Is it worth driving an extra 35 minutes each way for a job that pays $7,000 more?
 

I chatted with another SLPA years ago, but stopped because she was annoying.

SLPAs, am I right? :D

I reached out more recently and after starting my previous thread, two SLPs messaged me, so I think that I will trade her in for the upgraded models.

A Facebook moderator claimed that he made $79,000 part-time and never talked to an SLPA who earned less than $50,000, but he must be extremely selective to who he considers he has met.

SLPAs, am I right? :D

In his very group, I found these: I looked at 10 postings on Indeed and the Arizona education Employment Board.

On Sunday, I found one school job that offered $54,000 and two that advertised $50,000.

Anyway, the SLPA who claims she is changing jobs for double the pay said that she is going from 32 hours a week to 20.

I have seen many places show 32 hours a week.

I have rarely seen 40, so I wouldn't count on that unless stated--on a contract.

$37 hourly for 6.4 hours for 186 days = $44,044.80, but ViewTheNumbers says that is the equivalent of $25,679 W-2.

I don't have any idea how many hours he considered to be "Part-time," but people in that conversation say that you can make $50 doing home health, and that is my agency's rate.

If you assume 50 weeks a year, he averaged 31.6 hours a week, which is technically part-time, but even if your clients were only 15 minutes apart, which I doubt, if you managed to see 6.32 a day, that would still be 15 minutes to the first and last, then 15 x 4-5, so 90-105 minutes a day, which sure sounds like 8 hours, plus 6.32 session notes a day, and dozens of progress reports every quarter.

Also, According to ViewTheNumbers, that is the same as $51,275 W-2.

Someone mentioned all of the deductions that we have each year, but having many deductions every year I have always tried to get a good W-2 job.

So, let's get back to the first SLPA's calculus.

This was infuriating to get. She mentioned the new job came out of nowhere, I asked her a completely unrelated question, and she didn't answer it, she just wrote this, which didn't have anything to do with anything.

It seems like every time she tells me anything I need to ask a clarifying question because this lady who professionally teaches people to communicate never communicates well.

It also seems like she only answers half of my questions, but she says that her current commute is 7 minutes, although it wasn't clear if that was round-trip or each way.

I asked and she didn't answer.

She lives in Queen Creek and the new job is in Coolidge, which as far as I know is another 24 miles away.

I am going to guess that she doesn't conservatively drive a compact Japanese vehicle.

Google Bard says "The average cost per mile driven in the US is around $0.65, which includes gas, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation," which is in-line with what the IRS says--and we aren't assuming she is an Ecomodder.

We are giving her the benefit of the doubt that she is average! :D

However, the A.I. then ruins everything by claiming "For a 35-minute commute (assuming a round trip), this could translate to roughly $7.87 per day."

Everybody knows that would only be about 12 miles roundtrip!

48 x .65¢ = $31.20

With 186 school days a year, that adds up to $5,803.20.

The fun part is that she didn't originally say that it was $7,000 more, she said that it was $55,000, double what she is currently making.

I have seen jobs that only paid around $27,500. I am sorry she felt desperate enough to--then she mentioned $7,000 more.

She is making $48,000?

[parsing error]

She also said that she now works 10 months a year instead of 12, but undoubtedly it is the same number of days, and still doesn't make $55,000 twice $48,000.

Twenty hours a week plus an extra 6 hours of driving should still be 6 hours a week less than 32 (which she claimed was full-time), but that additional $7,000 becomes $1,200 when you take into account vehicle costs.

Would you rather drive 10 times as much if you were able to spend another 72 minutes at home every day?

You decide. Anything anybody else tells you is only applicable to themselves and requires independent research. definitely if the report is online.

I drove about an hour one way for two jobs at different places. Tehachapi to Simi Valley for an instrumentation tech at $20 @ hr and Tehachapi to EDW Rocket site for $25 back 20 years ago....both made a really long day and required maintenance of the "72 superbug weekly on Sunday which was the only day off. Won't do that again, but those gigs funded my current retired lifestyle and paid for a house.

Ymmv.

Unfortunately yes. The best way to get a raise/promotion is to get another job.

Have the A.I. converse with an Ouija board.

Well, I am still hoping to get a full-time job in 18 months making $73,000 annually working 40 hours a week and 10 months a year.

