Matt’s move from the massage table to the classroom

“I had been in the industry for a while before getting my Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122) and joining TAFE Queensland — I just felt like it was time for a career change, and a good friend of mine who worked within TAFE Queensland, always raved about working here,” Matt said, explaining his decision to move into teaching.

“I still work in the industry however — I have clients who’ve I've seen for almost 20 years who’ve stuck with me.”

“Remedial massage is a big passion of mine — its core value is to help people, and there's no way I could give it up. My cup gets filled by helping people, so I enjoy the balance of teaching and still treating,” added Matt.

Matt emphasises that in the massage industry it’s important to possess a genuine desire to help others.

“I think at the surface level, we can always teach the technical skills, but at that foundational level, I think you really do need to have that ‘care factor’ of wanting to help people,” Matt explained.

“And if you've got that, you will find fulfillment in the industry and you'll have a great career. You'll enjoy what you do every day,” he continued.

Matt believes that a massage qualification can lead to a wide range of career pathways, not just as a therapist but as a business owner.

“There are many career opportunities in this field — you can keep it nice and simple, working in a clinic where you turn up, look after your clients, write up their notes and then go home and relax for the day,” Matt shared.

“There are a lot of people who like to use remedial massage as their ‘side hustle’ — do a few hours a week, but, you can equally grow this into something bigger — you can grow your own clinic, or can even own multiple clinics.”

“You can work among sport teams, you can work in gyms, you can work in multi-modality clinics with physiotherapists and chiropractors. You can work in the relaxation space. You can even work on cruise ships.”

“Honestly, once you've got your Diploma of Remedial Massage (HLT52021), you're only limited by your imagination,” Matt enthused.

Massage therapists can also move into the sporting side to the industry and work with elite athletes.

“If you want to get into sports massage, the best way to go about it is to join the Certificate IV in Massage Therapy (HLT42021) or Diploma of Remedial Massage,” Matt advised.

“Once you've got that under your belt, you really have so many options — the scope is quite wide.”

“Sporting teams are always looking for good therapists and TAFE Queensland gets you well and truly ready to ‘tackle’ that side of things.”

“As long as your underlying core value is to help people, then we can help with the rest of that,” said Matt.

Following his transition into a career with TAFE Queensland, Matt has enjoyed many rewarding moments with his students.

“When I see students treating clients and the client comes out of a treatment, feeling fantastic, you can see the student gets a real buzz out of that,” Matt said.

“Also, in working with a big organisation — pardon the pun — you’ve always got someone who ‘has your back’.

“You come in and you've got a lot of people around you who are similar, like-minded individuals that have got into teaching because they want to make a difference.”

When it comes to job prospects for massage therapists, job security is high with Jobs Queensland anticipating the occupation with grow by more than 14% over the next four years.

“We've got a lot of clients out there looking for good therapists and graduates will always find work out there,” offered Matt,

“It's an industry that's been around for a thousand years, and it will always stay around leading to plenty of opportunities.”