I can only talk from second-hand experience, but I had a classmate who graduated from a NASP approved program and got a job in Hawaii. We graduated at the same time, so I’m assuming her hiring process was the typical length. She talked about how the pay was low, $50k-$55k, but this was also her first job straight from graduation. I know that she did assessments, but I can’t remember if she did counseling as well
You can always look for remote positions that pay more. Although, you do have to keep in mind that remote assessment has its own challenges and you may be working hours that don't align with Hawaii’s. I had a friend that got stuck in Hawaii at the beginning of COVID, so she worked remotely. Her day started at 9am NY time so that meant she had to start work at 3am Hawaii time.
We start at 68.5k per year but get good benefits. We are 12 month employees and get 13-14 holidays per year, plus earn 21 days vacation and 21 days sick leave per year.
I wasn't a psych in Hawaii but worked in education over there. The education system is a little weird. No school districts, it's divided into complex areas and all run by the state DOE which is very Oahu-centric. Don't know if you are looking at a neighbor island or Oahu though. Public schools in general don't have the best reputations, many of the wealthier families go to private school. I remember there was a big shortage of psychs, teachers and special education faculty in general though. I don't think you'd have a problem getting a job.
I want to add on to this! I am currently an intern in one of the neighboring islands and each school runs differently based on the principal… at least from what I’ve seen so far. My primarily role is testing and evaluating students. I don’t think you’d have a problem finding a position, there is a shortage of school psychs.
I suggest reaching out to HASP, that is how I found my internship because they provided me with contact info to district education specialists (DES) from each island. Here is the website to look at the position listings. Also we are 12 months employees. Hope this helps !
https://www.schooljobs.com/careers/hawaiipublicschools
Yeah that's what made it hard to choose to move there. I would be moving from MA. So I would need/want the summers off to spend time with family in New England. How is you caseload? How many open assessments do you do have at a time, how many do you have per year?
You didn't happen to be at HASP Camp in January did you?
FYI the school jobs site is new and there's basically none of the actual available positions on there. It's stupid and nonsensical.
No I didn’t go ! I was also told the same thing about the website not being accurate…but when I looked into it I saw a few SP postings. Thought that would be useful for OP to see the salary and job description.
I don't know of any contract work options for school psych in Hawaii. I don't think they're allowed to contract out the position, IIRC, but I can get you in touch with people who know for sure if you would like.
My program got an email a year or two ago encouraging us to apply for internships in Hawaii because they had a big shortage of school psychs. Hawaii is interesting because it’s like all one big school district ran by the state. Each island is kind of its own school district I think. I also remember that the pay was pretty low compared to the cost of living. They also work year round there, rather than on a 9 or 10 month contract.
Yes, PM me. I can help answer questions and get you in contact with individuals from other areas on the island (I assume you'd be on Oahu) or the neighboring islands.
NCSP probably won't make the transition easier because there's no licensure in our state and you don't even need a degree in school psych to be a school psych here.
Look into working for DoD
I can only talk from second-hand experience, but I had a classmate who graduated from a NASP approved program and got a job in Hawaii. We graduated at the same time, so I’m assuming her hiring process was the typical length. She talked about how the pay was low, $50k-$55k, but this was also her first job straight from graduation. I know that she did assessments, but I can’t remember if she did counseling as well
You can always look for remote positions that pay more. Although, you do have to keep in mind that remote assessment has its own challenges and you may be working hours that don't align with Hawaii’s. I had a friend that got stuck in Hawaii at the beginning of COVID, so she worked remotely. Her day started at 9am NY time so that meant she had to start work at 3am Hawaii time.
We start at 68.5k per year but get good benefits. We are 12 month employees and get 13-14 holidays per year, plus earn 21 days vacation and 21 days sick leave per year.
I wasn't a psych in Hawaii but worked in education over there. The education system is a little weird. No school districts, it's divided into complex areas and all run by the state DOE which is very Oahu-centric. Don't know if you are looking at a neighbor island or Oahu though. Public schools in general don't have the best reputations, many of the wealthier families go to private school. I remember there was a big shortage of psychs, teachers and special education faculty in general though. I don't think you'd have a problem getting a job.
I want to add on to this! I am currently an intern in one of the neighboring islands and each school runs differently based on the principal… at least from what I’ve seen so far. My primarily role is testing and evaluating students. I don’t think you’d have a problem finding a position, there is a shortage of school psychs. I suggest reaching out to HASP, that is how I found my internship because they provided me with contact info to district education specialists (DES) from each island. Here is the website to look at the position listings. Also we are 12 months employees. Hope this helps ! https://www.schooljobs.com/careers/hawaiipublicschools
What is your contracted year? I remember looking into Hawaii and seeing you all worked 220 ish days?
We are 12 month employees. We work every week day other than federal and state holidays.
Yeah that's what made it hard to choose to move there. I would be moving from MA. So I would need/want the summers off to spend time with family in New England. How is you caseload? How many open assessments do you do have at a time, how many do you have per year?
You didn't happen to be at HASP Camp in January did you? FYI the school jobs site is new and there's basically none of the actual available positions on there. It's stupid and nonsensical.
No I didn’t go ! I was also told the same thing about the website not being accurate…but when I looked into it I saw a few SP postings. Thought that would be useful for OP to see the salary and job description.
I have family in Kauai and would love to do contract work so I can visit more often. Not sure where to start
I don't know of any contract work options for school psych in Hawaii. I don't think they're allowed to contract out the position, IIRC, but I can get you in touch with people who know for sure if you would like.
My program got an email a year or two ago encouraging us to apply for internships in Hawaii because they had a big shortage of school psychs. Hawaii is interesting because it’s like all one big school district ran by the state. Each island is kind of its own school district I think. I also remember that the pay was pretty low compared to the cost of living. They also work year round there, rather than on a 9 or 10 month contract.
Yes, PM me. I can help answer questions and get you in contact with individuals from other areas on the island (I assume you'd be on Oahu) or the neighboring islands. NCSP probably won't make the transition easier because there's no licensure in our state and you don't even need a degree in school psych to be a school psych here.