How to get a job as a physical therapist

Henry Howard
21 hours ago
3 min read

For those interested in running and other endurance sports, a dream job is one that involves helping other athletes recover, stay healthy and perform at their best.

To land a job with a professional sports team as a physical therapist (physio) or performance coach, you need more than just passion. Teams select specialists who possess a combination of clinical skills, research-based programming and the ability to work effectively under pressure.

The path is hard, but with the appropriate plan, you can give yourself an edge and land that dream job as a physical therapist. Here is a guide to the education, training and intangibles that will help you in a successful career search.

Build the right credentials, then specialize

Start with a degree in physical therapy or athletic training for rehabilitation, exercise science or kinesiology for strength and conditioning. Include top credentials early. The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) prepare performers for elite roles.

Consider pursuing dry needling or another specialty to land a job as a physical therapist.

Maintain your license and consider pursuing dry needling, manual therapy, or a sports residency for specialized clinical pathways. Field-side labor requires emergency care certificates and sport-specific taping/return-to-play education.

Partner with a trustworthy medical recruiter that understands team environments and credential subtleties to unlock doors for your career.

Prove it in the trenches

Professional sports teams demand proof of performance and injury reduction. Develop your skills in university athletics, semi-pro teams, or elite schools.

Approach internships as you would practices — arrive early, manage data with care and maintain communication with coaches.

Learn and understand sports-related outcomes that include soft-tissue injury rates, time-loss days, high-speed running exposure, repeated-sprint ability, and return-to-play timeframes. Create one-page CV case studies from those.

Learn the tools teams already use

Another area to focus on is data fluency, which separates finalists from also-rans.

Get hands-on practice with GPS/IMUs (Catapult, STATSports), wellness/RPE dashboards (Kitman, Kinduct) and force/strength testing (VALD, NordBord, ForceDecks).

Practice building simple monitoring reports in Excel or Google Data Studio that a head coach can digest in two minutes. Learn to translate these charts into decisions: training load progressions, red-flag thresholds and rehab milestones. In a job interview, show how you’d adjust a game-week microcycle after a loaded competition cycle or cross-country travel.

Physical therapist openings are often filled through networking before being posted on job boards.

Network where hiring actually happens

As with most professions, physical therapist openings are filled through networking before being posted on job boards.

Target professional conferences — NSCA Coaches, NATA, MLS/USL sports performance summits, baseball or basketball winter meetings. Presenting case studies at regional gatherings establishes credibility quickly.

Follow performance managers and lead physical therapists on LinkedIn and comment thoughtfully. Request 15-minute introductory calls to discover how their team uses coaching and analytics, then ask what abilities they value most in new hires.

Craft a portfolio that moves you to the shortlist

Replace long CVs with a sharp, sport-specific portfolio: a one-page bio, two outcome case studies, and a training or rehab sample plan.

Include a clear return-to-sprint or hamstring RTP framework with phase criteria, not just exercises. For physical therapists, outline your on-field emergency algorithm and communication flow with medical directors. For strength and conditioning coaches, add an in-season lift routine, travel-week adjustments, and “if/then” rules for back-to-backs.

A career as a physical therapist or physio can be rewarding.

Nail the job interview: communication beats jargon

Teams test how you think under time pressure and how you collaborate.

Practice explaining complex ideas in plain language that a head coach appreciates. Use past-tense, evidence-backed stories: the problem, your process, the intervention, the metric and the result. Acknowledge trade-offs such as protecting freshness versus chasing fitness, or accelerating timelines without risking recurrence.

Be patient, persistent and professional

It can be challenging to get a job as a physical therapist. Elite roles often arrive after several “almosts.”

Keep refining your work, publish insights and grow relationships you can help — not just tap.

Consistency, humility and coachable communication move quickly in professional circles. When the opening comes, you will already appear to be part of the staff.