Want a Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist? Ask a Professional

Career Opportunities & Internships
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So…what things will make you a competitive applicant for a masters program in Speech Language Pathology?

  1. A terrific undergrad GPA.
  2. Where required, a great GRE score.
  3. Excellent letters of reference.
  4. Some experience working with people…para educator in the schools, CNA, daycare worker, volunteer perhaps at a senior center or VA place, camp counselor, something that shows you can work well with others. Someone upstream suggested speech therapy assistant. That’s fine, but understand it takes another certificate to do this in most places.
  5. If an interview is offered, absolutely do one! Put your best foot forward.
  6. Completion of the prerequisite courses (check schools of interest to see what those are).
  7. Some flexibility in terms of where you go. As long as a program is fully accredited by the American Speech Language Hearing Association, it meets the standards for their certification. These standards are considered the ones you want to meet.

And here are some FAQs regarding Speech Language Pathology Assistants. Might be a good read.

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Hello! I realize this thread is older, but I would love to ask some questions. :slight_smile:

My daughter is a sophomore linguistics major at Rice and considering what to do next. Grad school for SLP is one possible path she’s exploring. She loves all things language-related, and she will have had phonetics, language acquisition, speech and hearing science and other such classes by the time she graduates. She’ll have to seek out the other prerequisites – I don’t think anatomy of the speech mechanism is offered at her school, along with a couple others. (There is no communication disorders undergrad degree.)

She’s also a singer and is interested in voice-related things. She’s done theatre and has been told that she has the perfect voice to do voice-overs as a side hustle, lol. Plus her younger brother has been in speech therapy for most of his life along with a good bit of myofunctional therapy, so she’s familiar with some of the issues he’s faced (both physical and speech-wise) and the specific treatments he received.

With all of that, it seems like a career as an SLP is a logical step for her – but I worry that she doesn’t necessarily have a passion for it. I think she could work with children – she’s definitely gentle and patient and kind – but she’s also an introvert. She absolutely loves the geeky phonetics/phonology/morphology/syntax part of linguistics, but she doesn’t want to stay in academia forever and teach that, necessarily.

So, here are my questions –

  1. Is having a passion for SLP necessary to pursue this field? Or can it be a practical and fulfilling career for someone who has adjacent interests and skills, but isn’t necessarily an outgoing people person?

  2. Does the rank of the grad program matter much, especially for job placement afterwards?

  3. Is it better to take the gap year to complete prereqs and gain some work experience, or should she try to fit in all the prereqs (if she can find them) during her undergrad years to try to go directly into grad school?

  4. In addition to shadowing an SLP, what kind of summer internships should she look for during undergrad? (She spent this first summer studying Italian in Rome.) She does have a tiny bit of experience teaching music to 2- and 3-year-olds in an early childhood music program.

  5. Are there any HIPAA restrictions with shadowing? A couple of my son’s former SLPs are friends of mine. Is it okay to just ask them if they allow someone to shadow? My son still sees an SLP currently in his public high school. Is it okay to ask that person as well? Do speech therapy private practices offer “internships” for students just interested in the profession?

  6. Does being licensed in one state easily transfer to most states in the US?

  7. Does everyone that goes to grad school for SLP work as a speech therapist, or are there other avenues (research?) with the master’s degree?

Thank you for this thread – I hope it isn’t too late to ask questions!

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it is a great initiative! Connecting with professionals in the field can provide valuable insights and guidance for anyone interested in pursuing a career as a Speech-Language Pathologist. You can reach out to experienced practitioners, ask questions about the profession, and gain valuable advice to help you on your career path.

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I am an SLP and will try to answer your questions.

  1. Is having a passion for SLP necessary (daughter is not an “outgoing people person”)? Well, I will say that I had a huge passion for this field during undergrad, and I am also not an outgoing people person. I need my alone time etc. I do not think there is a right or wrong answer to this question, as everybody is different. Some people need passion, while others might not. I do think there should at least be an interest.

  2. Rank of graduate program does not matter. Programs will/should be approved by ASHA.

  3. Should she take a gap year or not? What about prerequisites? Again, this depends on the individual. There is no right or wrong answer. A positive to taking a gap year is that she can volunteer/shadow/speak to SLPs and decide whether she is interested. As far as prerequisites, make sure it is ok with the school to take classes that are not part of a communication disorders and sciences Dept (ask). It seems your daughter took classes outside of these departments and I do not know how that works.

