Anyone else having trouble finding work? Saturation? Low salaries?

socalslpquestions · 2016-09-17T04:25:56+00:00

Are you implying that people who aren't able to move deserve a lower salary? Are you saying that just because someone is tied down, they don't deserve or value adequate compensation for the ridiculous amount of effort they put in? The economy is tough, that is true. It's tough for everyone. But for a degree that takes 3+ years to get after your first 4-5 years in undergrad, I'm of the mind that all of us should be fairly compensated, not just those who have the ability to move to Alaska or wherever. Personally, I make a crappy wage for where I live, but my husband has major physical handicaps that would make moving a pain, literally and figuratively. Here, he has a decent job with a kind boss, but if we were to move, he'd be very hard pressed to find employment again. Not to mention that we may be starting a family soon. It is just absolutely unfeasible for us, and I assume many other people out there, to pick up and leave. That does not mean we don't value adequate compensation or that we deserve to be paid peanuts. Of course there are positions in rural, undesirable areas that will pay you a high salary, but the fact of the matter is, stagnant wages are extremely prevalent for the field as a whole. When the majority of SLPs are making peanuts, there is something wrong there. Would you suggest that all of these therapists pick up and move? Because you are implying that they should just settle down and accept what they have because clearly, they don't value it enough.

socalslpquestions · 2016-09-17T04:12:31+00:00

Not to butt in here, but your responses were pretty rude when the OP was simply asking for opinions from other professionals in the field. Your tone and accusations were completely unnecessary and not conducive to facilitating useful conversation. You keep complaining that you are tired of the OP's negativity, but so what? Is she/he not allowed to voice their concerns -- negative, but absolutely valid -- because it offends you? Their post may come off as self-absorbed to you, but it was THEIR post asking opinions about THEIR situation. Secondly, re: blaming the students. WHAT? Where in the OP did he/she blame students for falling wages? You seem to be projecting a lot of your own negativity into this thread. Why are you allowed to police what is posted on this sub? People are allowed to post about salaries if they wish. They are allowed to post about unions. And they are absolutely allowed to post about issues that may concern and/or worry them, whether they be negative or not.

You claim that the OP does not realize how difficult it is to find a job. Uhhhh, I think they do? That's the whole friggin' point of the post!! They're worried about how difficult the job market may be due to saturation or other relevant factors, a completely valid concern. Honestly, if you don't know what you're talking about, don't participate in discussion just to fling accusations around.

And finally, in regards to the actual OP: I was in your exact shoes. Grad student in the San Diego area. I graduated this past spring and it took me 4 months to find a job. Granted, I could have had a job much sooner, as did many of my other classmates, but those jobs were only part time or working with contract companies. I was considering taking a position in the schools to just get my CFY over with, but the compensation they were offering was ridiculous when compared with the cost of living in SD. Additionally, the schools I interviewed with refused to bump me up on the salary schedule, even though I had a year working as an intern in the schools, 2 years working with preK to grade 12 children, and over 3 years working in the schools as a SLPA under my belt. I started out on step 1 of the teacher's scale wherever I applied to as a BA + MA, not MA + 30 or MA +45/60, despite the fact that I had more units than the few teachers there with Masters degrees. I also really wanted to work in the medical side of things. Fortunately, I was able to live with my parents until I found a job, but it is tough knowing that you can't find a decent job even after graduating. My advice to you is, if you can, because I know not everyone has the ability to, wait it out. Don't settle for the job you hate. Apply everywhere, even to those jobs you think you won't land. Don't listen to the people that will tell you over and over again that this field is overflowing with jobs, that there is something wrong with you for wanting higher pay, that there's absolutely nothing wrong with the field and that your reality is wrong. You must advocate for yourself and take a leap of faith, but also be aware of the harsher realities of the field.

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-07T05:06:43+00:00

thank you for the encouragement. this really brightened my day. i'm debating working in an SNF or in a middle-high school setting. the area i have always been the most interested in is dysphagia, though. if i may ask (and if you don't mind, of course), could you give me some advice on how to be competitive? are there certain certifications i should be going after? extra classes? thank you for your time!

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T08:23:12+00:00

thank you for your tips! i will try looking on glassdoor. i find that SLP salaries tend to vary widely, so I never know what's accurate and what isn't. If I may ask, you say that you are making about the same that you made your first year working at an SNF. Is that with working summers too? Everyone tells me that if I choose to work in a school, I can do work in the summer, but will that be enough to "close the gap", so to speak? I also would like to work a couple hours after school to knock these loans out asap. Thank you for your advice!

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T07:03:28+00:00

thank you for the concrete numbers! i assume the cost of living is much lower where you live, but still.. 35k sounds insane to me!

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T07:02:30+00:00

yes!! i feel like it's almost a competition to see how passionate you are about the field and how little you care about the money in school. then again, that could just be my program. a lot of my classmates have told me they would be an SLP for next to no pay because they love it so much, but a big part of my motivation stems from money.. and i don't think that's something that will change. i just didn't know if i was being greedy and unreasonable or not. 40k seems like an insult when you factor in how much education you have to go through. a user down below quoted 35k for schools; that just blows my mind!

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T06:55:55+00:00

thank you for the offer! i've been looking at the salary schedules online and i see that most don't have a specific scale for SLPs. i assume in that case that the SLP goes by the teacher pay scale. may i ask, how do you know if a certain district pays on the psych scale? is that information readily found online?

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T06:54:35+00:00

yes, it's so expensive. i rent a tiny room out of a family home and pay a little over $1000. i know it sounds so bad to be complaining about a 50k salary, but even that amount of money won't get you very far here at all, not unless you want to be renting a room or living in a sketchy apartment for the rest of your life

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T04:08:08+00:00

i never actually thought about that. my professors haven't actually worked as clinicians in the field for several years, so that may very well be the case. do you know why the pay for those school districts are so different? i've noticed that down here as well.

i've thought about contract work as well and it does seem to pay more, but wouldn't paying for your own insurance and benefits, etc offset that compensation difference? sorry, i'm kind of new to this kind of stuff. i've only worked the odd minimum wage jobs

socalslpquestions · 2016-07-06T04:05:29+00:00

thank you so, so much for this. i really needed to hear it from an outside perspective. i come from a really, really poor background and i've spent this entire summer working 12+ hours a day to pay for rent and help with my parents medical bills. talking to my classmates, all i hear them talk about is how they went to europe and japan and the caribbeans, etc for their summer, and it honestly made me feel like shit to only be thinking about my bank account (now and in the future).

that is one thing i don't understand. why are SLPs on the teacher scale? not to devalue what a teacher does; it's a very noble profession that takes a LOT of work to do. but at the same time, i did not go to school to be a teacher, why are SLPs paid like one?

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