Speech-language pathologist screening questions for staffing recruiters

A speech-language pathologist screen has to establish where the candidate actually is on the path to full certification (fully certified, still in the Clinical Fellowship, or a fellowship that never finished), and whether their caseload experience matches school-based or medical work, which are different jobs wearing the same title. The costliest mismatch on this desk is treating a Clinical Fellow as fully independent, or submitting a pediatric-articulation-only SLP against a medical dysphagia caseload. This page gives you the certification checks, caseload questions with what a strong answer sounds like, and a knockout list.

It shares some structure with occupational therapist screening questions and physical therapist screening questions, but the credential path (a fellowship year rather than direct licensure) and caseload questions below are specific to speech-language pathology.

School versus medical caseloads changes almost everything

The two most common SLP job orders are different enough that experience in one does not automatically transfer to the other:

• School-based: articulation, language, fluency and social communication goals tied to IEPs, a September-to-June calendar, group therapy models, and a separate state education credential in many states.
• Medical / hospital / SNF: swallowing evaluation and dysphagia management, cognitive-communication work after stroke or brain injury, Medicare documentation, and faster patient turnover.
• Outpatient pediatric clinic: more one-on-one sessions, private-pay or insurance billing, often includes early intervention birth-to-three caseloads.
• Home health / skilled nursing: heavier dysphagia and cognitive caseloads, more independent travel and documentation.

Ask which of these the candidate's recent caseload is actually in before you screen clinical depth. A school SLP with no dysphagia training is not a fit for a SNF order no matter how strong their IEP writing is.

Certification and licensure questions

ASHA, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, issues the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP). Getting there has three parts:

• Graduate degree. A master's degree from a program accredited by ASHA's Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA).
• Praxis exam. Passing the Praxis Examination in Speech-Language Pathology.
• Clinical Fellowship (CF). A mentored, post-graduate work experience: a minimum of 1,260 hours over at least 36 weeks, at least 5 hours a week, with at least 80% spent in direct clinical contact. The CF divides into three segments; the mentor must provide at least 6 hours of direct, in-person supervision and 6 hours of indirect supervision per segment. The whole fellowship must be completed within 48 months of starting. Source: ASHA, the Clinical Fellowship (as of September 2026).

A Clinical Fellow is not yet fully independent. If a candidate describes working without a mentor during what they call a fellowship, or cannot name their mentor and supervision schedule, treat that as a real red flag, not a formality.

State licensure is a separate requirement from ASHA certification. Most state boards build their standards around ASHA's certification framework, but the specific requirement is set by the state, not ASHA, so verify the candidate's license with the state board directly. Many states also require a separate department of education credential for school-based work, distinct from the clinical license; ask school-bound candidates whether they hold both.

Caseload and clinical questions with strong answers and red flags

1. "Walk me through a recent swallow evaluation, if your caseload includes dysphagia."
   • Strong answer: names the specific assessment approach (clinical bedside swallow evaluation, and whether they coordinate instrumental studies like a modified barium swallow or FEES), and describes how they set diet and safety recommendations from the results.
   • Red flags: vague description, cannot name an instrumental study or when they'd refer for one.
2. "Tell me about a recent IEP goal you wrote and how you measured progress." (school-based)
   • Strong answer: a specific, measurable goal, the data collection method used, and an example of adjusting the goal when progress data called for it.
   • Red flags: cannot describe a specific goal or how progress was tracked.
3. "What's your current caseload size, and how many are on IEPs versus 504 plans or general ed support?"
   • Strong answer: specific numbers, and an explanation of how they prioritize service minutes across the caseload.
   • Red flags: a round number with no breakdown.
4. "Describe a case where a family or patient disagreed with your recommendation."
   • Strong answer: a specific example, how they explained the clinical reasoning, and what they adjusted without abandoning the safety or clinical goal.
   • Red flags: "I just tell them what's best," with no adaptation described.
5. "How do you handle a full day of back-to-back sessions and still get documentation done?"
   • Strong answer: a concrete habit (documenting between sessions, using a specific template) and a realistic description of how often they fall behind.
   • Red flags: "I do notes at home most nights," describing routine unpaid overtime as normal.

Where SLP experience gets overstated

Documentation and workload questions

• Systems: which EHR or IEP platform (SEIS, Frontline, PointClickCare, an EMR) the candidate currently documents in, and how quickly they learn a new one.
• Service delivery model: push-in versus pull-out for school roles; individual versus group for medical settings.
• Medicare documentation (medical settings): whether they document to support skilled therapy justification, not just session notes.
• Evaluation turnaround: how quickly they typically complete a full evaluation report after testing, and whether that matches the client's expectation.
• Progress monitoring: how often they re-baseline data and how they decide a goal is met versus needs revising, which is a good proxy for whether documentation reflects real clinical decisions or gets filled in after the fact.

A candidate who cannot describe their own documentation habits with any specificity is telling you something useful: either the volume is unsustainable for them, or they have not been doing it consistently, and either one is worth surfacing before a client finds out in week three.

Schedule, contract and travel terms

• School calendar fit: school-year contracts follow the academic calendar; confirm start date expectations align.
• Travel contracts: standard medical SLP travel contracts run 13 weeks; ask about completed versus cancelled contracts.
• Multi-site coverage: some school contracts cover more than one building in a week; confirm the candidate has done this.
• Supervision needs (Clinical Fellows): confirm the client can actually provide the required mentor supervision before placing a CF candidate.

Knockout checklist and scoring

Lawful phrasing for SLP screens

School and pediatric caseloads make it tempting to ask about a candidate's own family situation instead of their job-related ability. The EEOC's guidance on pre-employment disability-related questions allows questions about job ability, not medical or family status, before an offer.

School and medical SLP desks both run tight hiring windows, and fellowship status, caseload numbers and supervision details are easy to lose track of across several screens in a day. Interview Signal keeps a question guide on screen during the call and ticks off each required question as it gets covered, so the certification check does not get skipped.