  4. Shadowing is good, as well as volunteering, doing informational interviews with SLPs, etc. She should speak to people in various settings. Some students work at a camp.

  5. HIPAA restrictions? Yes. She needs to ask each facility, school etc. This does not mean that she cannot shadow, but she should research the policies.

  6. Does your license transfer? Many states have reciprocity, but it is possible that some do not. I have not checked recently.

  7. Are there other avenues with a masters? I know an SLP who now works for Google, and others who work for testing companies. I do not know how easy it is to get these jobs (I don’t know many who have them). I will say that SLPs work in a variety of settings and it is common to switch.

I would have your daughter look at the ASHA website (American Speech Language and Hearing Association).

Good luck and let me know if you have other questions

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Thank you so much for all of this! I’ll share your responses with her. As far as #3 goes, she took or will take the classes I mentioned (phonetics, language acquisition, speech and hearing science) as part of her linguistics major – surely they will count? I know it’s not uncommon to go from linguistics to SLP.

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It may or may not count- I honestly do not know. Everybody I know who took speech prerequisites took it through the dept of communication disorders and sciences. Linguistics is a prerequisite class that can be taken through the linguistics Dept, chemistry prerequisite through the chemistry dept etc.

Speech/language prerequisites include (depending on the program) phonetics, anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism, intro to speech pathology, intro to audiology etc. I don’t know how anybody can take all of these classes outside of a dept of communication disorders. I would direct these questions to the programs of interest.

I just looked at my graduate program and linguistics is not a required prerequisite.

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I’ll try to answer as well.

  1. Is having a passion for SLP necessary to pursue this field? Or can it be a practical and fulfilling career for someone who has adjacent interests and skills, but isn’t necessarily an outgoing people person?

I think you need to want to work with other people. That is the key ingredient. As an aside, one of my grad school cohort was a voice major as an undergrad. His goal was to work with vocalists, and actors to help them with good vocal hygiene so they would not lose their voices. Or if they did, to help them with their rehab. He was very successful!

  1. Does the rank of the grad program matter much, especially for job placement afterwards?

as noted above, go to a program that is accredited by the American Speech Language Hearing Association. The standard for accreditation is a high one and guarantees the student will be able to get the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence…assuming they pass the praxis exam, and complete their supervised clinical fellowship year.

  1. Is it better to take the gap year to complete prereqs and gain some work experience, or should she try to fit in all the prereqs (if she can find them) during her undergrad years to try to go directly into grad school?

personal choice on this one. There are also programs that are typically three years in length and students do their prerequisites outstanding during the first year. I know a student at UConn doing this now.

  1. In addition to shadowing an SLP, what kind of summer internships should she look for during undergrad? (She spent this first summer studying Italian in Rome.) She does have a tiny bit of experience teaching music to 2- and 3-year-olds in an early childhood music program.

** I think any kind of job where she is working with others would be good. If she wants to work with children, summer work at a day care or school would be good (likely as a teaching assistant). If she wants to work with senior citizens, work as something like a CNA would be good experience. Really, any job where she is involved with others would be good.**

  1. Are there any HIPAA restrictions with shadowing? A couple of my son’s former SLPs are friends of mine. Is it okay to just ask them if they allow someone to shadow? My son still sees an SLP currently in his public high school. Is it okay to ask that person as well? Do speech therapy private practices offer “internships” for students just interested in the profession?

you can ask any SLP if you can spend a day or longer shadowing them. There will be some discussion of confidentiality. When I had students shadowing me, I didn’t have an issue…but I did let my parents know that this was going to be happening and got written permission for their child to be observed. Parents also could opt out. If your daughter is no longer a college student, I think this is just a conversation to have with the SLP who she might want to shadow. The profession is a huge shortage area, and most SLPs really want to help and encourage prospective clinicians.

regarding internships…there might be some private practices where a prospective SLP can do something but it would not be speech language therapy in any way…which requires a license.

