Good career with a large family?

amother

Sage

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 1:07 pm

mha3484 wrote:

But an experienced SLP can specialize and charge private practice rates that a HS teacher cant. So you didn't waste anything.

Firstly, that would take more years of training and money that I don't have. And opening your own business requires a huge investment of money, knowledge or marketing etc. I got a degree because I'M NOT a businesswoman type and figured it would be safer for me to go the route of getting a degree and I could get a decent job. I didn't think a master's wouldn't be enough.

Secondly, it's very reasonable to expect that after getting a master's degree I should make at least more than people without degrees. That's the point of getting a degree. To get the degree, then be stuck with a low salary, then be told oh just go for more schooling, you need to specialize even MORE, well then this degree is really not worth it.

saltandvinegar

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 1:12 pm

amother Sage wrote:

Omg my jaw dropped.
I'm a speech therapist, I work 5 hours a day 5 days a week and I don't make even close to 70k a year.
What a waste of years of school and 60k in student loans.

lol same. Except my loans are close to 100k Smile

Your previous post hit the nail on the head. I thought a masters would be enough. But I am told to pay more for more courses, more schooling etc. People w/o masters are getting paid more than us so why did I even bother

mha3484

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 1:13 pm

I must live in an alternate reality because I paid $100 a session for my son to have mediocre speech therapy with no real specialty. It was worth it to me because I didnt have to shlep him anywhere after school.

My friend was looking for a therapist around the same time as me and every therapist she talked to started at $100 for 45 minutes and none were that specialized. This was a few years ago and I am sure rates went up since then. To me thats way better then teaching a class of HS girls.

saltandvinegar

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 1:15 pm

mha3484 wrote:

I must live in an alternate reality because I paid $100 a session for my son to have mediocre speech therapy with no real specialty. My friend was looking for a therapist around the same time as me and every therapist she talked to started at $100 for 45 minutes and none were that specialized. This was a few years ago and I am sure rates went up since then. To me thats way better then teaching a class of HS girls.

I believe you have posted where you live before, could be there is such a lack of therapists in your town that you paid $100 for a non specialized SLP. But in NY and NJ no one is paying us privately unless you're really specialized (voice, myofunctional therapy, AAC, stuttering etc)

mha3484

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 1:20 pm

There are plenty of therapists, but we all pay cash or maybe some providers take blue cross because they reimburse better. NY sounds like socialized medicine for therapy because the BOE keeps the rates low but if you leave NY, the rest of the country who gets less generous services from the school districts are used to paying what I pay per hour.

4 patients a day at $125 a session taking 4 weeks off a year is a very decent amount of money in many states. Why scare women off completely?

saltandvinegar

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 1:25 pm

mha3484 wrote:

Easier said than done! Not everyone is able to pick up and leave. NYs COL is extremely high too. So a high COL and low wage with no benefits and no PTO is really quite pathetic for the years and sweat we put into our degrees IMHO.

amother

Viola

Tue, Apr 16 2024, 10:09 pm

The teachers who make above $70,000 for their part-time work are probably the ones with many years of experience. I bet that many of them have masters' degrees as well, if they are in general studies subjects.

I say this speaking as a NY area HS teacher making in the six figures (but I do work full-time).

Being a teacher is an awesome mommy job! I can see my own kids off to their buses in the mornings and pick them up by 4 pm. I have off for all the chagim and for a week before Pesach (hi!) and for ten weeks in the summer. Much of my work is grading and I can do it on my own time, when my kids are sleeping.

The only part of the job that isn't compatible with mommy life is that maternity leave is not directly compensated, and it's hard to do your job well and leave students for months after giving birth. I once came back very soon after a baby was born, partly to get paid in full again and partly because I felt pressure to complete the curriculum (in time for a standardized test).

Thinking of the therapist from the thread that this one spun off from, she could be a teacher only if she managed to time that yearly new baby to summer vacation somehow.

Einikel

Wed, Apr 17 2024, 9:38 pm

amother Grape wrote:

For those posting about software development/engineering, does anyone know who might be currently hiring entry level with significant pay?

Entry level and significant pay don't usually work together

amother

Bluebonnet

Wed, Apr 17 2024, 9:55 pm

amother Sage wrote:

Omg my jaw dropped.
I'm a speech therapist, I work 5 hours a day 5 days a week and I don't make even close to 70k a year.
What a waste of years of school and 60k in student loans.

I'm not a high school teacher, but I have friends who are, and I would like to point out the following:

It takes years to build yourself up to be teaching that many periods a week of high school. Unless you're unbelievably talented and in that case...

Second, there's tons of preparation, particularly the first few years, and also making up tests and marking them, and these are all on your own time. One of my friends calculated that she made about five dollars an hour when she factored in all the hours she actually worked (this was her first year).

Its true that after many years it's a relatively high salary for not that many hours, but really that's after years and years of building up.

I hope that makes you feel better.

amother

Clear

Wed, Apr 17 2024, 10:11 pm

Einikel wrote:

Entry level and significant pay don't usually work together

Some companies have "college hire" programs which have a pretty solid salary and specifically target recent grads. This was how I broke into the field. I suggest building a network on LinkedIn and connecting with other frum developers.
Many companies offer referral bonuses and people are totally open to submitting referrals

amother

Bronze

Wed, Apr 17 2024, 11:27 pm

amother Snowflake wrote:

Hugely. Different practice areas can be very different in terms of skill sets and demands. Also, who you work for makes a huge difference. Even in the same large firm, one partner may treat his or her associates wonderfully, and another may be a toxic jerk. Same with clients. Some are a pleasure to work with, and some are ridiculous.

Always. But my point was that as a solo, law can be a good career for a frum woman, ime. Therefore, those who said they feel law was a mistake, I was looking to clarify if they are also solos. Firm life is a different story altogether.

As a solo, you can choose not to take certain cases or clients, you can not schedule court dates for the morning of your dc's chumash play or the week before pesach. Especially post-covid where many judges, at least in NY are still remote, you can be in court from your living room. The hourly pay is decent, even after subtracting the uncompensated time. Work that involves drafting and research can be done at night when the kids are sleeping, etc.