Thank you for your consideration #14

I DID IT!

I got the job offer (from the deluxe place mentioned in TYFYC #12). woohoo! I won't have to move into my in-laws basement afterall. And, I am so relieved that my hard work, in both school and job hunting, has paid off.

Its at a 501c3...so I'm back to my non-profit roots after 2 years of working in academia at the university. I'm exicted to work at a place where money is not the bottom line, where their mission is to help people, and where their employees are respected and treated well. AND I will be able to use some of my training from grad school =)  The only downside, thus far, is that it is quite a commute. So, 3 hours a day I will be in a car, and with gas prices that will hurt. But I will glady drive for a job. And it has  full benefits, they even pay the insurance premiums (be still my heart!), so thats an okay trade off.

I admit that I was thrown for a loop during the job offer phone call, though. They did not offer me the job that I applied for, its the next step up. While this is great for my resume and my paycheck, I'm a little nervous at this new role. In addition to the duties that I thought I'd be doing, I will be creating job descriptions and hiring a number of staff to work under me - this is a new step in a direction that I did not necessarily see myself going. But new challenges are good, they keep you growing and learning. And now that school is over in May, it will be good to keep the brain active and stay challenged.

Best of luck to my fellow job-seekers!

ECTMSRHOPHM Volume 11

East Coast Transplant in the Midwest Seeks Repatriation to the Homeland; or, Please Hire Me!

The post wherein Epix does his best to remember what ACPA was like…

Hi all!

So, the last week has been…stressful, to say the least.  After getting rid of my caffeine addiction, it’s now back in full force.  Headaches, mood swings, you name it, I’ve got it…  *sigh*

Anywho, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will most likely not have a job offer by graduation.  Very few (I think only one?) folks in my program have job offers, or anything near equivalent to that.  I know that when I walk across that stage, I do it walking into…nothing, probably not a job, probably not anything.  Just a summer off…which, actually, is okay by me! :P

I feel like this is going to be the reality.  As professionals take longer to decide on whether or not to leave their current jobs/institutions, due to there being so few jobs available, the potential for new professionals to have multiple offers dwindles and dwindles….ah well.

So, in thinking about ACPA and other conferences, here are some things you, as a future job searcher, should keep in mind:

1.  You are overheard everywhere you go. 

I thought this was just some bs concocted by the overly happy people that were volunteering.  It’s really not.  Do not, under any circumstances, badmouth your school, your colleagues, an interviewer, or any institution in any place that is not your hotel room with the door bolted (thin walls may also be an issue-check this out).  Everywhere you go, there are other Student Affairs professionals…at the bars, at the restaurants, at Baltimore’s aquarium…everywhere.  And they dress down.  So, what look like townies, are actually your potential colleagues.  Watch out for this.

2. Get some sleep.

Seriously folks, I cannot emphasize this enough.  I went to bed almost every night by 10 or 11pm.  I rarely went to bars, rarely socialized, rarely did anything.  It sucked, but when you’ve got 9:00am interviews, you quickly realize what’s most important, and where your energies should be spent.  Sure, some folks will proudly say that they got sh*t-faced, or majorly bombed before an interview…good for them.  I wasn’t going to risk a job offer just for one night of partying, no matter how socially deprived I’ve become.  Get some sleep, eat breakfast, take breaks, etc etc etc…

3. Schedule interviews in advance.

Almost all of my interviews, save the second round ones, were scheduled in advance.  It made things a hell of a lot less stressful, knowing where I’d be and when.  Also, keep your later days open for possible 2^nd or 3^rd round interviews…those are important!  Give yourself a half hour to hour break between interviews.  Yes, this will limit the amount of interviews you can get, BUT you’ll have more time for last minute reviews and research!  Do it, people!

4. Leave the convention center as often as possible.

Go walk around the city/immediate area!  Go to different places to eat, enjoy the sun, get outside!  The convent center basement was nice and all, but you NEED fresh air!  Walking around will help wake you up as well!

5. Go on the pre-tour they offer.

Seriously, it helps give you a good rundown of what to expect.  The interview area was GINORMOUS and intimidating.  The lights themselves looked like stars…it’d almost be a wonderful sight, if your job future weren’t hanging in the balance.

6.  Have a sense of humour.

It’ll impress interviewers that you are taking the day in stride.  You might use the same joke again and again.  So what?  They haven’t heard it before…just pretend like it came to you on the spot.  This is where your background in theatre will come in handy!  What, you don’t have any?  Get on that, asap!

7.  Meet new people.

It’s nice that you have friends here.  If you see them in classes all week, you don’t need to see them at a conference.  Yes, you would probably love to de-stress and hang out with them…but don’t do it.  Meet new people, talk to those at schools you’re interested in, get out there!   I don’t recommend too much volunteering if you have a heavy interview schedule, but still, meet people!  Go to the socials at night, both school-related and the ones for specific identity groups.  I met a lot of great people there that I hope to see again next year (when I’ve got more time to socialize and say hello).  Use your classmates as a resource, yes, but don’t rely on them to be your one and only source of interaction.  It shows others watching that you can’t meet new people that easily, and that you are probably too deeply attached (Just my two cents!).

