Speech Language Pathology as a career

If you are considering a career as a Speech Language Pathologist, let me be the first to congratulate and encourage you!  You have chosen a profession that is very much respected, in great demand and is very rewarding.

I would, though, like to share some of the feedback that I, as a recruiter,  have heard about a few pitfalls that occur as you follow the path to reach that ultimate goal.

1.  Universities fail to tell you that your bachelor's degree in Speech Pathology will reap you very few opportunities in the field.  I take at least one call each month with an unemployed,  frustrated SLPA on the other end.

2.  Your graduating class could have 200+ walking with you to receive that paper representing your four very hard years of work.  However, your university's master's program is accepting only 25 of you! 

3.  Some master's programs require that you have a job as an SLPA as a prerequisite to acceptance, but very few facilities/schools will hire SLPA's.  (Which comes first the chicken or the egg?!!!!)

4.  After you have been accepted and completed your master's program, you then must find employment that provides a bona fide supervisor for your nine months of a clinical fellowship year.  This usually isn't an issue if you are working in a school setting.  However, if you are dead-set on a medical setting, you will find that very few facilities are willing to hire a new grad.  Some are lacking the proper supervision, some don't have time to mentor a new grad, as they are tied to productivity levels, and some won't risk a new grad handling swallowing issues.  Your university also doesn't give you a "head's up" about this snag.

5.  If you do find a medical facility (especially if it is a skilled nursing facility), you may find that your assigned supervisor is difficult to keep up with and you may find yourself having to hunt him or her down to get the proper documentation to submit to ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association).  The supervisor will have their own caseload and are sometimes in a different location from your work site.

Having said all of that, I can tell you that once you finish jumping through all the hoops, you are golden!  The job market is plush and you will be compensated fairly, be it as a permanent employee or as a contract or traveling therapist.