Back in January, we launched #PostThePay in hopes of making life a little bit easier for prelicensed therapists and those who employ them. As we described then, too much time is wasted by those on both sides when applicants for a therapy or counseling job wouldn’t take the pay scale that the job offers. Furthermore, California law now requires that employers provide the pay scale to any applicant who asks — so why not just put it in a job announcement?
We’re pleased to say that #PostThePay seems to be working. More job announcements on social media are including pay information (even if it’s low — back to that momentarily). When announcements are posted that don’t have that information, users are quick to jump in and ask that the employer post the pay. And in many cases, that’s exactly what the original poster does. It shows the power of just asking, especially publicly. In some instances, employers have refused, and that’s OK; they’re not legally obligated. But we’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many have responded a simple request to #PostThePay by, well, posting the pay.
A couple of employers have spoken with me about their concerns with this idea. They worry that if posting pay with job announcements becomes the norm, that therapists might make their decisions about where to apply based solely on pay. Those applicants might ignore the other benefits that come with a particular position, like the opportunity to serve a particular population, the things that make supervision at that workplace especially good, or other unique benefits. But as I’ve told them in response, I don’t think that’s giving applicants enough credit. Lots of us experience this work as something of a calling, and are willing to accept positions that don’t involve great pay as long as they 1) involve enough pay for us to meet our obligations, and 2) provide exactly those kinds of unique benefits the employers described to me — which also often are not included in job announcements. I actually think that when employers #PostThePay for jobs that pay relatively little, they have a great opportunity to make the case for why a therapist is still likely to be happier there than they would be somewhere else. And if posting the pay, even with a good detailing of other benefits, results in too few applicants, then it’s worth at least considering that the problem isn’t the applicants. It could be the pay.
If you’re interested in getting involved, we have a number of shareable graphics, copy-and-paste language you can use on social media, and more on our site:
#PostThePay home
#PostThePay resources for employers
#PostThePay resources for therapists and counselors