I do want to open an agency so a few SLPs can earn much more than they could elsewhere, but that sounds exhausting! :D

I kind of just want enough SLPs and clients to pay for an office manager.

It requires managing you, plus others like you.

That's the reason I avoid middle-management like the plague. I've got enough on my plate managing me. Telling idiot slackers what to do is my vision of hades.

I saw a story about a website/app that connects people to therapists. But I can't find it now.

If your agency were listed there it would increase your exposure. Maybe you already know something like this?

Unless you either had a lodging provided by the employer without any discount to your payment, or could use a van as a mobile tiny house and only go back home on weekends, seems like that extra driving won't be so bad at all...

Want I want to know, what does the 35 minute drive entail stress wise and what is typical traffic/congestion and worst-case traffic.
I'm leaning "NO", but I have worked for past 12? years 1/2 mile from work, two stop signs.

Shouldn't those be walk/wait signs? :)

Re Permalink #7, I found this: Why the Swiss Love Their Guns (more than Americans) at 3:21.

I mostly dismiss the gatekeeping speech therapist model. Pay a person to improve speech capabilities based on their effectiveness, or don't. This is like those laws saying you have to have a license to braid hair, or some such nonsense. If your hair wasn't braided nicely, don't pay that person anymore. We don't need gatekeepers for most things, and for the things requiring gatekeepers, we should hold them to account.

My wife went through hades because of these corrupt organizations. They have no accountability and provide no meaningful service. If the AMA disappeared tomorrow, you'd not notice anything different except lower insurance premiums.

If you think gatekeeping went too far, most likely you didn't see what happens in Brazil. Even musicians are often subjected to gatekeeping...

My shortest commute was none. My longest was 91 miles and 1 hr 45 minutes each way. I lived in Alabama for 7 years and my shortest commute was 1 hour each way (to go 22 miles)

If I understand the word salad in the original post the SLPA in question is doing the following:

Going from a 7 minute commute to a 42
Going from working 32 hours per week to 20
Going from working 12 months per year to 10
Going from making $48,000 per year to $55,000.

So the current job's hourly rate is about $30 per hour ($48,000 / (50 weeks x 32 hours))
New job's hourly rate is about $69 per hour ($55,000 / (40 weeks x 20 hours))

At face value that looks like a really good deal - more money for fewer hours worked and 2 months a year free. More than double the hourly rate would be great.


We can't calculate the extra commuting time and cost without knowing how the hours are worked in each job and that info wasn't given.

Every year-round school I have seen just spread out the 186 or however many schooldays.

I drove a bus for Tempe High School and they were year-round.

They had two weeks of school, one week off, and one month off for summer, so someone working 32 hours a week there would actually average 21.33.

She doesn't answer questions, so as far as I know, she will be going from a 7 minute commute to a 42, but she is an SLPA who communicates poorly and doesn't answer questions.
She also claimed that going from $48,000 to $55,000 is doubling, so all of her claims are suspect.

Nonetheless, as far as we know, she is:
Going from averaging 21.33 hours a week to 20.
Going from working 186 days over 12 months to 186 days over 10 months.
Going from making $48,000 per year to $55,000.

So, the current job's hourly rate is:
$48,000/186=$258.06 per day.
$258.06/6.4=$40.32 hourly

32 hours/5 days=6.4 hours daily.

I tried to find a job posting before that mentioned the number of days and couldn't, but I have seen 186 before--and larger numbers.

This says that the legal minimum for Arizona is 180, but in 2020, schools didn't need to make up every day missed because they scheduled more than the minimum number.

Colorado only requires 160 and North Carolina requires 185.

Many schools don't have a requirement.

If her new commute is another 35 minutes each way, she will spend an extra 13,020 hours each year driving.

.

The above does not match your OP

You seem to be assuming she is going to work every day school is in session at both the new and old job.

.....it is also possible that you are a SLPA that isn't good at listening.

This is the entire conversation, but don't let that stop you from pushing narratives:

"I will be making twice as much and working less hours so it will be so nice to be home in the evenings again with my kids"

It is pretty clear she is talking about her hourly rate doubling.


In the new job she is going to make $55,000 a year working 20 hours per week

The old job was $47,000 a year working 32 hours per week.

What jumped out at me was '...Maliciously Bad...'; I missed the part about the kids.