School/Career Advice

[SweetTooth]

I have a relative, who is in her mid-20’s, that is contemplating what to do with her life. She has a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology, but doesn’t necessarily want to go into that field. She was looking into physical therapy, but after taking the needed prerequisites & applying, she’s looking at least 3 years & that’s if she gets in right away. She doesn’t mind working hard & putting time into a program, but she’s looking for other options, particularly ones that won’t take as long. She’s looking for a job/profession that is stable, flexible (in case she wants to work while raising a family), and decent pay. She has great interpersonal skills and is very social & articulate. She does well in math, writing, & physiology courses, but has had a challenging time with physics. The following are fields that she has considered:
Speech Therapy/Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy
Audiologist
Dietician/Nutritionist
Radiation Therapy
Sonographer
Software Testing
Hospitality industry

If you are familiar with these jobs and can share your thoughts on pros/cons or have others you can suggest, that would be great. TIA!

[lizamann]

Too bad she doesn't like speech path, because that seems to fit her requirements pretty well. My SIL is a speech path and worked full time in a school before her dd came along. Now she does early intervention a couple days a week and makes enough money (she says - I don't know numbers at all.) There is a huge demand for these services, and I bet she could work as much or as little as she wanted while raising her family - so it's pretty flexible. She could even eventually set up a practice in her house and work from home - I know that SIL's best friend (also a sp) plans on doing that someday.

[JElaineB]

I would suggest she contact an academic advisor at a local college or colleges she would consider attending for the additional training she will need for many of these positions. I don't have a huge deal of info at my fingertips, but I was a community college academic advisor until recently (I am now an advisor for pre-pharmacy only) and we had a program in Radiologic Technology. Becoming an radiologic technologist (X-ray technician) is a 2 year program, and depending on where you do it there may be prerequisites before starting. Admission is likely to either be competitive and/or have a waiting list (our school had a 2-3 year wait list). Becoming a ultrasound technician (sonographer) would require additional training (at least one semester or one year, I can't remember which) beyond the radiologic technologist training. Starting salaries around here (midwest) for these positions are in the mid-30's for full-time.

Most dieticians/nutritionists are an R.D. (registered dietician) which at least at the school I work at now is a Master's program. I don't know off the top of my head if it is one or two years, or what the prereqs are, but I know most students doing that do major in Nutrition or similar in college to make sure they have met the pre-reqs. We also have an audiology program as well, but I don't know anything about that.

If she doesn't want to meet with an advisor, if she googles some of these along with the word "university" or "college" she can probably find out prereqs and length of study for these types of programs pretty easily as well. Also if she wants info on salaries, what a job is like, working hours, education needed, possibilites for part-time employment and job outlook, a good website is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook http://www.bls.gov/oco/.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[mskitty]

My recommendation would be to do something in the medical fields. Many schools offer 18-24 month programs to become a registered nurse if you alredy have a bachelors. Some around here even forgive all of the costs if you agree to work at a specific hospital for 2 years. Many nurses start out making 35k a year or better with salary progression to 70k+ within 5 years in a hospital setting. I know lots of moms who work 2 twelve hour shifts or three ten hour shifts a week so they can stay at home most of the week. School nursing positions with summers off are good for those on the mom track but they don't pay as well as clinical positions. If nursing doesn't appeal, I'd still suggest working in a medical field. Hospitals around here keep expanding.. it is one of the few growing segments of the economy.

One of my good friends is a nursing home adminstrator. There are always jobs open in her field and its only going to be bigger in the future as the baby boomers are going to be needing nursing homes in a huge way in the next thirty years. This might be a good fit as the admins need to have great interpersonal skills to deal with the board of directors, donors, employees, aging patients, and their families. They usually manage a multimillion dollar budget and a large staff. Most companies require a masters degree and being licensed. Activity directors are also in demand if you have great interpersonal skills which has more schedule flexibility and doesn't usually require an advanced degree.

I personally would NOT recommend hospitality. Front desk clerks generally start at $7-9 per hour. Many hotels schedule employees 32 hours a week so no benefits. The business is always open so no holidays off because they can be the busiest times of year. Huge amounts of turnover... I helped to open a new all suite hotel in November of 2002. By the time I left in August of 2003 for grad school, 5 of the 8 front of the house staff had already left. It also can be incredibly stressful when your coworkers are noshows, the customers are completely irrational and management thinks you are capable of performing superhuman miracles. If she wants to try hospitality, go for the highest room rate type of place as possible.

Hope that helps...

MsKitty

[buddyleebaby]

I wanted to second the idea of geeting a job in EI.
My mother does EI evaluations as well as direst service twice a week. She clears more working part time in EI than she did working full time as a teacher. I think pay depends on your agency, though.
She chooses her own hours and works as much (or as little ) as she wants.

[KBecks]

There's a really good web site, I think it's with the department of labor??? that has all kinds of information on various careers.

