Pros
1. Flexible schedule, especially if you are part-time. Not nearly the same amount of pressure that full-timers have to make productivity. 2. Job security. Due to the overall need for help with children and families, there will be a need for BSC/MTs for the foreseeable future. 3. Compared to many positions in the field needing a master's degree, this job does not pay horrible starting out (although the yearly raises are not that much; less than the cost of living increases). 4. You don't need to spend much time at the office aside from supervisions or checking your mailbox. You can stay in the field, work with clients/families, and then go home. 5. If you are willing to build good working relationships with your TSSs, it will go a long way to helping. This has to be some purposely and intentionally. If you put yourself on an island both in this sense or if you have concerns, you will crash out quickly.
Cons
1. You will have to do significant work outside seeing clients. If you cannot manage your time well and stick to setting up a schedule or boundaries, you will get burned out very quickly. 2. If you're not not licensed, prepare to be pressured regularly to get licensed or your BSL (which requires a bunch of hoops outside the agency's control to get). 3. Trainings being mandatory each month. The agency should consider making 9 or 10 a year being mandatory rather than every month, which takes up a half day of time to see clients during the day. 4. There can be at times stress between office staff and field staff. There can be nitpicking things that need to be done, and there should be less of this when there are already a host of responsibilities that BSC/MTs have to deal with already. 5. Paperwork. It really is one of the biggest cons. This is not a typical work schedule. Especially during weeks when you have multiple ISPT meetings, you will devote a significant portion of your free time to work. And since things need to be meticulous on these, it just adds to the stress. 6. It will take a good bit of time to learn everything, up to 6 months. Families will expect you to know it all right away at times, and this just adds to the overall stress of starting this job. 7. There will be families that will test you. Nothing can be done about this. Overall though, how you feel is going to be an individual journey. I would suggest this is a better job for someone who can be part-time and doesn't need the benefits (which healthcare for a family is over $600/month) as there is a lot of pressure for a full-timer to maintain productivity and will not have much free time to keep up with everything that needs done. Also understand that you will be pushed to get your license and work with autistic children (who can only be worked with if you have a license), so if you have no interest in this, then you probably shouldn't apply. I know that I feel okay with how things are with me, but there are a number of clinicians who have already left for a new agency or are unhappy or waiting until they can leave. Decide what you are looking for in employment with these points and decide if it will fit for you. It's not a "one size fits all" kind of job.
