SLP Job Transitions: From School-Based to Research Project Manager

SLP job transitions can be scary, here’s how I moved into doing research from being a school-based SLP.

When I left my job as a school-based SLP in 2020, I had no idea what was next. I already had my own SLP business here with CSW which I was ready to tackle full-time. Honestly, I was really ready for a break from clinical work. Burnout will do that to you…

A few months into my new adventure I got a text from my good friend, Dr. Kelly Farquharson who runs the CLaSS Lab at Florida State. She was getting ready to start a new study on shared book reading, which is my jam, and needed a project manager. My first question… what the heck is a project manager and why should I do this? Ok, two questions.

She explained the study in more depth (you can read our since-published manuscript here), and I didn’t have any reason to say no. It was a part-time position that would let me work remotely and continue working on my business, PLUS I would be a published author once it was all said and done. So I jumped in head first and I am so glad I did!

So what were my responsibilities as the project manager?

• Creating materials for the study – this included choosing books, vocabulary words to target, scripts for the participants, and pre/post tests
• Creating marketing resources – flyers and social media images
• Recruiting participants
• Managing participant intake – completing consent forms and questionnaires
• Organizing online data
• Participating in weekly leadership meetings

This position led to another part-time project manager position on a different study and could have possibly led to a full-time project manager on a bigger study, but an opportunity to be an adjunct clinical instructor at FSU came along… and it was my dream job! That’s a story for next week 🙂

People ask me all the time how I got started in research and the truth of my story is I kind of fell into it! But I highly recommend seeking out these opportunities because they exist in our field and it’s a wonderful way to still be involved in our field and use your SLP powers in a different way.

How can you seek them out? Build relationships with your local university SLP program, volunteer for research studies, or reach out to those doing research that interests you. Who knows where you might land!