Careers Event 2020: Speech and Language Therapy

Posted on 9 December 2020

Language and Linguistic Science alumni speak to current students about careers in Speech and Language Therapy

On 19th November the Department of Language and Linguistic Science ran a hugely successful Careers Event for students interested in Speech and Language Therapy. The event was held in a virtual format on Zoom due to Covid restrictions. It featured three invited LLS alumni speakers, all of whom were graduates from the past 10 years, who ‘returned’ to York to talk with current students about this rewarding line of work.

Speakers:

Robin Lindop-Fisher, Speech and language therapist at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. Graduated from York in 2010 with BA English Language and Linguistics
Katie Wilkins, recently graduated from MSc in Speech and Language Therapy. Graduated from York in 2017 with BA English Language and Linguistics
Sally Deacon, currently undertaking an MSc in Speech and Language Sciences at University College London. Graduated from York in 2020 with BA English Language and Linguistics (with Placement Year)

Due to popular demand and interest for the discipline, the webinar was changed into a cross-departmental event open to students from Language and Linguistic Science as well as Psychology: 66 students attended on the day to hear about the experiences of Robin Lindop-Fisher, Katie Wilkins and Sally Deacon.

In the Q&A session, the three invited speakers covered a range of topics, including the best and most challenging aspects of an SLT role, tips on applying for Masters programmes, and how useful their undergraduate degree was – particularly modules in phonetics and phonology – in preparing them for this career.

"The Speech and Language Therapy Q&A event provided an insight into how broad a career in speech and language therapy can be. It was a great opportunity to speak to York alumni at different stages of their career and find out more information about the application process for the MSc Speech and Language Therapy degrees, the types of work experience that would be beneficial and what it is like to work in this field." Taylor Atkinson - Employer Engagement Development Officer, Careers and Placements

"I really enjoyed the Q+A session, and was very impressed with the student turnout. My parting comment is this - if you are interested in SLT as a career, go for it!" Katie Wilkins, recent SLT graduate

As well as participating in the Q&A session with attendees, for the event the three speakers also produced short videos where they talk about their experiences and provide advice for students who are considering a similar career.

You can watch a teaser of the videos here (University of York users only):

LLS Speech and Language Therapy promo video

If you are a University of York student and would like to watch the videos in full, please do get in touch with Dr George Bailey (LLS Careers & Employability Coordinator) at george.bailey@york.ac.uk