The diaper thing clearly bothers you; you’ve posted about it before. Don’t take the job if you aren’t desperate.

At that phase in your career you need to be more focused on who you’re working with and what you can learn from them, not the salary. You need to be gaining experience with individuals of different ages, with different learning histories, you need to interact with different families, learn to handle difficult situations, etc. There’s a LOT to learn that they don’t teach you in graduate school.

I say this with kindness, but you don’t know what you don’t know. If you are frightened or put off by a diaper change in a job working with children then you aren’t experienced enough for that particular job. My advice is not to work in a place where you’ll be on your own. Even with a masters degree you aren’t considered an expert in this field yet by any means. You need to have other more experienced professionals (other SLPs as well as OT, PT, BCBA, Physicians, school personnel, etc) that you can learn from. A school, home-based traveling EI program, joint practice, or university might be a good start.

The people you work with are much more important than the salary at least for the first 5-10 years after graduate school. Focus on continuing to learn, surround yourself with people more experienced than you, get a variety of experiences with different clients, and in 10 years you will be able to work anywhere you want and practically name your salary. It’s also a good time to job hop a bit (like every 2-3 years or when opportunity knocks) and find your niche in the field.

My first job out of grad school paid $25 an hour and I had horrible commutes but I focused on learning what I didn’t yet know. Things like interacting with parents and other professionals, writing reports, conducting assessments, IEP process, etc take years of experience to master and I’m still working on some of these. 15+ years later I can charge insurance at least $125/hr for essentially that same job I made $25 for and privately people would pay much more especially for things like assessments. I can also hand pick my clients and choose my own hours- that’s almost better than making more money. It’s not because I have an M.S. degree though, it’s because I have that and years of varying experiences that I gained because I focused on always learning something from someone along the way.

Change your focus OP.

Anonymous wrote:What are the alternatives? Are you getting interviews and good feedback leading you to think there will be a better offer soon? If not, take the job and keep looking.

I've had 2 offers and 4 interviews.
A different offer was for $42 an hour with benefits that are not as good. My dad thinks I should keep looking and give it more time. I did not get a master's degree to change diapers. One of my grad school clinical supervisors also told me to keep looking and said she wouldn't want to change diapers either -- that is not even one of the services we bill insurance for as SLPs.

Anonymous wrote:Masters degree or not, this is the type of field where experience matters more than education and you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

80k is a good salary for an SLP, it’s up to you if you like the job or think that you’ll gain necessary experience to move you to another level.

OP
No, it isn't. Not at all. Seasoned SLPs make a bit more than new grads but this is not a field where experience earns to a much higher salary. New grads should be making around 80k in my area.
36 hours a week is the standard work week. That is full time for this position.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

How?
DD graduated with honors in chemistry. The only jobs she is able to get is in teaching. She’s applied to so m my any places and has not secured a single interview. She even paid about $300 for a professional to reword her resume.

Sounds like she’d be a great candidate for an internship or graduate school.

Scored well on the MCAT but is very worried about the interview process so she doesn’t want to go to medical school yet.
She applied to internships but hasn’t heard anything yet. The career office at her school has been totally useless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

How?
DD graduated with honors in chemistry. The only jobs she is able to get is in teaching. She’s applied to so m my any places and has not secured a single interview. She even paid about $300 for a professional to reword her resume.

Sounds like she’d be a great candidate for an internship or graduate school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

I have a master's in speech pathology. This job offer is for that. I feel like it's degrading to be honest. They asked me to change diapers on top of that (that is NOT the role of an SLP).

I just went through a very grueling master's program. The annual salary tops out at 54k.... I live in a HCOL area.

OP stop focusing on the masters like it's a generic thing. What matters is your field SLP and whether this is a good starting salary for that. And the real question always is what are your alternatives?

What are the alternatives? Are you getting interviews and good feedback leading you to think there will be a better offer soon? If not, take the job and keep looking.

Anonymous wrote:I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

How?
DD graduated with honors in chemistry. The only jobs she is able to get is in teaching. She’s applied to so m my any places and has not secured a single interview. She even paid about $300 for a professional to reword her resume.

Anonymous wrote:Masters degree or not, this is the type of field where experience matters more than education and you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

80k is a good salary for an SLP, it’s up to you if you like the job or think that you’ll gain necessary experience to move you to another level.

+1. But if you will be unhappy then don’t take it and hold out for something better. I absolutely believe most people in your profession and similar deserve more but the market doesn’t always agree. Also, you seem very attached to your credentials. I’m sure you worked hard and paid a lot for them but remember that we live in a society where people rarely value PhDs.

Masters degree or not, this is the type of field where experience matters more than education and you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

80k is a good salary for an SLP, it’s up to you if you like the job or think that you’ll gain necessary experience to move you to another level.

Anonymous wrote:I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

But working far more than 36 hours/week (certainly more in finance, accounting & consulting).

Anonymous wrote:I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

I have a master's in speech pathology. This job offer is for that. I feel like it's degrading to be honest. They asked me to change diapers on top of that (that is NOT the role of an SLP).

I just went through a very grueling master's program. The annual salary tops out at 54k.... I live in a HCOL area.

I had to read your post a couple times to get what you were saying OP
$40 per hour rate is equivalent to around $80K annual
Only you can decide if it is worth it But Kids graduating with BS degrees are making bout that or more.

I have a master's degree (72 credit master degree)

40.37 per hour, 9 hours a day, 36 hours a week.
40 contracted days for April-August


September-August
150 contracted days
40.37 per hour
36 hours a week, 9 hours per day

They asked me to do extra duties outside of the job description as well.
45 minute commute there, 45-1 hour commute in heavy traffic on the way home