Considering SLP as a career change - advise please

[thedoctorofsleep]

I have a master's degree in English with a focus in Professional Writing and Literacy Studies.  Since graduating in 2012, I have been floundering between several temporary jobs. I am 31 years old and I am highly motivated to return to school for something that would be of my interest and would put me in line for a real-world career.  I have experience in teaching ELA at a private K-12 school, adjuncting at the college level in both English Composition and ESL, and teaching private one-on-one ESL.  While I don't have the background courses in SLP, I do have background coursework in Linguistics and have experience in teaching pronunciation.   I do have an emergency certification in Second Ed., but I am not particularly fond of having to teach 6-12 General Ed. classes.  I am highly motivated to push myself through a SLP program, but I am concerned about it being too much of an uphill struggle at this point. Even if I do complete a program, I don't want to be stuck in the same situation am I now, underemployed and living close to the poverty line because I can't find suitable work. 

[jmk]

Unless you are only interested in one particular specialty of SLP that happens to have less demand (say you only wanted to work with Mandarin speaking adults with TBI in a South Florida hospital), the usual pediatric range/outpatient jobs are multiple pages of listings long for the cities I have looked at. Also, it is predicted that there will be a growing need for SLP's in the next decade. I would look up the profession and job outlook online, as well as job sites, school district sites, and hospitals to see the need for SLP's in your area. Hopefully, you will be happily surprised. 

At the same time, I have noticed that while jobs are plentiful, a majority of therapists are hired part time in both the school system here (CA), and private practices. The dozen therapists I have observed all piece together 2-3 jobs, such as one in the schools, and one in a private clinic some afternoons. Pay and benefits appear to be good, and they love the flexibility. I am not sure if this is a common practice among other locations or populations- these were all pediatric therapists. 

I would also advise you return to school. The small handful of friends I have that majored in English as an undergrad, or even continued onto a Masters program all went a different route from English. One even became an SLP! She went through Utah State University's three year program, and had no ComDis prereqs done before starting. 

Edited November 10, 2015 by jmk

[thedoctorofsleep]

I am in the Philadelphia area and would love to stay in this area.  I desperately want to move in a different route from English.  I am tired of stringing together a bunch of part-time, temporary jobs, just to scrape above $20k a year. With my prior master's, I wonder if I would be a viable candidate for a SLP program. I don't care how rigorous the coursework will be, I am willing to dedicate 100% of my effort to it. 

[CBG321]

Go do some shadowing first!   Go see if this job in particular is what you want to do, I definitely say return to school or work on changing career paths but I did not see much at least in this post on why you want to be an SLP except it has good job prospects...to get in you need to know why you want it.  If you shadow and fall in love with the career go for it.  Maybe make an appointment with a career counselor there are more options than you think, explore them all and follow your passion!  

 

[thedoctorofsleep]

NEWSFLASH - Career paths will good job prospects are becoming the holy grail in this country.  But it's not all about the job prospects. It's finding something I would enjoy doing everyday and making a decent living at it.  With my current job, I do a lot of language training with English Language Learners from beginner to advanced. There is also the intrinsic reward in that I am providing a service that directly improves the quality of life of others. I also love the fact that is isn't a typical 9-5 job where I am sitting in a cubical crunching numbers. Consequently, I haven't made any real money just with my English degree.  Last year, I grossed $18k and this year I am close to $22k. I also feel like I've hit the glasses ceiling in my current line of work. If I were to choose career solely on job prospects, I would have gone into nursing, or accounting, or computer science, but I was never passionate about any of those careers. I want to continue to work in the field of language and communication, but outside of academia and other temporary subcontracted jobs. This is why I am inquiring about of the SLP field. 

[Jolie717]

1 hour ago, thedoctorofsleep said:

NEWSFLASH - Career paths will good job prospects are becoming the holy grail in this country.  But it's not all about the job prospects. It's finding something I would enjoy doing everyday and making a decent living at it.  With my current job, I do a lot of language training with English Language Learners from beginner to advanced. There is also the intrinsic reward in that I am providing a service that directly improves the quality of life of others. I also love the fact that is isn't a typical 9-5 job where I am sitting in a cubical crunching numbers. Consequently, I haven't made any real money just with my English degree.  Last year, I grossed $18k and this year I am close to $22k. I also feel like I've hit the glasses ceiling in my current line of work. If I were to choose career solely on job prospects, I would have gone into nursing, or accounting, or computer science, but I was never passionate about any of those careers. I want to continue to work in the field of language and communication, but outside of academia and other temporary subcontracted jobs. This is why I am inquiring about of the SLP field. 