  1. Does being licensed in one state easily transfer to most states in the US?

usually. If the SLP has the Asha CCC, this is the same criteria as licensing in most states. So moving from state to state could be easier. Some states do require that SLPs pass their praxis tests, but some don’t if already licensed elsewhere. You just need to contact the licensing board in any new state to find out what their criteria are.

  1. Does everyone that goes to grad school for SLP work as a speech therapist, or are there other avenues (research?) with the master’s degree?

I can’t imagine spending the time and energy to complete a masters in speech language pathology and then not work in the field somehow. There are so many options. Higher education (which is where most researchers are) requires a doctorate. But the options for masters SLPs are so varied. Schools, private practice, clinical work, skilled care, hospitals, etc. Just a huge range of options.

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They should count…make sure she has the course descriptions from her undergrad school. That way, any grad school can see if they meet the bar that they expect in these courses.

I know a number of linguistics majors who did what your daughter is doing. No one I know had any difficulty with these courses “counting”.

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That’s good to know!

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I suggest reaching out to SLPs in different settings and doing some informational interviews over Zoom or by phone. That might be a good place to start. As noted above, SLPs work in a variety of settings.

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Thank you so much for your responses! I’ll share them with my daughter. That’s so interesting about the vocalist who wanted to specialize in vocal health – she might really like that avenue! Are there specific programs that offer this specialization, or is it something that he pursued on his own after getting his degree?

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I don’t know a specific program, but folks who specialize in voice therapy really are at a premium. I would think she would want additional practicum hours with a SLP who does voice work. It’s not something every SLP does (or likes to do).

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@SpreadsheetMom

Please please check out the American Speech Language Hearing Association website. There is a section for the public, and I believe that is where you will find information about what it takes to become a SLP.

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Looking at it right now, lol, and will direct my daughter there. Thank you!

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I worked with an SLP who was also an opera singer.

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You have received a lot of great advice and information from two wonderful professionals in the field. What I may (?) be able to add is a bit from my D’s journey to become a SLP. She was a psychology major and theater minor undergrad. D took a science heavy courseload with two semesters each of biology, chemistry, and physics in college. She decided she wanted to become a SLP sometime during her junior year of college if I remember correctly. I did talk to D briefly so she could refresh my memory of her path.

  1. The “passion” question is a personal one. Is your D a person who can enjoy and succeed in a career without passion? In terms of being outgoing, keep in mind that most SLPs work with clients one-on-one or in small groups so she should consider if that would be a good fit. I would not consider my D to be super -outgoing, but she is comfortable dealing with people.

  2. Agree that any ASHA program would be great. My D did attend a program where professors do a great deal of cutting edge research and felt she benefited by learning directly from them – but that is a luxury, certainly not a necessity.

  3. D was eager to start grad school and move forward towards her career. She plowed through a lot of information online and identified a small group of schools on the east coast (where we live) that accepted non-speech majors directly into their masters program. These schools ran the students without a speech background through the prerequisite courses either over the summer or during an extra semester in the fall. If she did not get into one of these programs she likely would have taken a gap year to do prerequisites but that was her Plan B. D did say that different grad programs she looked at had somewhat different lists of prerequisite courses so be mindful of that.

Bonus comment: D said students in her cohort had many different backgrounds including but not limited to: linguistics, psychology, and education while others were making a total career change and had backgrounds as varied as business and acting. She felt that different undergrad backgrounds were useful for different grad courses (ex. she felt particularly prepared for science based classes, linguistics majors had a stronger preparation for some language classes etc.). But every student in her cohort with all their different backgrounds successfully worked through the program.

  1. D was able to shadow a few SLPs during school breaks (more below). She also worked as a counselor at a special needs summer camp one summer. In addition, D took an Intro to Communication Disorders class at a local college – this made her feel confident that becoming a SLP was the right path and as a bonus it probably helped her to make that case in the grad school applications. (FWIW D also spent the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college studying Italian in Rome LOL).

  2. D asked a few SLPs about shadowing. I’m not sure about the rules, but she was able to shadow in a private clinic, in the clinic of the college she took the Intro Class at, and at a special needs pre-school where she had previously volunteered. A private practitioner was not able to let her shadow but did spend time speaking to her about the field.

