1. What exactly do you do?
- What field is your job in?
Speech-Language Pathology - What is your job title?
Speech-Language Pathologist - Please provide a brief description of the firm or organization that you currently work for (size and general description of what type of organization it is)
I work for a private school serving children from 2-21 requiring services such as Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy.
- How long have you been employed in this position?
5 years - How many hours do you work a week on average?
40+ - Please provide a BRIEF description of your duties and responsibilities. (job description)
40+ - Please provide a BRIEF description of your duties and responsibilities. (job description)
I see children from ages 2-19 during the school day for speech therapy either in the classroom or in a therapy room. I help them to generalize these new skills to their everyday lives and in the classroom.
- What was your gross income last year? Please include any bonuses or incentives received.
65000 - What is your expected gross income for this year? Please include any bonuses or incentives you expect to receive.
65000 - Please list any benefits you have (Please include number of weeks vacation, sick leave and type of health insurance, retirement plan 401k)
Health care, dental care - Do you feel you are under/well/over compensated at your current position?
Compensated for the amount of work I do, but could be compensated more.
2. Work environment!
- Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Explain
Yes, I work with children/students of a variety of ages. I also work with teachers during the day as well as office staff. I enjoy being around other people and feel it helps ground me in my work.
- Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
- Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes - Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it
I work in a school where I have a therapy room that also functions as office space. I don't mind working in my office space to treat kids, but my school is old and is not in the best shape.
- Please rank in order of importance from 1-8 (1- most important 8- least important) Assign each number once.
- 3 Income
- 8 Work Environment - co-workers
- 7 Work Environment - supervisors
- 4 Benefits
- 2 Hours
- 5 Level of responsibility
- 1 The actual "work" you do at your job
- 6 Job Title
3. How should someone new to the workforce get a J-O-B like yours?
- If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Take classes at a preferred college undergrad related to communication disorders to see if you think it is the career path you want. Ask other people you know in that career if you can shadow them for a day to see if you think you would enjoy this career.
- What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours? Please be specific and explain why (e.g., social skills, organization skills, technical skills)
You will need to have very good social skills and interpersonal skills, since you are constantly in contact with people and using communication as a career.
- Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes, having a Masters degree is very important, and keeping up with training is very critical. - What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Remember some things you learned in Grad school, but also remember that the real world is not the same as they taught you in grad school. You don't know everything out of school and need a few years to take it all in and find your "groove".
4. How did you get your J-O-B
- How did you find your current job? (e.g. newspaper, internet, referral, etc.)
A trade magazine related to my career. - What was the application process for your job? (e.g. submitted resume, paper application, electronic application, all, etc.)
Submitted a resume and had a personal interview. - Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail? (e.g., number of interviews, who you interviewed with, group interview, individual interview, etc.)
Yes, I met the owners of the school and the head therapists. It was a group interview where they all asked me a variety of questions related to the work at the school. - If you can remember, what questions were you asked at your interview?
I cannot remember specific questions, but they were related to why I wanted the job, what I though the job involved and how to deal with certain kids and situations related to the job. - Is this the job / field you planned to work in?
Yes - If your job is in a different field from your original plan how did you get here? Explain (Plan can be from high school/college/post college/personal plan)
In high school, I thought I would go into a career such as marketing in the clothing industry and after a year of bible school, I realized that I would rather be in a career that would help people. After a few other schools, such as getting a general ed degree in University and graduating with a travel counselor degree, I could not find work and decided I needed to choose a job I know I would find work doing when I finished school. I decided on being a Speech-Language Pathologist and began my schooling in the US and continued on working in the US after college.
5. Background: Are you qualified?
- Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Only a little related to the paperwork, scheduling, writing reports and billing. More for things that were exclusive to the school where I work. - Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain
Not as well as would have initially liked. In some ways I felt thrown into the position and had to ask too many questions to make it through my first year there. But I was able to get a better handle of my job with experience and gaining confidence in myself. - Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain
For the most part it helped me work on theory and the overall important areas of my job. There are many things in my job that you learn with personal experience and learning by making mistakes and learning from other peoples. - If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare you for your job?