8. Find downtime where you don’t need to smile and be “on.”

The volunteers advise everyone to smile and be “on” as often as possible.  I’m going to have to disagree…

You are human, you have limited supplies of energy, don’t waste them when you don’t need them.  Get away from the convention center and cool it down a bit.  Sure, always look approachable, but know that you can turn it down a notch or two…or five.  While waiting for an interview, it’s okay to slump back and take a breather.  Just be conscious of the interviewers that are coming to pick you up.  Get ready to snap back when you need to! 

Honestly, if you take anything away from what I’m saying, realize that you need to take care of yourself.  You can’t be on 24/7 and live to tell the tale.

And, now, the days are getting longer and longer…and graduation and the end of my contract are getting closer and closer.  As I said, I probably won’t have a job by graduation, but I will have freedom…or at least the ability to sleep, undisturbed for 19 hours if I need to. 

Here’s to future rounds of amazingly restful sleep!

-Epix

ECTMSRHOPHM Volume 10

East Coast Transplant in the Midwest Seeks Repatriation to the Homeland; or, Please Hire Me!

Dear blogosphere,

Epix is back!

As much as I wanted to get this entry out as fast as possible, I knew that I needed time to sleep and recuperate so that I could function as a student and an interviewer.

Thus, this is my moment of apology/selfishness. 

However, ACPA was a blast!   I am still completely dumbfounded by what a small field Higher Ed really is…My supervisor and other colleagues told me that we all know someone who knows someone who knows someone…but, I didn’t realize how true this would be until I got there.

I mean, DAMN!  Everywhere I looked, someone knew someone at my current or former institution…it was nuts!

I definitely did not get to go to as many sessions as I would have liked, as the job search took priority.

Now, the interviews themselves… We all stayed in a small location where we used our laptops to do last minute-research on the schools, then were corralled into a smaller waiting room while we sat and waited for someone to come and call our name and lead us to our doom…err…salvation…err…something?  Each school had some sort of swag, some sort of identifier.  I appreciated that.  It was a nice personal touch and just, well, fun, in an otherwise stress-packed day.  Each institution had similar questions, and only a few stuck out.  Unfortunately, I am so wiped and mentally gone from this time, that I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME remember these questions!  L

I was definitely “me” throughout, and sold myself as a person deeply vested in, and attuned to, the needs and interests of those from underrepresented populations.  That said, I know I scared some schools off, but they wouldn’t be a good fit in the long run.

I’m happy with how it turned out.  Now, there’s just an impossibly long waiting period…Will I get a lot of on-campus interviews?!?!?  Will those “anticipated” positions open up???!?!  Who do I need to kill to make them open up?!?!  Wait, er, scratch that…who do I NEED TO FIND ANOTHER JOB FOR so that those positions open up?!??!  Much better.  J

Stay tuned for my next post on the advice I have for others doing the conference thing when job searching!

 -Epix

Thank you for your consideration #13

“Secret-secret, I’ve got a secret….My heart is human, my blood is boiling. My brain, IMB."                  – Styx.

No, I’m not Killroy. But I’m starting to relate.

Nearly every other day, I see a Facebook post from an acquaintance about themselves or their partner getting laid off, or unable to find a job after graduation. Two in my cohort can’t seem to get an interview.  Another friend has been working for 5 five years at a big box retail store post-graduation.  So, I feel guilty over some recent job hunt success.

I’m reluctant to share job hunt at all on Facebook.  It’s a fine line of sharing nowadays.  I certainly don’t want to make any one feel bad, or sound like I am rubbing it in…but isn’t FB for sharing the weekly news and good things that happen? I’m excited about an interview; I should be able to share with my friends and family en masse.  However, I have one friend that shares about every job rejection, and I confess it’s a bit awkward. And that’s making me rethink sharing anything job related at all.

To you, my (mostly) silent anonymous readers, I will relish in telling my ‘secret’;  Over the past five weeks, I’ve been offered four in-person interviews.  And I turned two of them down.

One seemed like an unpleasant place to work and paid about half of what I am currently making as a grad research assistant at the university. Part of me felt like should fully explore EVERY opportunity. But, honestly, it’d probably just be a waste of my time.  And theirs.  The other offer just had incredibly poor timing (the week they were interviewing, I absolutely could not make it - I’d be recovering from a medical procedure that week and couldn’t drive and would look ‘a little worse for the wear’ and be goofy from pain meds.).  But I am incredibility jazzed over the last one.  Ring phone, ring!

*cue robot arms*   Domo-Domo.

Thank you for your consideration #12

Interview #2

First off, this place is DEE-luxe. Driving up I saw the large glass green-technology building, then parked in the heated garage. For a girl coming from the social services and used to working with donated computers and mis-matched office furniture, this place made my jaw drop. And made me extra jumpy at the thought of executives in suits.

