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Speech pathologists, and related career ideas. Help needed!
I'm a speech-language pathologist who has just moved to a fairly large city where the job market in this area is RIDICULOUSLY slow. There are no jobs, basically, and I have no money or will to buy tests/an office space and go private. I do realise this is a fault in my thinking but I am unemployed and the BF is paying off student loans, which is our priority other than my finding a job. I'm guessing that it's such a small/specific field that noone on here is one, but I thought I'd try 'cause I'm really in need of feeling valued while I'm looking for temp/admin. work instead. So please send me some SLP love if you are one. :-)
While I'm thinking of related careers, does anyone have any suggestions as to potential longer-term job solutions, other than moving? I've thought about school psychologist, but don't want to do yet another 2 years at grad. school for something that's more specific and has fewer jobs even than S-LP. I've also considered human resources, because I can vaguely see how S-LP and HR overlap (analytical skills, good judgment, determining human qualities in assessments/interviews, etc.). However, I'm not sure anyone else would see what these have in common (a lot of people I meet have no idea what an S-LP is). Is that that case, or is it my misperception? I'm also under the impression HR is also hard to break into (what isn't, these days?). So how do people do it? Or should I go back and retrain as something entirely different? I am still slightly bitter about not being able to find a job after 6 years of university (4.0 GPA at undergrad and in the Master's at one of the top grad. schools around) and 2+ years of clinical pediatric work, and I would be worried about not being able to find a job if I retrained (because heck, S-LP was supposed to be in demand!).
My other option, which I'm currently pursuing, is to look at temp. jobs such as admin. (since I'm good at multitasking, working under pressure, report writing) or governmental/public sector jobs. I'm even looking at attending one of those 'help find your direction/re-do your resume/improve your networking skills' workshops (there's a 10 day one near me), but I am not entirely sure how much this would be beneficial. I have contacted anyone and everyone related to the S-LP field in my city (and surrounding cities), have contacted alumni to ask if they know of any jobs... but at the end of the day if there's no budget for it, they can't really help much. In addition, I have a fairly good idea of my strengths, weaknesses, and what I want. So is that likely to help me?
Okay, enough of the rant, and apologies in advance for it. I'm generally calm about the whole thing for now, and am just in need of some direction for finding a solution, so any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
(PS If it helps, I'm not in Texas as my profile shows - if I post where I am, it'll be pretty easy to identify me!)
Re: Speech pathologists, and related career ideas. Help needed!
Have you looking into a traveling SLP position? I work on healthcare/rehab and SLP are very hard to get so we usually source one thorough a agency that places SLPs for 6 week stints in facilities all over the USA.
Good luck!
Hi!
I'm an SLP. I'm sorry this is happening. Everywhere I have looked (about 5 cities) are desperate for SLP's. I noticed things like www.monster.com and local newspapers do not typically post many SLP jobs. For my current job and the one I have an interview for, I found through www.indeed.com It is a website that gathers jobs from all over. Are you unwilling to work with a certain population? I graduated with a girl who listed herself on ASHA and does private in home therapy on the side. She charges $50-100 per session. Let me know if there is anything else I can do.
Best of Luck to you!
I'm sorta surprised. My mom was a 30-year school SLP and was constantly getting mailings and ads practically begging for SLPs, mostly in hospitals, nursing homes, and rehab facilities, and some special education facilities. Have you looked at all those places around you?
I've heard that both HR and guidance counseling are really difficult to break into... I would give being an SLP more of a chance before you sign yourself up for more school and debt.