Compensation for Hearing Instrument Specialist Apprenticeship??

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Do you think an UNPAID year- long apprenticeship is worth a 50-40k job?

  • No, not worth the time.

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zeemango

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I'm looking into becoming a Hearing Instrument Specialist, which requires a year of full-time work as an apprentice(150 hours) to become licensed in my state (MA). I've received an email from a local dispenser saying he might have something for me but there would be no compensation... Is this typical? What are apprentice's normally paid?

It would basically be like an unpaid internship, however I have my undergraduate degree and now have loans to pay for. Being uncompensated is mildly ridiculous.

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You might not get much comments on this board or the ones you receive might not be very friendly. This is a board for audiologists. A doctoral level program now and many of us have pretty low opinions of hearing aid dealers/instrument specialists.

My advice is if you really want to dispense hearing aids, then look into audiology programs and actually provide real hearing healthcare to your patients, rather than becoming a hearing aid dealer.

What was your undergraduate degree in?

And to answer your question, no it is not typical to work an entire year as an apprentice under a licensed hearing aid dealer unpaid. Many dealers will at least pay you something even if it's the same as the front desk person answering phones.
 
Trainees for HIS/HAS are typically paid anywhere from minimum wage $8.00 to $10.00 at the median, some places pay $15.00 an hour

I would say go for it, depends on if you have to sign a non compete, Once you get the license you can jump ship and work at costco or sams making 65-70k guaranteed salary

Youll most likely get burned out after dealing with returns and the a-holes people can be, pocket the salary and go to grad school for something different
 
I would say dont go for your AuD.

Read my post from another thread:

Hello all,


I have been lurking these forums for a few years and would like to put in my 2 cents.. I have a bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences like many of you on this board. I was on track to become an AuD, and was accepted to 3 AuD programs in my state. After speaking to various AuD’s who had been working in the field in different settings I was advised to not pursue it. The major reasons were (pay, growth, and job availability). The handful of AuD’s that I met who were happy, typically were women, worked part time, and their husband made a lot of money (not being sexist, that’s what I experienced).

I did not come from a family with a lot of money or education, I got my bachelors degree debt free due to scholarships, but taking 65-80k (tuition plus cost of living, for public in state programs) for 4 years of a clinical doctorate was a stretch for me. I took a few years off to think about what I wanted to do, and eventually got my state license as a Hearing Aid Specialist after training for 6 months. I have worked for the following companies: Beltone, Miracle Ear, HearEx/USA, Sams Club, BJ’s, and Costco. I have since left the field, finished an MBA and now worth in healthcare administration and love it. Just to be clear I am not here to defend or uphold hearing aid specialists, I could care less. This is specific to getting a AuD to work in the hearing industry.

The largest problems with this field: (the funny this is, they barely ever mention this stuff in AuD school or undergrad)

1. Less than 10% of insurance covers hearings aids, and if it does reimburse it is nowhere near the full amount of the sale price of a pair of aids. Most PT’s will have to finance or pay out of pocket. (If only 10% of insurance covered dentists, physicians, prescription drugs, those industries would go bankrupt)

2. Direct billing for tests is only possible in a select few select situations without a referral, meaning unless you get a ENT referral you will not be reimbursed for your hearing tests.

3. Most places Beltone, Miracle Ear, HearEx/USA, Sams Club, BJ’s, and Costco do the entire test for free. Do not kid yourself, they are doing the same test. (Air, Bone, Srt, Mcl, Ucl, Word Discrim).

4. The top6 manufacturers (Siemens, Resound, Starkey, Phonak, Widex, Oticon) have sold everyone out, they do not give a crap who sells the aids as long as they are selling a ton, the top 6 are selling to audiologists/ent practices, boutique franchises (beltone, miracle ear, audibell), and big box (BJ’s/Costco) all at different prices, Do not kid yourself, the technology is not that different….Its all marketing and sales tactics

5. No long term growth selling aids, you salary is directly tied to how many aids you can sell.

6. Nobody really cares that you have an AuD, success is really determined by your sales skills, the problem is that in AuD school, they do not cover a single thing about selling, just altruistic nonsense about helping people hear..aids cost money.

Back in the day, in the early 90’s it was the golden age, you could make 150k+ easy selling aids. Not any more. The economy has taken a dump, not everyone has money anymore, there is way more competition, and the biggest problem of all is Costco, they will eventually cause the demise of every private practice. Nobody is selling a top notch product at that price point. I have seen successful private practices close within 2-3 years of a Costco opening close by. Costco really isn’t to blame, blame the top6 for selling to Costco. Do not kid yourself, you are selling hearing aids, right now it is all about price, and unfortunately no one will ever be able to compete with Costco. For those of you thinking private practice will be the cure, just lookup how much a 5000 piece mailer for advertising costs, then multiply that cost 2x a month forever.

Few issues I have seen posted by other people:

You shouldn’t expect to be paid much = Then why would you waste 65-100k on a doctorate….lol You could have saved alot of money and worked at walmart if you did not want to get paid much

Its only worth as much as you put into it = A load of BS. You can only sell so many people in one day, and then you have returns…

ENT’s do not respect us= Why should they, you are not a Doctor=Physician. Get this through your heads, you will never do surgery, you will never prescribe meds, you will never do anything that you did not cover in AuD school. You are only generating real profit if you sell aids. Why should they pay you a fat base salary, to do hearing tests that a guy down the street does for free. Its plain numbers, its business. Personally who cares…. I care about money in my pocket, not respect

Sunset hearing aids dealers= Will never happen ever, they are selling Top6 hearing aids, Top6 loves them, and will help crush any legislation that is against hearing aid dealers

If you are already close to finishing you AuD, I would say get a job at VA, or at a top6 company as a support rep, everything else will be the same, test and sell.

I know that these issues are not all specific to Audiology, they are affecting pharmacy, optometry, many other fields, etc. But Audiology is at the bottom of the totem pole as far as return on investment. I am not telling anyone to not pursue the AuD, I am saying if a year out of AuD school you are unhappy, I will just say I told you so….

Not getting the AuD was the best financial decision I have ever made in my life

My 2 cents

Good luck to all on the future
 
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