How to hire a speech language pathologist

How to hire a speech language pathologist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step speech language pathologist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a speech language pathologist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new speech language pathologist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a speech language pathologist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the speech language pathologist you need to hire. Certain speech language pathologist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect speech language pathologist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of speech language pathologists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Speech Language Pathologist	Description	Hourly rate
   Speech Language Pathologist	Speech-language pathologists (sometimes called speech therapists) assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in patients. Speech, language, and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes, such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, Parkinson’s disease, a cleft palate or autism.	$20-42
   Graduate Student Clinician	Graduate student clinicians can be a nurse practitioner, pharmacist, or doctor whose primary job is to work with patients and assist patients in managing their medical condition or illness. They perform varied duties and responsibilities that include maintaining a good relationship with patients, discussing the treatment progress to patients, and documenting patients' medical history... Show more	$19-40
   Student Clinician	A Student Clinician is a healthcare practitioner who works as caregiver of a patient in a hospital or clinic. They integrate knowledge obtained in courses into the clinical practicum assignments.	$19-40

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • SLP
   • Speech-Language Pathology
   • Rehabilitation
   • Home Health
   • Patient Care
   • SNF
   • Communication Disorders
   • Acute Care
   • CFY
   • Medicare
   • Autism
   • Dysphagia
   • Language Services

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Plan and provide speech therapy services to preschool and elementary school children with autism, communication disorders and developmental disabilities.
   • Offer speech therapy services in schools k-12 grade.
   • Perform tasks prescribe, direct, and supervise by ASHA certify speech language pathologist.
   • Diagnose, assess and provide treatment in private practice for kids of all ages presenting a language delays.
   • Act as primary liaison between administrative staff, rehabilitation managers, multidisciplinary team members and SLP staff.
   • Provide formal evaluation of communication, cognitive-linguistic, and swallowing deficits for both short term rehabilitation patients and long term residents.

   More speech language pathologist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the speech language pathologist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A speech language pathologist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a speech language pathologist in Minnesota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level speech language pathologist. Additionally, a speech language pathologist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average speech language pathologist salary

   $62,340yearly

   $29.97 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level speech language pathologist salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average speech language pathologist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$85,108	$41
   2	Nevada	$79,424	$38
   3	District of Columbia	$76,504	$37
   4	Washington	$74,974	$36
   5	New York	$73,009	$35
   6	Connecticut	$72,773	$35
   7	Maryland	$71,129	$34
   8	Delaware	$69,773	$34
   9	Oregon	$69,128	$33
   10	Arizona	$68,604	$33
   11	Pennsylvania	$66,629	$32
   12	New Mexico	$66,425	$32
   13	Colorado	$66,135	$32
   14	Illinois	$62,591	$30
   15	Florida	$62,226	$30
   16	Michigan	$61,915	$30
   17	Texas	$61,601	$30
   18	North Carolina	$61,542	$30
   19	Georgia	$61,227	$29
   20	Ohio	$61,030	$29

   Average speech language pathologist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Northeastern University	$100,856	$48.49
   2	Oculus	$100,138	$48.14
   3	University of California-Berkeley	$98,131	$47.18	2
   4	Bank of the West	$97,746	$46.99
   5	The TJX Companies	$96,089	$46.20
   6	Valley Children's	$95,883	$46.10
   7	University of California	$95,217	$45.78	14
   8	Mayo Clinic	$95,164	$45.75	34
   9	DXC Technology	$95,042	$45.69
   10	Professional Healthcare Resources	$93,760	$45.08
   11	DC Prep	$91,960	$44.21	1
   12	Tenet Healthcare	$91,959	$44.21	39
   13	Blue Bird	$90,475	$43.50
   14	New York University	$90,368	$43.45
   15	Amazon	$89,850	$43.20	3
   16	Innovative Services	$88,186	$42.40
   17	Bozeman Health	$88,164	$42.39
   18	Stanford Health Care	$88,006	$42.31	9
   19	National Mentor Holdings Inc.	$87,240	$41.94
   20	University of Maryland Medical System	$87,016	$41.83	7

