3/23/15

Lena Vozikis
Speech-Language Pathologist
Informational Interview
1.What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful?
From her personal experiences, she found that organization in service documentation,
scheduling IEPs, and scheduling students to be essential for maintaining a caseload of up
to 50 students.
2.How do people find out about job openings in your occupation?
She found her positions by accessing the Department of Education websites.
3.What are typical hiring procedures?
When applying to Speech-Language Pathologist positions, you must apply online and
furnish documentation of Clinical Credentials and State Licensure (or application of a
temporary certificate to practice) while also completing a background check with
fingerprinting and drug testing.
4. Is most of the hiring done on an external or internal basis?
Most hiring is done externally since the availability of Speech-Language Pathologists is
in demand.
5.If you were starting out again, would you do anything differently?
She would become fluent in Spanish since the majority of her caseloads included
bilingual students of Hispanic descent. With this, she was required to use an interpreter
during her IEPs and throughout the assessment process. Her lack of being fluent in
Spanish made her feel that establishing a trusting relationship with the parents, during the
IEP meetings, more difficult.
6.What do you do on a typical day in this position?
First she would follow up with the general education and special education teachers to
discuss the progress and difficulties that her students were having in the classroom
setting. She would then obtain information about the subject units that were being
covered in class that day, in the general education setting, so that she could bring that
material into the therapy setting with respect to concepts and vocabulary. She would also
follow up on upcoming IEPs and assessments while also making sure that she sees her
students according to her daily schedule. Finally, she assists special education teachers in
the classroom if the student is not able to participate or transition as needed to complete
the classroom curriculum.
7.How many people do you supervise and to whom do you report?
She did not supervise anyone and reported to the Director of Speech-Language Services
for the district as this individual was her boss.
8.What part of this job do you find the most challenging or satisfying?

The challenging part of her job was all the necessary paperwork that had to be completed
to be legally defensible in court. This paperwork included IEPs, reports, and therapy logs.
The most satisfying part of her job was releasing a student into the general education
setting without any special education support after working with him or her.
9.What are the positive/negative aspects of working in this field?
For the positives, she said that no day is ever the same, so you never feel bored or
repetitive. As a Speech-Language Pathologist, you work with a team of 40 Pathologists in
the district and everyone is very supportive of one another. She also said that learning the
roles of each Special Education team member is good to help better serve the students as
a comprehensive team. She also likes the Special Education apps that are available today
to use when working with students.
The negatives of working in this field include feeling burnout because of the increased
caseloads with fewer resources and parents relying on public misinformation. Parents
begin to believe in non-evidence based therapies that may not be best for the student, but
are insistent that it will work for their child.
10.What are the "hot issues" in this field?
The hot issues today include web based apps and technology to use for therapy, miracle
therapies such as GemIIni systems, autism, and bilingual education.
11.How many hours do you typically work each week? Do you often work in the
evenings or weekends?
She works 35 hours a week for 4 days out of the week and does not work evenings,
weekends or summers.
12. Can you arrange your own hours? What is a typical starting salary? Average
salary? Other benefits?
She did not arrange her own hours since she worked based on the schools hours. The
typical starting salary is $50,000 and the average salary is $62,000. The benefits that she
gets with having this job are health and life insurance, continuing education, and
retirement.
13.What are some of the rewards of your occupation?
She felt that the biggest reward for her occupation was seeing her special education
students self-advocate.
14.What special advice would you give a person entering in this field?
Her biggest piece of advice was attaining Spanish bilingual language skills.
15.What, if anything, do you wish you had known before you entered this
occupation?
She wished that she had been fluent in Spanish.
16.What strategy would you suggest for a person to break into this field?

She suggested that you think about technology based therapy, becoming familiar with
apps offered on the web, talking to Speech-Language Pathologists in the field, and
researching the Speech-Language Pathology field on the web.