Pluspunten
- The kids. Every review says it, and it's true. Working with the children and watching their confidence grow as they learn new skills is extremely rewarding. If that doesn't make you feel good about your job, nothing will. - The experience. Working at Lindamood Bell for even just one summer is like a tutoring boot camp. If you actually care and try, you'll come out a seasoned pro. It's brutal and exhausting, but it's hard to find a faster, more effective way to learn essential instructional and behavioral management skills that you can use in any other tutoring or teaching situation. For the experience alone, I would recommend a summer stint at LBLP to a friend.
Minpunten
- The pay. Nearly every review mentions it, and it's true. Clinicians get paid ridiculously low wages, considering they provide the instruction that is the CORE of the entire company and they charge $100+ an HOUR. While it's true that Lindamood Bell thoroughly trains clinicians in their specific instructional method (requiring less outside knowledge than most instructional positions), they also need people with very specific, highly sought out skill sets. People with excellent verbal, reasoning, teaching, and communication skills. They prefer candidates with B.A.s, but insist on paying them chump change, which is incredibly insulting. It might be justifiable if clinicians who prove themselves valuable and competent were rewarded with respectable raises, but they're not. - The expectations and (limited) pay raises. You are expected to happily accept new responsibilities without a pay raise. You might start as a clinician, but you'll gradually be given additional responsibilities without any discussion of pay raise or position change. You will get trained in additional programs and be expected to teach any one of them at the drop of a hat. Yet, you will only get a raise once a year, and it will be a standard amount. It doesn't matter if one of your coworkers is barely competent and you are highly valued. If you both started around the same time, you'll both get the same raise come review time. And it'll be pennies more. Not dollars. - The culture. Man, oh man. This is where all the extra money goes. The overhead on a Lindamood Bell Center must be exorbitant. There is an emphasis on appearance and "show" that is creepy and unsettling. Everything is white and serene, despite the fact that we work with unruly and hyperactive children most of the time. Pottery Barn and IKEA furniture is everywhere. It might be fine if it stopped at the physical environment. However, "show" is such an important component of the Lindamood Bell philosophy that it has seeped into employee interactions. No one will tell you anything to your face. Everything is a facade of happiness and positive language. Cliques are prevalent, and clique members are given preference in scheduling. If you are unlucky enough to be ultra competent, you'll be saddled with the most difficult students, while those who are less competent will be blessed with office hours organizing and doing dishes, and getting paid the same rate you are. - Communication. No one in this company knows how to properly communicate ANYTHING. They ask you to be available all the time, send you the schedule on Friday, you make your plans, and come Monday, they've added a bunch of hours without asking you if you could take them. That doctor's appointment you made? Guess you'll have to reschedule. Passive aggressive behavior is rampant (this probably is a result of the "show" mentality.) No one will communicate with you directly if they are unhappy with you. Everyone gossips about everyone, including students and their families. It's gross.