I'd search that one out and then let her read through the descriptions, which include the pay, working conditions, and just a really good sense of what each type of job entails.

[SweetTooth]

Thank you all for your responses. You've all brought up very good points that we hadn't thought of & good ideas for where to research. I will share this info & go from there.
Thank you!

[jhaud]

Between slp(speech therapist) and aud(audiologist). i would say that slp is more flexible. i am an audiologist (currently sahm) and LOVE my job, but i am in a veryspecialized setting - I work for a company that contracts with schools and other agencies that work with birth - school-age. it is the only company of it's kind in the US! my boss is great and when i was able (dh was on nights) i worked 2 days/week. that being said. i think if she enjoys sales (hearing aids) it can be a more flexible field - with more job opportunities. but i do not like the sales part of it... some day i may become more comfortable if need be!

i have also worked as a slp, briefly. though slp was not for me at the time, i see it being much more flexible now. i know slps who work part time. i also know those that have started their own company and do therapy and contract service with employees... there are many settings to choose from also. so as i said, between slp and aud; slp is definately has more options. as do physical and occupational therapy.

good luck to her!

[brittone2]

I think she sounds like she'd enjoy allied health (speech, OT, PT, etc.) but that would mean additional graduate school as you said. I worked as a pediatric PT before DS was born, mostly in early intervention. My first employer was a private practice and I could have had a very flexible, family-friendly schedule for the most part if I wanted to work after having DS. Before I became pg I ended up taking a new job and that employer was NOT supportive of women coming back PT after giving birth. So it all depends, but it is possible to work per diem or one day per week. As an EI therapist, we are out on our own most of the time, so we also screen and work on other areas of development. As a PT, I may have had kids that were delayed in speech but not enough to qualify for services, but that means we still worked on speech-oriented stuff in therapy sessions. Her background in speech could be a huge asset if she goes the OT/PT route (or obviously continues with SLP).

That said, I don't know if *I* personally would have ever gone the 4 year-then-apply-to-graduate school route to be a PT. It is a LOT of school that way, and while the salary is decent, it isn't that high to take on that amount of student loans, etc. (if that would be the case). When I went to school, I was torn between doing premed/med school and doing a PT program. I wasn't sure I wanted to be in school for 8 years so I opted for PT. I could do a 5 year entry-level masters program, which was intense but the whole thing was over with in 5 years total.

Most PT schools are pretty expensive, and many are now going to the clinical doctorate of physical therapy (which is essentially almost the same as what PTs with masters have always done, but with the addition of 3-4 additional courses). Pay has not gone up with the adoption of the DPT (doctorate in physical therapy). I personally would not have wanted to go to school for 7 years, take on that sort of debt, but not make a salary like that of fields that put in similar time like attorneys, MDs, etc. If she is truly devoted to it and KNOWS that is what she wants, she may be willing to do that, but if not, I'd look around some more. For a while the job outlook for PT wasn't so hot because a lot of schools popped up, but with the push to move toward the DPT I think applications have dropped (I know when I was finishing up at my alma mater the number of applicants had dropped a LOT compared to when I applied).

Has she spent much time shadowing therapists in different settings? Maybe she can spend time shadowing a PT, OT, SLP in different settings (hospital, early intervention, outpatient private clinic) to see if anything resonates with her. I know when I applied for PT school many schools wanted to see that you had volunteered/shadowed for a certain number of hours, so that could help her get into school eventually or maybe help her decide it just isn't for her at all.

Also she may or may not know what her long-term goals are (does she want to SAHM eventually, work FT when her kids come along, or maybe not have kids at all) but that is something to consider. PTs in outpatient and inpatient ssettings will often have to work occasional weekends or evenings (evenings are common in outpatient orthopedics for example). Therapists in a hospital setting have to work holidays sometimes. Much of this applies to OT and SLP.

I have a friend who is a dietician at a skilled nursing/assisted living facility and she works VERY long days and also works every other weekend. I don't think the pay is all that high but that may be just her case. I believe she has a masters degree in her field.

If she or you have an PT related questions specifically just email or PM me and I'll try to help :)

ETA: most OT programs (the last time I checked) were still masters programs. I'm not sure if it is possible to do them in 2 years (most of my OT friends have bachelors degrees or did a 5 year entry-level masters similar to my PT program) but that would save her a year of school and quite a bit of money **IF** she has a strong interest in OT. I may be outdated on my info there but it might be worth looking at...

[SweetTooth]

Beth,
Thanks very much for your input. As always, I find your posts so helpful! I know about the allied health field, speech in particular, and I do remember PT & OT schooling being different and with recent changes. I will have her research it some more. Your point about the pay consideration for all that schooling, especially for a DPT, is a good one! I think therapists (& educators) definately don't get paid enough for all that they do & all the education it takes to get there!
Thanks again,