The 2007 Student Affairs Job Hunt

In Medias Res # 13- Hardly Starving

I know I just posted, but I am trying to think about something other than my upcoming defense, and I need to stop looking at apartments in towns that i don't have a job in yet. So I figured I would blog.

I had three (!) phone interviews yesterday and I have a couple more scheduled for next week. I know when I blow a phone interview, and yesterday I think I just hit a wall. Two of the schools I know I did a good job of expressing my strengths and weaknesses. In fact one of the interviews I have to say was my best so far, because I’ve finally started to relax. I was honest, upfront, and frank. I think they really liked me.

The first interview I did yesterday though? Bad news. This was a school that a couple of weeks ago I was really excited about, but as my situation has changed, and I start to feel the exhaustion of running around the country kick in, this position just seems less appealing. Of course, they asked me all the same questions that everyone asks. Of course, I put on that stupid cruise director’s voice and said things that only marginally represented my strengths and skills as a professional. Two days ago when I was looking at my schedule for the week I really just wanted to cancel the damn thing, but I am not secure enough in my knowledge that a job is forthcoming that I was ready to do that.

I find that the more I do these campus visits the less I prepare for them. A part of this is time: they are falling on top of each other and I don’t have the hours to while away reading websites. A bigger part of this is energy. If I don’t get some time to myself before the Joint Conference I worry about what I’m going to draw on to get through three or four days of interviews. I don’t have nearly as much on my plate as Pick Me (good luck with that! My informal advice: tell them the parameters of your search have changed and you don’t want to waste their time).

On a slightly related note: I declined an on campus interview yesterday. I know, it surprised me to, but at this point I’m not just accepting interviews because they are offered. The travel, preparation, and interviewing involved is so draining that I can’t just go. I need a compelling reason, an exciting position, a good institutional fit to get my ass on another airplane. Hopefully I won’t regret these decisions later, but right now it seems like the most sensible decision I could make.

posted by StudentAffairs.com @ 11:40 AM