direct support professional

caregiver

in home caregiver

life skills trainer

case manager

Compass SLS & ILS

A Typical Day at Work:
A typical day at work involves supporting clients with a variety of daily living needs, transportation, community integration, self-advocacy, budgeting, shopping, appointments, and social skill development. I spend much of my day helping clients achieve their individual goals while promoting independence, safety, and personal growth. Every day presents different challenges and opportunities, which keeps the work engaging and meaningful.

What I Believe I Learned:
I have learned the importance of patience, adaptability, and effective communication. Working with individuals who have diverse needs has strengthened my problem-solving abilities and taught me how to adjust my approach to best support each person. I have also gained valuable experience in crisis management, conflict resolution, and helping clients build confidence in their own abilities.

Management:
Management has been supportive and approachable. They provide guidance when needed, encourage professional growth, and consistently focus on delivering quality services to clients. I appreciate leadership that values teamwork, recognizes employee contributions, and works to create a positive environment for both staff and clients.

Workplace Culture:
The workplace culture is collaborative, client-centered, and supportive. Staff members work together to ensure clients receive the best possible care and services. There is a strong emphasis on respect, inclusion, professionalism, and helping one another succeed. Team members are encouraged to share ideas and support each other through challenges.

The Hardest Part of the Job:
The hardest part of the job is navigating complex situations involving client crises, behavioral challenges, or difficult life circumstances while ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone involved. It can also be challenging when progress occurs slowly, but those situations reinforce the importance of consistency, patience, and persistence.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
The most enjoyable part of the job is seeing clients achieve their goals and become more independent. Watching someone gain confidence, learn a new skill, advocate for themselves, or accomplish something they once thought was impossible is incredibly rewarding. Building meaningful relationships with clients and knowing that I am making a positive difference in their lives makes the work fulfilling every day.

The company stands for good morals and values, but doesn’t execute these in a very professional manner. They accommodated the training to a virtual group training for COVID-19, but I didn’t feel like I got much take away. Going into the job I thought I could promote up, as they like to say there are possibilities for this, but in the end there were not. The schedule is only semi flexible, as to what the clients needs are, but can also bring a serious revolving door at a moments notice. Your hours are never guaranteed to be consistently the same. They do not follow the 6 month commitment in all regions. You have to become an IHSS provider, and the process is a pain, as is trying to collect your hours to get paid from IHSS. You’re only as lucky as the case manager you’re assigned to. Some are really wonderful, some will leave you high and dry, and uncertain about what to do. Some managers seem cold and distant, and unhelpful when in need of support. Trying to make a serious effort and change with a client can be challenging and difficult if there isn’t the ready support from management and high up. You’re required to use your phone for clocking in and doing daily notes. Some clients have tablets, but not all, which means if you don’t have good service in the area, you may not get to clock in and out on time. Management will also text you personally when they feel they need to, along with emails, and messages on the job board app. This can be redundant at times. The work load does not match the pay scale. You work alone with your client(s), and at times this can be very challenging, especially if there is an emergency/high priority situation, and you need to contact someone for help regarding the situation. At times when you need help in a high stress situation, you can feel very isolated and alone while waiting to hear about what to do about the client. They try to do the right thing when it comes to covid-19, but I was told to go ahead and go to work after reporting I had been exposed to covid. I had also been asked to work with clients who were positive for covid-19. You can feel under appreciated at times for the work load given to you. 

That aside, all the clients I had worked with are amazing. A lot of the field staff work hard for their clients, and try to work as a team. Some clients require more than others, but for the most part each house has different needs and roles to be met, which can be fun. Getting to know these clients was one of my favorite parts of the job. But the more you care, the more you stress, and the more you feel useless when certain needs are not met for the client. Management needs help and further education with problem solving skills and working with people in high stress environments. Wonderful work experience, low pay for work load. 

My job is very rewarding. I am an in-home caregiver, and it is very interesting. A typical day involves taking my client to their program, cooking, House Keeping, driving, listening, taking care of their needs, being there for them, knowing how to handle situations pertaining to my client. Listening, and communicating is very important to this job. My job at this time needs patience, I think that patience is an important part of working for Compass. Caring for someone has always been a gift to me. Compass really trained you well for your position, and if there are any questions, if you are in need of any help, it is there right away. You do not have to wait to receive answers to your questions, or help if you have an issue. My workplace is my client’s home, and I think that there comes a respect with being in someone’s home, living there, part-time, and being a part of their day-to-day environment. I’m very happy with my manager, he is very perceptive to Compass, to the goings on of Compass, to every aspect of the job. I think the greatest joy of Compass is they are not afraid to tell you that you did a good job, or thank you. This has all been new to me, and is very much appreciated. 

I work as a Life Guide. Working with adults who have some type of disability has been a blessing for me, you meet great people and you learn a lot. You grow to understand another person’s experience of life. 

 I was sick for some time  and unable to work a  demanding job, but I was able to work at Compass because the challenges at Compass are more along the lines of the long hours and the fact you can get really bored during the time there isn’t anything  you need to do. It depends on your client, but generally it’s an easy job. Daily tasks include housekeeping, cooking, companionship, medication administration and keeping daily notes. 
What was hard for me was the fact that you are the support person for someone 24 hours a day, and the day can get long during those times when there isn’t anything to do but be available for your client. 