Newsflash - lol - how did you bold that?  Joking aside, you sound like your background makes you an amazing candidate (two friends in my program have a very similar background - one a grad student and the other an undergrad).  You mention being worried about an uphill battle.  What part is uphill for you?  Managing to work while studying?  Or increasing your student debt? Or the crazy competitiveness in the SLP field?  Or your age?  All of those are concerns for me but I'm making it work - so far, knock on wood!  

If you haven't already you should check out ASHA's EdFind and compare your stats to the schools offering programs in your area.  Unfortunately it can be a lot tougher to find a good number of schools that are a good fit when you limit yourself geographically.  You might also try to research programs that seem to favor out of field applicants - I've heard this isn't unusual at all.  

[Jolie717]

Oh - and to answer the other part of your question you should definitely be able to make more money as an SLP than you are making currently.  Check the post graduation employment rates of the programs you are interested in and also check out the job listings in your area.  I know my MIL was making $70K per year working for LAUSD (I'm sure she started off lower, but still).  And I believe she charged $125 per hour for private clients and something like $200-300 for testing and assessment.  That's Los Angeles however, so it will vary by area of course.

[thedoctorofsleep]

58 minutes ago, Jolie717 said:

 You mention being worried about an uphill battle.  What part is uphill for you?  Managing to work while studying?  Or increasing your student debt? Or the crazy competitiveness in the SLP field?  Or your age?  All of those are concerns for me but I'm making it work - so far, knock on wood!  

ALL OF THE ABOVE     

If you haven't already you should check out ASHA's EdFind and compare your stats to the schools offering programs in your area.  Unfortunately it can be a lot tougher to find a good number of schools that are a good fit when you limit yourself geographically.  You might also try to research programs that seem to favor out of field applicants - I've heard this isn't unusual at all.  

What about distance learning programs, even if I have to pay more in tuition?  I am not sure how feasible it would me for me and my wife to just pack up and relocate to another part of the country.  

  

 

[thedoctorofsleep]

And when I say distance learning, I am referring to actual regionally accredited brick and mortar university that offers an online option.

 

Edited November 11, 2015 by thedoctorofsleep

[thedoctorofsleep]

8 hours ago, jmk said:

I would also advise you return to school. The small handful of friends I have that majored in English as an undergrad, or even continued onto a Masters program all went a different route from English. One even became an SLP! She went through Utah State University's three year program, and had no ComDis prereqs done before starting. 

How long did it take your friend to complete those undergrad prereqs? 

 

[Jolie717]

1 hour ago, thedoctorofsleep said:

 

My school (CSUN) has an online program - I believe it was the first online SLP program in the US.  I think their tuition is the same whether in or out of state, so it's probably not too expensive as far as SLP programs go.  It's a Cal State not a private university.  I'm not sure they really advertise this much, but in the past if you are admitted into their online Certificate of Pre-CDS and you manage a 4.0 you gain automatic entrance into the online Master's program.  That might be more of a time commitment though - the pre-CDS takes two years and the online masters takes three.  Utah State University also has a distance program as well - a few of my classmates who were out of field took leveling courses there.  U of Wisconsin Eau Claire is another one.  If you dig around these forums you should be able to find more.

[thedoctorofsleep]

Are you currently working and taking courses?  If so, how are you balancing both? 

[Jolie717]

14 minutes ago, thedoctorofsleep said:

Are you currently working and taking courses?  If so, how are you balancing both? 

I work a 12 1/2 hour shift at my hospital once per week (I'm a Respiratory Therapist) and I try to work a ton during winter and summer break.  Because of this schedule, balancing work and school is easy - balancing school and family is not, however.  I'm a mom of two boys - and my hubby ends up with a lot of the parenting workload.  I still manage to volunteer at their school a few hours per week and I also started shadowing two SLPs this semester for about four hours per week.

You just have to be very disciplined with studying - I feel like every minute of my day is scheduled.  So my social life has taken a huge hit, but I know it will be worth it in the long run.

[smslp]

I agree that you are an excellent candidate, and can speak a bit regarding your question about online learning.  I am currently a grad student attending the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's part-time online program (fully accredited by ASHA).  I also work full-time as an SLP (grandfathered in before a master's was required in MN) for a public school.  To be honest, balancing the workload is a challenge.  As Jolie717 said, every minute of the day is scheduled and packed full!  The curriculum is rigorous and the faculty is top-notch!  I couldn't be happier with this program.  We have cohort members from many states.  Wishing you all the best if you chose to enter this exciting and rewarding field.

