Saturated Special Ed markets and work from home ideas

A couple of weeks ago, I landed on a "diamond" of a Speech Pathologist. She is bilingual, has her ASHA certification and a good bit of experience working in schools! I swoon over a resume with those qualifications! The down side to this multi-layered SLP is that she had just moved to Austin, TX. Now Austin, as most people can imagine, is a wonderful city with a vibrant night life, a clean downtown area and a multitude of offerings for both those seeking cultural activities and those who prefer outdoor adventures. There are also more than a few universities within 100 miles of Austin that offer master's programs for Speech Language Pathology. Because of Austin's popularity and the influx of SLP's into the city, there are seldom openings for SLP's through a contract service such as mine. School districts seldom need help finding qualified candidates, as they have them knocking down their front doors.

So....the next layer to this highly qualified "gem of an SLP" who landed in my inbox is that she is licensed to work in three other states besides TX-she is a perfect candidate to deliver services remotely through our tele-services department, VocoVision. We just happened to have a school district in Connecticut that needed an SLP to help them finish out their school year, and CT is one of the states where she holds a current license. So, just after a week of screening and instruction with our VocoVision team, she was ready to go and started work from her home office today!

If you live in one of those markets that has an overload of therapists and few open opportunities (Austin, Nashville, Miami, Birmingham, Boston, etc.), you might consider obtaining a license in a state where we're seeing a need for tele-therapy. A few of the states we are seeing are CA, IL, NM, and WA state. We will walk you through the processes and do our best to get you set up.

Think about a commute that consists of walking from your kitchen to your den, being there when your children arrive home from school, having a write-off on next year's taxes for a home office and...did I mention no commute??? (I live in Atlanta, there's NEVER not a traffic jam on my commute.)

Send me a note, millie.simpson@soliant.com or give me a call, (770) 325-0234 if you'd like additional information on what it takes to get on the band wagon for tele-services!

License, fingerprint and certification, oh my!

Does it seem like getting ready to take a job as a healthcare professional is more and more complicated every week? We in the recruiting industry certainly see it! I'm not sure why all 50 states seem to have their very own requirements in order to practice in their particular state...do the children/patients that one sees change when a state line is crossed? Does your fingerprint change once you've crossed a state line? Does a politician knee-jerk react each time a lawsuit is filed?

Now, I'm not one that loves federal mandates, but it seems that at the very least, neighboring states could enact a bit of reciprocity, but then that particular state couldn't collect your money! Does this all boil down to politics and revenue? I'm beginning to think so! And, this post is merely to "put this out there". Where does one begin to make some changes in this regard? With state governments? With national boards such as ASHA or AOTA? I'm certainly not trying to reduce the protections we have in the medical community, but it seems to me that they could be streamlined and still be effective.

I'd love some feedback, as I am a mere recruiter and I might be totally ignorant of the logic behind the varying requirements on a state-by-state basis. Life keeps getting more and more complicated, and I'm working this year to simplify MY life; might this be a topic with some worth or am I totally off the mark?

Absolutely off subject - Cubs Win!

This is a post that my son wrote on Facebook this morning. I thought it was a great summation of why we all love the game so much. He played baseball from the time he could hold a bat for T-ball all the way through being the "ace" pitcher for his high school team; he even played with an adult league in recent years. (He's 28 yrs old now.) His first word was, of course, "ball", and I can't remember anytime in his youth that we didn't watch the Braves play. Here's his thoughts on the World Series and on baseball in general:


"Why do I love baseball so much? I just watched a 39 year old man hit his last home run ever in game 7 of the World Series. I just watched the life get knocked back into a team by a 36 year old who was barely hitting over .150 this postseason, who crushed a fastball from one of the most feared closers in the game. I watched a runner take out the shortstop on a rough slide into second to break up a double play, only to then watch the shortstop help the runner up and pat him on the back and joke with him. I saw some questionable managing, which many believe caused big momentum swings in the game. Most importantly, I watched two teams who just finished playing the game 162 times during the regular season and 15+ times during the postseason jump around, scream, and play with more emotion, sportsmanship, and respect for their opponent than any Super Bowl or NBA finals I have ever watched. I love the game because the people playing this game love the game, they love their teammates, they love the city they play for. Baseball is the greatest. Can't wait for opening day!"

Working from home jobs for SLP, Psychologist, Sign Language Interpreter!

I'm sure many of you have entertained the notion of "commuting" to your den and foregoing the "party" that is the usual traffic jam each morning. Our tele-practice division is growing by leaps and bounds this year. School districts have a shortage of qualified special ed professionals and are considering the concept of delivering services to their students remotely; we all know that children these days arrive into the world knowing how to use a touch screen!

A few of the requirements to be a part of this ever-growing industry include: a computer less than 5 years old, a good bit of tech skill, license/clearance/certification in both the state where you sit and the state where the student sits, and a good bit of independence in your work ethic.

Some of the benefits include: the aforementioned elimination of driving to and fro (save on gas, oil changes, not to mention missing out on road rages and possible wrecks), being home when your children get home from school, tax write-offs for your home office, etc., weekly direct deposit pay and free training/support from our team here at the office.

Interested? Call me at (770) 325-0234 or drop me an email at millie.simpson@soliant.com.

Some of our current needs are listed below!!!



