Pick Me-Choose Me-Hire Me #16- Whirlwind Adventure!
Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? ~Grey's AnatomyHello again loyal readers. Once again, an apology is in order. I have seriously been slacking with the posting, but I have many updates for all of you. I also apologize for the random nature of this post, but I have a lot to write about this week!
First, a re-cap of ACPA/NASPA now that I am not in a state of total and complete exhaustion. I will use this as a space to give some more advice, post general ramblings, and basically attempt to process the six craziest days of my life. For any future job searchers out there, the advice has been italicized and bolded for your convenience so you don't have to sort through all of my other stuff throughout the blog.
I think the most important item I can share with you is that it is vitally important to surround yourself with people who do not stress you out. I can not stress this point enough. I chose not to cram 500 people in a room because I knew that the stress of multiple sleep schedules, bathroom time, and lack of hot water would put me in a really bad mood. Instead, I shared a room with one of my best friends in the hotel where Placement was taking place. Although I really could not afford this luxury, it was totally and completely worth it! I didn't have to worry about paying for parking, renting a car, getting up super early to arrive to Placement, or hanging around if the people in my caravan had interviews that were later than mine. This arrangement allowed for a lot more autonomy and was a great way to manage your environment.
Additionally, be aware of who you surround yourself with in terms of your colleagues or cohort members during the breaks at Placement. One person in my cohort went on and on about how they were "so over Res. Life" and were really qualified for mid-level positions due to previous professional experience. Not only did this make me mad, but it also demeaned the entry-level, Res. Life positions that I was interviewing for throughout the day. I know that they did not mean for this to be the case, but it really got under my skin and by the third day I knew when to go over to the break table and when not to.
Another observation that I came across is actually due to my days as a sorority woman. All of you sorority women out there know how Recruitment techniques are drilled into your head as an undergrad and I soon found myself slipping into "sorority girl" mode at the socials. I think the whole Placement experience can make direct links to Recruitment since they are just snippets of your personality, you dress up for each other, you know what questions to ask to seem interested and intrigued, etc.... but the Recruitment analogy is never more apparent than at the social functions. Personally, I just think these are awkward. I can think of nothing more contrived that setting a specific day, time, and place to "be yourself" and "get to know" the people you could potentially be working with in the upcoming year. I don't care what people say about being yourself because this really is the second round of interviews many schools. Therefore, I found myself plastering on the smile and engaging in surface conversations when all I wanted to do was sit down in the corner, check my e-mail, and ask the people what it is really like to work at their school.
However, socials do serve their purpose. I remember my sorority advisor telling me that it is so much more important to observe how members treat each other instead of how the members treat you as a perspective member. These people know how to treat perspective employees. They know how to be gracious and really attempt to get to know you. I am not saying that this is not genuine by any means, but you have to look at these socials objectively. They are recruiting you as much as you are checking them out by this point in the game. Therefore, I found that when I observed how coworkers were treating each other I was able to gauge just how well they work together and know each other in a social context. It is very important for me to have collegial relationships so this was helpful for me. One institution basically bombarded me with questions and introduced me to everyone, but my host for the night couldn't remember the last name of one of their colleagues or where they worked. This was a red flag for me! However, at another institution I felt like I was a part on an ongoing conversation between coworkers and they really knew each other. This is something that I was looking for in a potential position. This leads me to my next set of ramblings...
I know that some of you were concerned about the number of interviews that I had set up prior to the conference. However, having multiple interviews worked for me. It allowed me to put multiple top choices in perspective and compare the benefits and drawbacks in a much easier way since I had more options. Also, I think the pace actually helped me keep up my energy and stamina instead of draining me. I was usually booked from 9 or 10 in the morning until 4 or 5 at night with either 30 or 60 minutes in between, but this really worked to my advantage. One day I had a rather sizable break between interviews, but the interviews I had after this break were probably some of my worst because I had allowed myself to relax, both physically and mentally and get out of the interviewing mode. Therefore, know your limits and don't let other people's expectations influence your Placement experience. A lot of people in my cohort had a few interviews set up before flying to Orlando and many of them did not have any and were just more aggressive once they arrived. Whether you have 0 or 44 interviews, you just need to do what you are comfortable with because that is what matters in the end. I wanted to have a better read on my options so I may have been on the heavy side, but it really worked out in the end.
I had hoped to leave Placement with a few good prospects and really be able to narrow down my options and values for a first position and I think I was very successful at this. Also, I have pretty exciting news. I have an on-campus interview set-up with one of my #1 schools! (For the record, three schools are tied for #1 at this point.) This was the institution that I fell in love with once they posted the description in December. I fell a little more in love during a phone interview, and I fell A LOT in love with them during the first round of interviewing at Placement. They asked me back for a second interview and I readily agreed. The night before I crammed in my hotel room and came up with about 10 seemingly intelligent and thoughtful questions to ask. When I sat down at the table they immediately said "Well, we have basically fallen in love with you as a candidate and want to extend you an offer for an on-campus interview." I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous and probably resembled a deer in the headlights. I had no idea that this was coming! Of course, I said yes on the spot and they immediately started rattling off dates, times, flight arrangements, and other details. I tried to write as quickly as possible, but my notes look like chicken scratch now! I am happy to report that they also invited me to their social later that evening and I think I fell in love with them a little more (if that was even possible) that night. This was the social where the people really knew each other and it just felt comfortable to be with them. We were laughing, joking, telling Res. Life stories and I realized half-way through that I didn't have to make an effort to be myself, but it was just coming naturally. I took this as a good sign!
As a re-cap if any of you are interested in the numbers game, during my four days at Placement I had 19 first round interviews, 6 second round interviews, got invited to 5 socials and went to 3 of them, interviewed with 43 different professionals, wrote countless thank you notes, and came back with around 40 pounds of folders stuffed with every possible publication from a variety of schools. I also left about 7 folders in the hotel room to make sure I didn't have to pay for super heavy luggage on the way back.
The waiting game has started for on-campus interviews. Before I left Orlando, I made a list of "yes," "no," and "maybe" schools. Then I ranked them from there to make sure the interviews were fresh in my mind. I have an on-campus with one of my #1 and I was offered an on-campus with my #6 and #16 today. I think I will go to the #6 school because I think a lot of my hesitations were due to campus culture which really can't be judged until I'm actually on campus.
However, I just decided that the #16 school really is not for me. I was talking with one of my friends who is also thinking about declining an on-campus interview and we said that it just seemed counterintuitive! We both realized that it would be silly to waste the money of an institution on hotel, food, transportation, etc. if we really couldn't see ourselves going there, but that is still so hard to be the person making rejection calls! In the back of my mind there is a little voice that says "What if this is the only other on-campus interview you get and you were dumb and picky and turned it down?" Deep down, I am scared of making a mistake that I won't be able to undo.
posted by StudentAffairs.com @ 6:37 PM
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