1099 sucks or "anyone want to start a union?"

[UGoLong]

Exactly. If you work for a 1099, you ARE a business! The only question is if you are a profitable one for YOU.

 

If someone comes into McDonalds and wants a Big Mac for a quarter, do they get it? 

[Corpsman2PA]

 

If someone comes into McDonalds and wants a Big Mac for a quarter, do they get it?

Precisely, and therein lies the problem. As we know, there are PAs that are selling the proverbial Big Mac for a quarter, hurting both themselves and the profession as a whole. In their view 'anything is better than nothing' and they get short changed in the process.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[UGoLong]

If PAs are a commodity, then our price drops to whatever people are willing to take to work. This happens faster if there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs. It's hard to develop barriers to prevent this and minting more and more PAs and NPs probably makes it happen faster.

 

The same thing has happened with engineers and other skilled individuals. What did the successful ones do? They developed a marketable set of skills, initially  through specific summer jobs/internships (i.e. clinical rotations/residencies) or computer skills, or presentation skills, or business skills, or whatever.  And, after they got jobs, they kept on learning new things to keep from becoming obsolete.

 

If a given employer just wants any PA, then that's what they'll buy. So, like every other job or business, you have to find and build a profitable niche for yourself. In the beginning, that's tough, but if you take on a good series of jobs and develop a good set of skills, then you should get there. Those are the happier old-timers in the business that you run across.

 

I'm nearer to the end of my working road, and I'll tell you frankly: unless you keep sharpening your skills, you will get painted into a corner sooner or later. It's hard for any employer to pay Joe -- with 20 years of experience -- a whole lot more than Sam with 2 years unless Joe has been doing something other than living the same day over and over for all those years. 

 

Don't let that happen to you. And don't let cursing the darkness get it the way of using a flashlight to find your way through it.

[problem child]

If PAs are a commodity, then our price drops to whatever people are willing to take to work. This happens faster if there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs. It's hard to develop barriers to prevent this and minting more and more PAs and NPs probably makes it happen faster.

 

The same thing has happened with engineers and other skilled individuals. What did the successful ones do? They developed a marketable set of skills, initially  through specific summer jobs/internships (i.e. clinical rotations/residencies) or computer skills, or presentation skills, or business skills, or whatever.  And, after they got jobs, they kept on learning new things to keep from becoming obsolete.

 

If a given employer just wants any PA, then that's what they'll buy. So, like every other job or business, you have to find and build a profitable niche for yourself. In the beginning, that's tough, but if you take on a good series of jobs and develop a good set of skills, then you should get there. Those are the happier old-timers in the business that you run across.

 

I'm nearer to the end of my working road, and I'll tell you frankly: unless you keep sharpening your skills, you will get painted into a corner sooner or later. It's hard for any employer to pay Joe -- with 20 years of experience -- a whole lot more than Sam with 2 years unless Joe has been doing something other than living the same day over and over for all those years. 

 

Don't let that happen to you. And don't let cursing the darkness get it the way of using a flashlight to find your way through it.

 

nice :)

[BruceBanner]

If PAs are a commodity, then our price drops to whatever people are willing to take to work. This happens faster if there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs. It's hard to develop barriers to prevent this and minting more and more PAs and NPs probably makes it happen faster.

 

The same thing has happened with engineers and other skilled individuals. What did the successful ones do? They developed a marketable set of skills, initially  through specific summer jobs/internships (i.e. clinical rotations/residencies) or computer skills, or presentation skills, or business skills, or whatever.  And, after they got jobs, they kept on learning new things to keep from becoming obsolete.

 

If a given employer just wants any PA, then that's what they'll buy. So, like every other job or business, you have to find and build a profitable niche for yourself. In the beginning, that's tough, but if you take on a good series of jobs and develop a good set of skills, then you should get there. Those are the happier old-timers in the business that you run across.

 

I'm nearer to the end of my working road, and I'll tell you frankly: unless you keep sharpening your skills, you will get painted into a corner sooner or later. It's hard for any employer to pay Joe -- with 20 years of experience -- a whole lot more than Sam with 2 years unless Joe has been doing something other than living the same day over and over for all those years. 

 

Don't let that happen to you. And don't let cursing the darkness get it the way of using a flashlight to find your way through it.

 

Career Capital 101.

 

I think that PAs are unfortunately becoming a commodity (at least from my perspective), and the trend will continue as long as programs keep churning out new grads at increasing rates. My fear is that all but the highly skilled and very experienced will become "bargain bin docs"; bodies who can sign scripts, write orders, and move patients in and out the door. 

 

I used to think that it was all about finding the right job, but I realized recently this approach is flawed because jobs with rare and valuable traits require rare and valuable skills. A far better approach---the long game---is to become really good at what you do, even build a niche if possible, until you are so good you effectively cant be ignored.

[UGoLong]

In the long run, most people enter the job market without a "rare" and valuable skill. And few start out in "the right job."

 

I think that its all about the long game: consciously managing your career through a succession of jobs so that, along the way, you build valuable skills and have a "rare" mix of them. 

[EMEDPA]

Career Capital 101.

 

I think that PAs are unfortunately becoming a commodity (at least from my perspective), and the trend will continue as long as programs keep churning out new grads at increasing rates. My fear is that all but the highly skilled and very experienced will become "bargain bin docs"; bodies who can sign scripts, write orders, and move patients in and out the door. 

 

I used to think that it was all about finding the right job, but I realized recently this approach is flawed because jobs with rare and valuable traits require rare and valuable skills. A far better approach---the long game---is to become really good at what you do, even build a niche if possible, until you are so good you effectively cant be ignored.

^^^^^ this!

become so good at what you do that you can honestly say " I am worth X. you don't want someone in this position who is not at least as good as I am. you may find a few folks better than me. none of them will work for less and most will want considerably more. folks willing to work for less will not be as good as I am and will be dangerous in this setting".