs. deep work. And also it would highly depend on if the company provided 50 or 60 min. massage and the amount of spot vs. full body work at the spa.

I would see if your company will at least allow you a "written" portion of the interview. To sell this, let them know that it will provide you with more information while maximizing the short amount of time the company wants you to spend with the interview-ee. Have the MT to describe the following:

Written Portion of Interview

• In 10 - 15 minutes (¾ - 1½ pages), please describe your particular massage technique and how you apply it to a client. Please include your capabilites and range of bodywork.
  
  
• Please list the body parts (best being first) where your strengths shine through during massage.
  
  
• Please describe how you would work in the following five situations (provide the amount of time you would devote to each region of the body in each of the five scenarios):
  • Client presents asking for a full body swedish.
  • Client presents with neck pain.
  • Client presents with shoulder pain.
  • Client doesn't want their hair messed up.
  • Client just had hand/foot mani/pedi.
• Hands-on performance will be a portion of your interview.

This would at least get you a good basic package of general information about how the MT thinks of and performs their work. It's not the best, but you can put together a clearer picture.

I would guage depth of pressure with the back and glutes. And, as mentioned above, if you are only going to use one body part... skills with the neck can tell you a lot about a therapist.

Ideally though, I would provide the following information, type-written on a clipboard and laminated and would hand it to them (after their written portion is complete), asking them to study it while I read over their written portion of the interview.

When I finished reading the interview, I would take them to the hands-on therapy room to show them around and point out where the clock is so that they could get their bearings. Next I would state: "Please step out for a moment while I undres and lay the table in a face-down postion. After 30 seconds to a minute, knock on the door before asking to enter for the hand-on portion of the interview." This also gives you an opportunity to hear their voice texture and see their room entrance skills.


For the clip-board:

Please provide the following sequence. I may ask for deeper pressure at any point.

This sequence should last 10 minutes. Please do not go over-time.

• Therapist is to provide 3 swedish style strokes of your choice, which should cover the entire back.
• Provide moderate to deep work in the area of the rhomboids and traps (bilaterally) for 1 minute.
• Provide moderate to deep pressure in the area of the gluteals (with the drap in place) for 1 minute.
• Provide swedish style work to the RIGHT calf and thigh (with the entire time between end of gluteals to end of RIGHT extremity being no longer than 2 minutes).
  
  
• Therapist asks the client to turn face up.
  
  
• Therapist is to provide neck and shoulder work for no longer than 3 minutes. Therapist should not get oil in the clients hair, but is allowed to provide minimal head work between 5-20 seconds.
• Therapist compresses RIGHT foot and provides work to RIGHT toes for 30 seconds.

This should give you a good idea of how the therapists' touch is on most body parts and if their idea of deep is just pushing hard on a bone, since you have them working the scpualar region, which is one place you can really tell quickly if a therapist knows their deep work or not. It should also give you an idea as to if they can work a general sequence that is not stressy or jumpy, since you have provided them with the detailed information at least 10 minutes prior to the hands-on portion of the interview. Of course, they may be nervous, but having things written and easy to see will help them tremendously. I also suggest you type-set that in a large and legible font.

Hope this helps!


09/30/09: edited to add in a little more explanation for the therapist in the "5 scenarios" a typo and an added explanation to the clip-board.

 

[adia]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

Thanks pueppi! Love it!!!

 

[Jim Vf]

Need Help! How to conduct the 10 minute interview

MassageMaven,

Do you mind following up and letting us know how things turned out and what you did?