Nervously, I flip my hair to change the part, and decide to put on my glasses to help conceal  my facial piercing. Clip-clip-clip go my high heels on the tile.

The first thing they had me do was meet with an HR rep for a half hour to go over the benefits in a round glass room that they referred to as 'The Fishbowl'.  This threw me off. Not the room, the benefits talk.  I mean, it was great they were educating me about the benefits package and options, but I hadn't even interviewed yet! And there wasn't a phone interview, just an 'are you still interested?' type of conversation via phone. So, I was a bit taken back that they would potentially waste time on someone who they might not see as a top candidate...because at this point all they have is a one page resume from me. But, maybe it's their HR policy to do things this way, who am I to question? This corporate world is new to me.

After the drool-worthy benefit package discussion (during which I tried to remain calm and poker faced), I was lead upstairs.  The interview was nearly the complete opposite of my last one. Only one person. And hardly ANY questions ! No crazy 'give me an example of a time you solved a problem', or 'what is your biggest weakness'. Huzzah.  It was mostly a time for ME to ask questions, which was fantastic. I admit, I asked some questions that I already knew the answers to, just to keep the conversation going and appear to be actively thinking while I was freaking out on the inside.

However, about 15  minutes into the interview, my interviewer didn't seem to have much else to say. I had the distinct feeling that his mind was mind up already. But I wasn't sure which way!  Was he done with me? Did my cover letter and resume really do all my work for me in showing my potential as a employee??  Was this just a obligatory interview of on outside candidate to meet some HR standard when they were really just planning on hiring on inside candidate?

I kept asking questions and trying to get in more face time for another 10 minutes, and then let things wind up and let him close the interview.

Afterwards, I met my mother for lunch. Of course, her immediate question was "How did it go, was it good?" Not sure. My overall impression was thath it was more weird than good, but nothing was bad.

Thank you for your consideration #11

Split decison.

Okay, well I've made a decision. Kinda.
Since I have no other offers after 50+ resumes sent - I feel foolish turning this down. With this job I will get in the field, and not have to relocate my husband and I.  I called back and accepted the position while making it clear and being honest that I was really looking for a fulltime position however I liked their school and it was a great opportunity to get experience.  They have to know that not offering benefits means that their employees won't stay long, right? I made it clear that insurance was a concern for me. Hopefully, they will 'earmark' me for an upgrade in hours or position in the near future.

All hope at a FT job is not lost, though. While hemming and hawing over the offer, I got another callback! I have a job interview for next week! Its actually less hours than the 39 hour PT job I've been talking about, as its only 37.5 hours a week, but thats FT at their company. So, you know what that means....Full benefits, baby!! I'm psyched.

So, my decision is pretty much to extend the decision, by telling them yes. (For now). I hate doing this. I feel  dishonest, but I don't want to tell them no and burn that bridge and risk not having anything.  But at this point I have to  look out for myself and my family and not limit myself to the first offer that I get. And this girl needs some insurance!   After all, when it comes down to it, business is business, right? And no one else is looking out for my business.

Update: Through the wonders of Facebook, I found out that a friend of mine has a friend that used to work at the community college (the PT offer place). I emailed her, and upon hearing of my offer, she warned me that their HR processes takes forever. While this is usually bad for most people (if they are unemployed and waiting to start working) this is GREAT for me, as it will buy me more time to apply to more places and hopefully get more offers.

ECTMSRHOPHM Volume 9

  

East Coast Transplant in the Midwest Seeks Repatriation to the Homeland; or, Please Hire Me!

This has been an INCREDIBLY exhausting week (will I get my work done in time?!??! Will I have enough time for upcoming interviews???), there’s also been a lot of good.

I had my first phone interview this weekend.  I could barely sleep the night before, and essentially made myself sick through worrying the morning of.  I took some tummy medicine, thinking “oh no, this will knock me out…I won’t make a good impression…my life is over.”

I’m pretty positive, dont’cha think?

Anyway, I think it went well.  More than well…really REALLY good.  So good in fact that I got a second interview at ACPA.

This school is very VERY high up on my list…intro res-life, as are the rest of my job prospects, but a school that I KNOW I could be happy at.  Great students, great departmental support, great location…*sigh* I’m hoping for the best.

And to top it all off, I have 6 total (including the aforementioned spot) interviews ALREADY scheduled at ACPA.  I know I’ll get more!

I’m just…regularly astounded that I’ve been able to get all this squared away.  I had help from friends (namely the boyfriend) in fine-tuning my cover letters, as verbal interviews are more my thing, I’ve spent late nights researching the schools that I will interview with, and even later nights losing sleep.

I’m as prepped as can be… And, now what?  A week to go before I go through the most challenging interviews of my life…? A week to go before I get a better idea of where I’ll be in 3 months (or, perhaps I’ll be even more nervous…?)…

In short, I’m nervous as hell, and there’s not much I can do about it, save staying confident that I’ve got some great schools wanting to interview me…

In short, a week of worrying and cramming copious amounts of school work before the interviews start is what’s in store for me.  AHHH FUN!  Erm…not really.  *Nervous*