On the positive side, where else can you work a 40-hour workweek in less than 2 days and then have 5 days off? (You can’t beat that!) There are both pros and cons to that, but for me that had been awesome. 

I have experienced support and intentionality with my Case Facilitators (direct supervisors) at Compass, and from what I’ve seen Compass constantly moves toward greater growth and development as a company. 

This is my opinion. If you don't believe, think or feel that what I have to say about the Redding office is realistic that is fine. I would suggest that you seek out and independently ask other individuals their opinions without a CF (case facilitator) or Supervisor involved. Unfortunately, this company has placed some people in authority that have no right to be. Some of the most passive aggressive, hypocritical, Insincere people I have ever encountered in a work place. Never have I seen so many seemingly in the wrong profession. Of course I'm not speaking on all employees but a select fellow in authority that dictate the outcome ultimately in delicate situations. Compass as a company has great values and goals. It's just very disheartening to see that some people in the position of authority not aligning with the company's core beliefs. Following a chain of command only gets you so far if a supervisor is an issue. If you are a lower level employee you have no voice. I can't help but wonder if that isn't something that plays into what seems like such a high turn over. In the end it's just sad because Compass as a company has such an amazing mission and vision. A few bad apples spoil the barrel, has never been more accurate. 

Management was terrible. When I was being hired, I was told about all these great opportunities available to me but once I actually started working in homes with the clients, I realized how poorly the company was actually looking after the clients. I had the "pro" of one of my houses treat my client as if she were a child and not a grown adult living in her own home. The company says it's about "helping clients make the right choices" but in reality, the choices made are more beneficial to the company and not the client. Another factor I found difficult to cope with was how certain employees were treated compared to others. If you weren't a Case Facilitator or higher, you were pretty much not cared about. The CF's are overpaid for what they do while the basic Life Guide (in home with client, lowest level of employment) was working harder than the CF and being paid several dollars an hour less. If you were sick and tried to call, the person running the phones would complain at you and say that you were "inconveniencing the rest of us". It was my worst experience I have ever had at a job. Terrible company and I feel so bad for the clients who have to suffer in their wrath.

As an office administrator, you will be worked and challenged. It was worth it in the beginning. Pay was fantastic for what boils down to Front Desk/receptionist. Beautiful work space. Great coworkers and ambitious real estate agents.

If you enjoy catering to others needs in the kitchen, working closely with the facility department, learning how to set up catering events and running an office, this is a great start. The skills that you will be able to add onto your resume are exceptional.

The role became bogged down by excessive micromanagement from new higher ups who had issues communicating with civility/respect. Not much diversity. Your schedule may be 9am-5pm but you may need to come earlier to make sure space is neat and leave later than scheduled for the sake of maintenance.

If you are signing up for I.T., Agent Role, Marketing, I recommend. Great career start. If you are looking at the office administrator role, I would avoid unless you really need the experience on your resume and the paycheck that goes with it.

Working as a CFS Specialist at Compass in Redding has been truly meaningful. A typical day involves supporting clients with life skills, community access, and helping them advocate for their goals. I’ve learned so much about patience, communication, and meeting people exactly where they are.

Management is supportive and genuinely wants their staff to grow, and the workplace culture feels uplifting, team-oriented, and mission-driven.
The hardest part of the job is navigating complex client needs or sudden schedule changes, but it’s also where I’ve learned the most. The most enjoyable part is building real relationships with clients and seeing their confidence and independence grow. Overall, it’s a deeply rewarding role that makes every day feel purposeful.

I worked at this company for years. They don't care about work/life balance and will pester you constantly on your days off,leave you hanging if someone calls off and can't relieve you when you're supposed to be off, allow coworkers to nap and not pitch in. If you're a team lead? Prepare to cover for your inept supervisor and do everything while your coworkers nap or scroll on their phones. They do not listen to their clients at ISP meetings and don't remove bad staff from client homes despite them pleading for a change of staff. Allows abusive staff to stay employed. Awful company. They care more about Money than the client or employees. AVOID and do yourself a favor.  The clients can be awesome but the management is atrocious.

Reasonable expectations, sometimes stressful but with good support from management. High level of autonomy in managing duties, semi-rigid schedule can be pliable where needed (with permission, of course). Moderate to high responsibility level depending on the client and their situation, can be many moving parts to keep track of to ensure short and long term results. Not at all like a typical office job, despite utilizing many applicable skills from the administrative realm. No one is constantly looking over your shoulder, but this means you are all the more beholden to promptness, initiative, and results. Ultimately, our job is to find or create solutions with the many resources we can network to get our hands on. The better you are at this, the more it stands out since you’re the one with boots on the ground. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 51 salaries reported	$22.94 per hour
Caregiver 41 salaries reported	$21.33 per hour
In home caregiver 24 salaries reported	$21.63 per hour
Life skills trainer 36 salaries reported	$25.92 per hour
Case manager 36 salaries reported	$29.21 per hour

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