6. The Future and Beyond (FINAL SECTION)
- If someone were to observe you at work, what would he or she say is "fun" about your job?
That I am able to interact with kids in a "play" setting and I can use toys to help children increase their ability to communicate. - What is (are) the most fulfilling aspect(s) and least fulfilling aspect(s) of your current employment? (e.g. fiscal, spiritual, type of work, hours, commute, compensation, etc.)
It is very fulfilling when you work with a child who begins at a level where they are not able to talk or communicate and they leave our school with the ability to express themselves and have their wants and needs met. It can be very unfulfilling having to do paperwork related to therapy, it can be tedious and may be overwhelming to keep up and not get backed up. - Is your current employment part of your career plan? Why or why not?
Yes, I hope to do what I do for a long time, and hope to get more experience working with younger kids and find a way to incorporate my experience into other venues, such as managerial/ownership. - What are your current career goals? (Can be broad or specific)
Stay working with younger children in a preschool setting, but gain experience in other areas, such as obtaining training in parent training, and using new cutting edge therapy techniques in therapy. - Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
There is a critical shortage of Speech-Language Pathologists and is a career that can be very fulfilling. This career is very fulfilling in the sense that you are able to help increase many people's ability to communicate with the world around them.
7. A Day in the Life Of...
- 7 am - 8 am
At this time of day, I am still getting ready for my work day, making my lunch and taking care of general grooming. By 7:30 AM, I need to be in my car leaving for work, since it takes at least 30 minutes to get to work. Traffic is not usually too bad, and I listen to the radio to help keep me entertained, on track and ready for the day. I generally work at the preschool side of our campus, so this is where I park my car. - 8 am - 9 am
At 8:00, I was still in my car, I arrived a little late to work today, around 8:10. Between 8:15 and 8:30, I get together my ipad, paperwork and toys/therapy materials and walk across the street to the K-12 school I work at on Tuesdays. By 8:30, I am seeing my first client for the day, and see him till around 9 AM, we are working on plural /s/ identification. - 9 am - 10 am
At 9:00 am, I see another client for 30 minutes. We are working on identifying he and she in pictures. At 9:30 am I see two girls together for a speech group, they are working on naming categories and also naming items that go into a category. We also play connect 4 to work on language, strategies and problem solving. - 10 am - 11 am
At 10:00, I see a non-verbal boy with Autism, we work on identification of verbs and following directions and waiting, via pointing on the computer. At 10:30, I see another client who is non-verbal with Cornelia DeLange syndrome. He was in a bad mood today and was hard to work with, once settled, he was able to answer at least 10 What questions. - 11 am - 12 am
At 11:00 am, I saw another client for 30 minutes. We worked on pointing to verbs, following directions and some oral motor activities. At 11:30 am, I saw my last client for the morning. We worked on listening to short stories and answering yes/no questions and Wh- questions. - 12 am - 1 pm
- 1 pm - 2 pm
At 1pm, I see a preschooler with possible Autism, who is working on imitating words, identifying nouns and naming nouns. He also needs to work on following directions and increasing use of play (he is not able to play independently or turn take, etc). - 2 pm - 3 pm
At 2pm, I see a kindergarten student, a girl with Autism. I take her in the speech room and we work on identifying nouns in pictures, following directions and increasing her ability to imitate verbalizations. From 2:30 to 3:00, I see a private client at the school, who is a boy with undiagnosed Austism. We work on answering questions, increasing his ability to use language to request and following directions. - 3 pm - 4 pm
At 10:00, I see a non-verbal boy with Autism, we work on identification of verbs and following directions and waiting, via pointing on the computer. At 10:30, I see another client who is non-verbal with Cornelia DeLange syndrome. He was in a bad mood today and was hard to work with, once settled, he was able to answer at least 10 What questions. - 4 pm - 5 pm
I spent some time writing a progress report for a preschool student, creating goals and tracking their progress. I also continued to work on progress notes for the students for the day. - 5 pm - 6 pm
- 6 pm - 7 pm
- 7 pm - 8 pm
- 8 pm - 9 pm
- 9 pm - 10 pm
- 10 pm - 11 pm
- 11 pm - 12 pm