Advice on jobs

[jess5822]

I'm currently working as a direct staff support for a home of adults that have intellectual disabilities. I thought I was going to be working a lot on communication with them but that part is pretty much 25% of it. The rest I am basically a caregiver-- cleaning the house, cooking, helping them with personal management, hygiene, etc. I'm looking into other jobs. I got an interview for an assistant to a teacher at a preschool but I'm not sure if that will better my chances at getting into grad school. I'm kinda having second thoughts about quitting the job search and sticking with the one I have but I'm not entirely sure. Anybody have any advice?

[snoves]

Usually with SLP, having experience in a related field will boost your application but isn't a complete dealbreaker. What those experiences are really important for are as talking points in interviews/personal statements to show that you have gotten skills out of that job experience that can be used in your career as an SLP or in grad school. For example, working with adults with intellectual disabilities, even if you aren't working on communication directly, familiarizes you with a population that you will probably be working with in the future. You now know more about their personal struggles, ways you can be more effective while working with them, etc. and probably have new skills that can transfer over to working with other populations, as well.

 

If you aren't enjoying the work or think that you would learn more relevant skills as an assistant, then I say go for it! Especially if you're interested in early intervention. Honestly either position will looks great on an application and I wouldn't worry so much about it