[Crimson Wife]

Frankly, I would advise doing the training to become an Academic Language Therapist first as it's much shorter and cheaper than SLP. Certified ones in my neck of the woods charge $100/hr., and even though that is gross rather than net, you'd still be making decent take-home pay. https://www.altaread.org/membership.asp

If you decide that you really want to do SLP, you could presumably finance the post-bac coursework through working as a CALT.

[Future SLP]

http://www.futureslp.com/2015/10/summer-and-online-speech-graduate-programs/

Check this out - I have put together a list of summer and online SLP programs that may be what you are looking for. I am currently working full time as an SLP and going to school during the summer. It works out perfectly because I can pay my tuition without increasing debt, we've kept our house and our jobs, and a lot of the work is online or requires short trips to the campus. I also started out in another field and ended up changing directions because my job just wasn't making me happy. I probably wouldn't have been able to make this happen if they didn't offer these non-traditional type programs! 

I agree what smslp said - the programs are excellent and the professors are top-notch. My favorite thing is that the cohorts are made up of people from incredibly varied experiences and of different ages. Your classmates are a wealth of knowledge! 

In terms of balancing work, life, an school... you can make it happen My boyfriend just went through a super intense master's program that was packed into a year while working full time. It was a little stressful not spending time together, getting behind on things, and basically having no life BUT remember that it is not for forever and if it leads to a better quality of life for you and/or your family then just keep truckin' forward! 

 

***Check out our NEW web site for future SLPs! http://www.futureslp.com. Like us on Facebook and help grow this community as a place to share experiences and find information and support while navigating the undergrad and graduate world of communication sciences and disorders! ***

[thedoctorofsleep]

On 11/11/2015 at 10:10 AM, Crimson Wife said:

Frankly, I would advise doing the training to become an Academic Language Therapist first as it's much shorter and cheaper than SLP. Certified ones in my neck of the woods charge $100/hr., and even though that is gross rather than net, you'd still be making decent take-home pay. https://www.altaread.org/membership.asp

If you decide that you really want to do SLP, you could presumably finance the post-bac coursework through working as a CALT.

What jobs can I get as a CALT as opposed to a SLP?  

[Crimson Wife]

18 hours ago, thedoctorofsleep said:

What jobs can I get as a CALT as opposed to a SLP?  

The academic language therapists I know have their own private practices and get more inquiries than they have available slots. A CALT with a master's in special ed could work as a reading specialist in public or private schools.

SLP focuses on speech and oral language whereas ALT focuses on written language (both reading and writing). SLP's can get ALT certification if they go through the reading intervention training. I most likely will do so at some point. But a CALT who wants to add SLP to his/her practice would need to go get a master's in SLP. That's why I decided against doing the M.Ed. in Educational Therapy that I was in the middle of applying to last winter when we discovered my daughter's hearing loss.

ETA: Here is more information about ALT/ed therapy: https://www.aetonline.org/CareerInET.html

Edited February 3, 2016 by Crimson Wife
Adding info

[thedoctorofsleep]

The thing is, I don't have a master's in Special Ed.  I would need to research how marketable a CALT certification would be versus a SLP degree.  Plus, I would also need to analysis the time of completion and cost of both routes.   

I am at the crossroads of my professional life. Right now, it's easy for me to find contracted work as a tutor, but the income isn't stable. Last year, between college teaching and independent tutoring, I grossed around $20k.  I am working towards finding a career that's enjoyable and comes with a steady income.  Fortunately, my wife is working a 9 to 5 job, but I eventually want to become the breadwinner of the family.  

[Jolie717]

2 hours ago, thedoctorofsleep said:

The thing is, I don't have a master's in Special Ed.  I would need to research how marketable a CALT certification would be versus a SLP degree.  Plus, I would also need to analysis the time of completion and cost of both routes.   

I am at the crossroads of my professional life. Right now, it's easy for me to find contracted work as a tutor, but the income isn't stable. Last year, between college teaching and independent tutoring, I grossed around $20k.  I am working towards finding a career that's enjoyable and comes with a steady income.  Fortunately, my wife is working a 9 to 5 job, but I eventually want to become the breadwinner of the family.  

Here is the link for the CALP/CALT credentials:

https://www.altaread.org/membership.asp

(you don't need a master's in SPED, just a bachelor's from an accredited institution, no specific major listed)

 

Edited February 15, 2016 by Jolie717