SEIT or office job-WWYD?

amother ↓

Fri, Jan 01 2010, 9:55 am

I work in an agency office, similar to Yeled V;Yalda, recently got my degree so I can do SEIT, but am scared to leave m 9-5 job as there are not so many SEIT jobs out there and they are iffy-child can move out of town, mom can decide she wants another therapist, child can go into special class and no longer need SEIT. Althought the pay is great, cases are not a constant. So I've got my degree and am absolutely paralyzed as I cannot affort to be even a week without a pay check-could lose my home etc. If I'm ever out of a case, everything in my life can fall apart. Maybe I should have not gotten the degree, then no dilema.....How does one leave a nine to 5 job for an independent contractor job such as SEIT?????

octopus

Fri, Jan 01 2010, 11:20 am

SEIT is great if you want to do something part time- it is very, very difficult doing it to earn a full time salary. There are so many "ify" factors- you have to drive there, look for parking, inclement weather can be problematic, child has to be there and not absent- if you are depending on it- it might not be what you should be doing right now. you have your degree- if you need those long hours why are you not looking for a classsroom job? Is it because the pay is not worth it? What about ABA- did you look into that. I hear that an hour of ABA (sort of like SEIT) you get paid $80 a session. But you have to go for the special training- but I hear that it is in high demand.

↑ amother ↓

Thu, Feb 04 2010, 4:55 pm

There are agencies that pay a set salary for SEIT. I know of someone who works for one in Brooklyn. This way you always have steady salary coming in. Of course, you can't be picky about your caseload. My friend is not always so happy with her schools (location and student body) but overall she is very happy with her job. You can respond here if you want me to find out the name of the agency.

What would I do? I would try to find a job in such an agency, and then quite my office job. You obviously got the degree for a reason - either b/c you thought it had the potential to make more money, or it's a field that you enjoy more, etc. Go for it! (And I think that you will end up working fewer hours than 9-5 daily. Good Luck!

↑ amother ↓

Sat, Feb 27 2010, 10:34 pm

octopus wrote:

(coming from someone who does this for a living)
Pay starts at $60 and goes higher than SEIT, but it's much tougher than SEIT - I've done both. It IS in very high demand, but the case stability is no better than that os SEIT - the child can move, age out, be discharged (less common) or begin a centerbased program, aside from being sick, or your own child being sick.
Plus, with SEIT you can usually get a full caseload to be done in 1 or 12 schools to make it easire. Not really with ABA - I never had that. So you're also driving around looking for parking every 2 hours (or 1 hour if you do a 1 hr session). And the big issue is naptime. These kids are little, so you have to work around a 2-3 hour nap.

↑ amother

Sat, Feb 27 2010, 11:32 pm

I'm a SEIT. I love my hours but b'h we don't rely on my paycheck. One month I can make 2,000 the next month if school is closed for ten days and mom doesn't want me coming to the house then I make 1,000 the next month. I'm lucky enough that I can make up hours but that's b.c I don't have too many hours to begin with. Soon it will be Pesach and school is closed for two weeks. You gotta weigh the pros and cons. Good Luck!