Pros
I started working here in 2021 when I was in my early twenties. With some experience as an ABA Therapist from a competitor company which was not a good experience, I joined The Growing Academy as a Junior Therapist. Ling, Le and team were welcoming and the colleagues had been very helpful in having me get familiar with the routine here during my early days. Since 2021 to know, I've had multiple opportunities to try out different roles such as an ABA therapist, group therapist, home based therapist, after school care therapist. There is a variety of paths you can choose as a therapist which is best aligned to your goals to grow your career. Appraisals are timely and salary increment is competitive as well. I started as a Junior Therapist and I am currently a Senior Therapist with further room for progression. It's good to know that there are always opportunities to grow in this company. Over the years, the company has also constantly made efforts to improve staff benefits which is greatly appreciated as someone who has worked here for about 5 years as things are even better now. Colleagues are friendly here and there is good team effort. When manpower is sometimes low, amendments are made to the schedule quickly so teh day can go on as per usual. The bosses are always there to step in to help and are always around to help whenever needed. Good work-life balance as company follows a 5 day office hour work week. There is no need to bring work home as there is time allocated to complete work for the day during working hours. There is also no expectations to reply to work messages from parents after 6pm on weekdays and the whole of weekends. There is frequent training (about 2/3 times a year) to go through current changing in the industry, new therapy approaches so everyone is updated and can make use of these information to better help the children reach their full academic potential. It also is a good way for new staff to be trained too. Working here for most of my twenties has shaped me as not only a therapist for children for special needs but also my character personally. When I started, I did not know I would work here for this amount of years but I'm glad I stayed.
Cons
Parents' requests and demands can be quite challenging at times, unreasonable even. Which can take a toll on you but thankfully, the bosses are approachable and will stand by the therapists. Working with children can often make staff fall sick which can be inconvenient at times but there is medical benefits provided by the company for lesser clinic fees. There are 2 branches but both are in the North-East which can be quite far for those staying in other parts of the country.