Job offers are exciting. A new title, a start date, maybe a number that finally feels real after years of school and subsisting off PB&J sandwiches and late-night, coffee-fueled study sessions… It’s tempting to sign quickly and start planning the move.
But the offer alone really only tells you part of the story. The rest of it, what your actual day-to-day will feel like six months in, usually isn’t written down anywhere. It lives in the answers to a handful of questions that can easily be forgotten when you’re excited (or just relieved) to have an offer in hand.
Here are the questions worth asking before you sign, whoever the employer is.
What does a full caseload actually look like?
“Full-time” doesn’t tell you much on its own. Ask how many patients a day you’ll be seeing once you’re fully ramped up, and whether sessions are one-on-one or overlapping. A caseload number changes everything about your day: how much time you get with each patient, how much charting piles up, and how much of your clinical judgment actually drives the plan of care versus how much the schedule does.
How does the caseload ramp for a new hire?
This one matters more than people expect. Ask specifically: what’s a typical first-month schedule, and how quickly does it build to full? A thoughtful ramp tells you a lot about whether an employer is set up to develop clinicians or just fill schedule gaps.
What does mentorship look like in practice, not just on paper?
Almost every practice will say they offer mentorship, so ask what that actually means. Is there a named mentor? Is time for mentorship built into the schedule, or expected to happen informally between patients? How long does formal mentorship last? The specifics tell you whether it’s a real structure or a talking point.
Is compensation tied to a productivity quota?
It’s worth understanding, plainly, whether your pay or continued employment is tied to a visit quota, and if so, what it is. This isn’t about whether a quota exists. It’s about knowing exactly how it works before it’s already shaping your treatment decisions.
What’s actually funded for continuing education?
Ask for a number, not a phrase. “We support professional development” can mean a lot of things. Ask what the annual or first-year development budget actually is, what it covers (courses, certifications, conferences), and whether it’s available from day one or after a waiting period.
Is there a path to a residency, specialty certification, or leadership track, and what does it take to get there?
If long-term growth matters to you, ask what that path looks like concretely: eligibility, typical timeline, and what percentage of participants actually finish and pass (if there’s a residency involved). Vague enthusiasm about “growth opportunities” is easy to offer; a defined track record is harder to fake.
What does total compensation include beyond base salary?
Base salary is the headline, but ask what else is on the table: sign-on bonus, ongoing bonus structure and how it’s earned, retirement match, and whether there’s any form of loan assistance or equity available to clinicians (not just leadership). These pieces can add up to a meaningfully different total package than the base number alone suggests.
What does documentation time actually look like day to day?
Ask directly: are clinicians typically finishing notes during the workday, or taking them home? What tools or support exist to help with that? This is one of the most honest indicators of whether a schedule is realistically built, or just looks fine on paper.
The short version, to bring into your next interview:
- How many patients a day at full caseload, and are sessions one-on-one?
- What does the first month look like, and how fast does it ramp?
- Is there a named mentor with protected time, and for how long?
- Is pay tied to a visit quota? What is it?
- What’s the actual dollar figure for continuing education, and when does it start?
- What’s the path to residency, specialty, or leadership, and what’s the track record?
- What’s in total comp beyond base: bonus, retirement, loan help, equity?
- Do notes get done at work or at home?
Why We Think This List Matters
We didn’t write this list to be self-serving. These are the questions we’d want a friend to ask before accepting any offer, anywhere. But we’ll be honest: we also think Highbar holds up well against every one of them.
If you’re weighing an offer right now, from us or anyone else, we hope this list makes the decision a little clearer. And if you’d like to see how Highbar answers each of these questions in detail, we’re always happy to talk it through.
Weighing an offer? Let’s talk it through.
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