4. Writing a speech language pathologist job description

   A job description for a speech language pathologist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a speech language pathologist job description:

   Speech language pathologist job description example

   Therapy Team Leader, PT, OT, SLP(2232077) Description The Therapy Team leader assists the Director of Therapy Operations in day to day operations of a therapy team or discipline. The position requires effective supervisory skills along with good communication skills for interdepartmental relationships; and competency in licensed discipline evaluation, assessment, care planning and treatment. The Therapy Team Leader must delegate and supervise tasks of therapist assistants and technicians; assist with staffing, scheduling, orientation, training and communications to provide adequate coverage for patient treatments; and maintain open and on-going communication with hospital departments to ensure patient, staff, and hospital needs are met. This position typically provides patient care in licensed discipline 80% - 90% of work hours.
   
   The Therapy Team Leader helps create an environment and culture that enables the hospital to fulfill its mission by meeting or exceeding its goals, conveying the hospital mission to all staff, holding staff accountable for performance, motivating staff to improve performance, and being responsible for the operation of the department, to include measurement, assessment, and continuous improvement. The Team Leader helps staff improve their clinical skills, and overall performance, through staff development and mentoring.
   Qualifications License or Certification:
   - Current State license as a Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, or Speech Language Pathologist.
   - CPR certification preferred unless otherwise required by hospital policy.
   Minimum Qualifications:
   - Successful completion of a Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited therapy program, required. Additional training with a Master's or Doctorate's degree in either professional or management area is preferred.
   - A minimum of three year's discipline-specific or leadership experience required, with no less than 2 years being clinical.
   - Active on Therapy Clinical Ladder (when eligible) or specialty professional certification, preferred.
   Machines, Equipment Used:
   - General office equipment such as computer/laptop, telephone, copy/fax machine, calculator, scanner, etc.
   - Microsoft Office software, to include Outlook, Word, and Excel.
   Physical Requirements:
   - Visual acuity, speech recognition, speech clarity.
   - Ability to lift, lower, push, pull, and retrieve objects weighing a minimum of 30 pounds including medical supplies and equipment and the transferring and repositioning of patients. Reasonable assistance may be requested when lifting, pushing, and/or pulling are undertaken which exceeds these minimum requirements.
   Skills and Abilities:
   - Oral communication, written communication, fluency in English, active listening.
   - Information ordering, deductive reasoning, social perceptiveness, time management, critical thinking.
   - Ability to coordinate, analyze, observe, make decisions, and meet deadlines in a detail-oriented manner.
   - Ability to work independently without continuous supervision.
   Environmental Conditions:
   - Indoor, temperature controlled, smoke-free environment. Occasional outdoor exposure.
   - Exposure or potential exposure to blood and body fluids may be required.
   - Handicapped accessible.
   - May work under stressful circumstances at times.
   Proficiency or Productivity Standards:
   - Has regular, reliable, and predictable attendance and punctuality.
   - Adheres to dress code including wearing ID badge.
   - Adheres to Standards of Business Conduct.
   - Maintains current licensure and/or certifications, if applicable.
   - May be required to work weekdays and/or weekends, evenings and/or night shifts if needed to meet deadlines.
   - May be required to work on religious and/or legal holidays on scheduled days/shifts.
   - Will be required to work as necessary during disaster situations, i.e., before, during or after a disaster.
   - May be required to stay after workday to assist after a disaster situation until relief arrives.
   - May be required to perform other duties as assigned by supervisor.
   - This position will support cultural diversity by promoting and maintaining an inclusive work environment and culture that is respectful and accepting of diversity.
   Primary Location: Arkansas-Hot Springs-Hot SpringsJob: TherapyEmployee Status: Regular

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right speech language pathologist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your speech language pathologist job on Zippia to find and recruit speech language pathologist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit speech language pathologists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new speech language pathologist

   Once you've selected the best speech language pathologist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new speech language pathologist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a speech language pathologist?