Saturday, October 26, 2013

Three new therapy jobs this week from my desk!

This was a great week for me, as I received requests from three different Special Ed Departments for assistance to fill some upcoming gaps in staffing this week!

Just to explain a little about how my office operates (and why I'm excited about this past week): There are about 50 recruiters/marketers in my office who make calls to schools trying to uncover open jobs. Most of the time, we are taking a particular professional (OT, PT or SLP) who has indicated that they are looking for a contract or permanent position in a certain area and calling schools around that locale to "sell" that person. We hear a lot of "no thank you's", "we don't use contract services" and "all our positions are filled". And, so often we are merely leaving voice mails in the Special Ed Department; either for the director or the director's assistant. It was so very nice this week to be on the other end of the phone/email to have some of the folks return my calls with a need for my help! ;-}

I received a call from the locations listed below with requests for professional contractors:

1. Tucson, AZ (see my October 6, 2013 post) needs a Speech Language Pathologist to fill in for a maternity leave anticipated to begin in January and go through at least the end of February (could extend, as many maternity leaves do).

2. Grand Prairie, TX, which is situated between Dallas and Fort Worth has an Occupational Therapy need to start ASAP and run through December 20, 2013

3. Reading, PA has two back-to-back maternity leaves starting ASAP to run through mid June, 2014. This is an Early Intervention position for a Speech Language Pathologist requiring some background working with the wee ones and current credentials to work in the state of Pennsylvania.

Call me at 866-874-7390 or send over your resume to me at millie.simpson@soliant.com and I'll catch up with you!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Upcoming SLP need near Minneapolis, MN

We get lots of folks calling us to work in the Minneapolis area, and this opening came in last week. This position is to cover a maternity leave, anticipated to begin the first of January and run through at least the end of March. The caseload is all elementary ages and situated at only one campus.

Anyone considering a move to the area or someone who might have let their MN license lapse would have plenty of time to apply and be granted the SLP MN license. Must be a master's level Speech Pathologist and have a current ASHA certification.

If you (as crazy as it sounds to me) love the cold and snow, this is a really good school district who is looking to begin interviews for this position ASAP!

Send me your resume at millie.simpson@soliant.com, drop me a note with questions or ring me up at 866-874-7390!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Arizona schools' game of chess

First and foremost, does anyone know a Speech Pathologist looking for a school position in the Phoenix area?

In order to work in a school system in Arizona as a Speech Language Pathologist, one must obtain a professional SLP license through the AZ Board of Health, a fingerprint clearance from the AZ Department of Public Safety (separate from the one required by the Board of Health; as if one's fingerprint might change when you walk from one building to another) AND a teaching certificate from the AZ Department of Education. The timeline to obtain all of these expensive requirements can be up to 6-8 weeks.

Now, when a school district calls me and asks me to send them an SLP ASAP, about the only thing I can do is steal a Speech Pathologist from another school district! I envision Arizona schools like a huge chess board where I move one SLP chess piece from one district to another!

There is always a chance that someone on maternity leave might be ready to return to work or someone who has retired might want to return for a temporary assignment....or someone may be planning to move to Arizona and have already put the trifecta of monster-approval-machines to work. However, the odds are low on any of those sweet scenarios.

I'm not just picking on Arizona; I can name several other states who make working in their locale difficult because of requirements (IL, PA, GA, FL, AK...I'm sure there are others). I'm always taken aback that someone doesn't petition ASHA to make things more uniform. Surely the children and their disabilities that one treats in TX or NM (simpler states to obtain credentialing) are no different from the children in AZ or IL! Who makes these decisions-bureaucrats with no concept of what's going on in their state??

OK, enough of my rant. Anyone working in an Arizona school want to make a move across the chessboard??? ;-}