CA SLP 40 hrs, K-12th grade, ASAP-June 30, must have CTC
CA SLP 24 hours per week, ASAP start!,
CO SLP (2) FT, Full School Year, need DORA and CDE, ASAP Start
CO SLP FT, FSY, must have CDE and DORA
CT SLP 3-4 hours per week, 2 HS students, ASAP Start!
IL Psych Full time, full school year, K-12 caseload, occasional on-site visits
IL SLP FT, FSY, must have active PEL
IL SLP Full School, monolingual, Full School Year
IL SLP Bilingual Spanish, Full Time, Full SY
MI SLI (3) ASAP-ESY, 35 hrs per week, 1 on 1 with HS students,
MN TVI 5 hours, two 11 year old boys, billing client, license and teaching cert.
NM SLP several openings, Full Time, ASAP-ESY, PED can be in process
OH Psych 20 hours per week, ASAP-ESY, license and ODE required
OR SLP 23-25 hours, Early Intervention, FSY
PA TVI Mat Leave, ASAP-October, K-12, PA license and clearances
VA Psych FT, must be able to make on-site visits, 50 evals to be completed
WA SLP Full Time, K-12th caseload, Must have ESA
WA SLP 24 hours, need license and ESA, BR $75
WA Psych 23 hours per week, Full School Year, need ESA

Labor Day weekend

You would think that most school districts would have their staffs totally in place by now. However, especially in Special Education Departments the task seems to never end. Caseloads increase, an Occupational Therapist's spouse gets transferred, the baby decides to arrive 21 days early; the reasons for the gaps are endless.

We also find that there are a few (and let me emphasis a few) folks out there who are still checking out open positions for various reasons. There are several universities with August graduating classes, some therapists/special ed professionals have taken a position that isn't what they thought it might be, others are making an unexpected move to another part of the country.

Staffing services are set up to be that "go between" to assist the schools in finding a perfect candidate and finding a Special Ed professional that perfect job. If you are one of those and would like some assistance in getting some interviews set up, please give me a call (770-325-0234) or send over a resume via email to millie.simpson@soliant.com. I would be humbled to serve as your recruiter!

Here's a sampling of some of our recent school openings:

Bilingual SLP/CFY Houston, TX area

SLP-ccc Shelby, NC area

PT Wisconsin Rapids, WI

SLP Baraboo, WI

SLP-ccc Phoenix and Tucson, AZ

SLP/CFY & OT Santa Fe, NM (will also interview tele-therapists)

OT Albuquerque, NM

School Psychologists Chicago, IL suburbs

You KNOW who you are!

If you are a Speech Language Pathologist, you have chosen an excellent profession, and you probably already know that! The levels of your "value" increase every year you are working in the field and every time you add another skill (vital stim, assistive technology, autism, etc.) You also know that if you are bilingual, you might as well just sprout a horn and call yourself a unicorn or grow a halo and wings because you are rare and beautiful! lol... In addition to your 6 years in school and a 9 month Clinical Fellowship Year, sometimes they just pile on more! Ha!

Having stroked your ego and buttered you up, I'm now going to ask you to call me (770) 325-0234 or send me a resume (millie.simpson@soliant.com) if you have any of the aforementioned attributes. Below are some of our open jobs that we call "unicorn" or "angel" searches:


Bilingual (Spanish/English) - Houston, TX, Chicago suburbs, IL

Experience with AAC devices - Burbank, CA

Experience with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing - Olympia, WA

Knows American Sign Language - Seattle, WA

Has Early Intervention Experience AND is bilingual - Austin, TX


Thanks, Angels!!!

Recruiter calls blowing up your phone?

I'm sure that most of you reading this blog have had your phone absolutely blown up by recruiters for the last......three...or make that three hundred months! Your options are vast for jobs, and you just might be considering being a bit more selective as to which calls you choose to answer. As a recruiter myself, I understand and realize that we sometimes are considered little more than tele-marketers. :-{ Most of us hope that we are bringing something to you that is useful, interesting and financially helpful to you and your situation. But, if you decide to use a recruiter, below is some information that might help you in your decision process. And...if you think I might "be your gal", give me a call at 770-325-0234!

Deciding whether to use a recruiter in your search for employment can be a confusing process at best. There are as many choices in recruiter personalities, styles, offered opportunities, etc. as there are professions out there. The most important aspect is to find someone who has a compatible personality, work ethic and delivers what he/she promises.

First, you might want to understand what drives a recruiter. It may be only money; it may be a desire to help people, it may be pressure from a manager or a combination of any or all of those, which is more likely the case. Staffing firms have a variety of structures to pay their recruiters; some may be straight salary, some may have commission only and others may have a combination of the two. My company falls into the later category, and is very fair; I might say, even brilliant in their pay structure. No one here asks for a raise; they simply help more people find work, and their commission increases.

You will also want to do some investigating of the company itself. Ask the recruiter who owns their company or the name under which they are publicly traded (if they are public) and do a search for their financial stability and years in business. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there are any "dings" or something more serious against the organization.

A really good way to test your recruiter is to ask him/her to call you back on a specific day and see if they follow up. I'm not going to say that I've never made a mistake and forgotten, but a good recruiter will find a way to make good on promises. Once again, finding a good match for your personality is key. You may be someone who doesn't like a lot of "checking in" phone calls, or you may enjoy a weekly conversation to touch base with your recruiter. alk to a few and get a feel for the one that makes you the most comfortable!