  3. D was able to transfer her license when she moved to a neighboring state with no issue. I don’t know more than that.

  4. There are many places a SLP can work (ex. schools, special needs schools, hospitals, private practice, skilled nursing facilities are a few I can think of). One classmate of D’s is currently going for a PhD and doing research.

Bonus comment: One thing that took D by surprise (maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did) is that after graduation one must do a 9 month clinical fellowship, working under another SLP before getting one’s own ASHA license. Not a huge deal, but just good to know about.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck to your D.

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I am a Bilingual Speech Pathologist (retired) in California. I’ve worked in hospitals, SNF’s, private practice, and schools. I was very fortunate to have had the good luck to be paired with the best professors for their expertise in this career. I also had extremely great patients, families and support personnel. So let me hit these one at a time.

  1. I think you have to have a passion to want to help anyone with a communicative disorder. That was my major. It’s not all “pretty” work and she will be working with people who think that there is something “wrong” with them. Her job is to get them to understand that there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Her job is also to get them to a level of confidence in themselves, and in their abilities, which they have entrusted to her. So, yes, you need a passion to get them to their best.

  2. Most states require masters degrees. At my school we were required to write a thesis or conduct an approved subjects project. I presented a thesis. Did rank of my school matter? No because once you get to the level of being accepted into any grad school program for SLP, it is the toughest thing she will study. Why? Because language is intertwined in everything. It covers multiple disciplines that will need to be studied-physical pathologies (cleft palate, TBI, stroke etc.), sensorineural hearing loss, range of motion, second language acquisition, ASL, psychological studies/DSM, voice, stuttering/cluttering/rate, voice production (high/low pitch). You hit the ground running. We all have excellent job security. Every day, I receive emails/ phone calls, solicitations asking if I want to return to work. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Our State is very good about keeping our licensed personnel busy.

  3. Gap year? She will be too busy taking courses and shadowing SLPs in hospital, clinical and school settings. I earned part of my tuition fees by working in a lab.

My SLP hours were often from 7 am to 7 pm. I was a supervisor for graduate students. The universities wanted me to take on more students. Supposedly I had high ratings/rankings from my supervisees who recommended me to their friends. I gave, shared and created materials for them to begin their practices. We are a strong, cohesive career group, and at national conferences, we can all immediately begin talking to a colleague, whom we’ve NEVER met, but trust. You’d think we have been working together for years.

  1. Summer internships? Not in our State. You can shadow, but internships are typically after you begin the graduate classes.

  2. Yes, there are HIPAA restrictions with shadowing. I had medical malpractice insurance. Not too expensive, but I had it from day one on the advice of several professors. I asked students to sign a release form indicating that they could never use a student/patient/ parent name or their experience. They were to refer to patients as hypotheticals and a number or letter “Patient ABCD” or “Student 425”, for their questions later and their notes needed to be shredded at the end of the day.

I interviewed perspective shadowers before I agreed to take them on and reminded them that everything, seen/heard, written, signed or verbal were confidential “medical” facts and could not be repeated until we were in a closed office.

  1. In our state, the license is not easily transferred. An influential professor in phonology, with every award won, in research in phonological production was required to pass California state tests and licenses.

  2. Everyone who I knew in grad school did the following:

  • most became speech pathologists,
  • became ASL, DHH teachers,
  • became Product developers for speech items,
  • Two went onto med school for ENT
  • roommate became an audiologist.
    I was close to getting my phD., but I was tired of being a poor student and I told my mentees that I wanted to get in the trenches and work with clients.

I loved my itinerant status, being in charge of my career, helping clients understand how the physical parts of our body worked in order to communicate (with pictures-like Frank Netter’s) -

frank netter ear illustration
frank netter ear illustration1920×2707 386 KB

  • ears,
  • laryngeal mechanism,
  • respiration and breathing
  • Broca’s & Wernicke’s areas

In order to explain to patients, why things do the things that they do, an SLP has to be able to describe what is happening to the voice, ear, larynx, brain, lungs, etc. If your daughter likes to describe how things work in communication and can work to develop those skills in her patients, then she will love this profession!

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This is the clinical fellowship year. In my state it’s called a supervised clinical year. Regardless…the SLP is paid for this year. So while it’s supervised, it’s a paid SLP job.

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