The New Girl #3

The Flood Gates Have Opened!

After registering for the Oshkosh Placement Exchange, I have started receiving tons of emails from different schools asking me to schedule interviews with them. Now granted that the conference is mainly Housing positions, I'm super excited. 

I've started an OPE tracker sheet. 

I know.. I'm super exciting and over-organized hahaha

I have tracked current interviews I have set up (I'm up to 8! eeek!), Institutions that I have contacted as well as ones that have contacted me (dates are included for timely follow up).

For schools I declined interviews with, I also put the reason why such as location, position responsibilities, professional opportunities, benefits/salary, on campus vs off campus living requirements, and such things.

For schools that I can interviews set up with, I have listed reasons why I want to work for that institution. Some of those reasons include the same reasons for schools I declined interviews with. So while I may have said no to one school for the location, I might be excited about the location of another school. Let's be honest though, I need warmer weather in my life! Hello Georgia sunshine!

I've also started a spreadsheet to compare other schools. Not the most ideal comparison type for me as I connect better with the people I work with and think myself competent for any job I am interested in or can quickly pick up. 

I've also started practicing my interviewing skills. I stand in front of a mirror and practice saying "How Now Brown Cow".. okay not really but that would be funny if I actually did. I have a set of questions I review that I think potential employers will ask me. I don't want to sound canned but I'm not going to sit there either and try to decide if I could better explain my communication skills by sharing one story over the other.

I do have a video interview set up with an institution this week. I know video interview? You can almost guess what my topic next week will be about!

Well until next time my fellow readers, 

You know you love to be organized like me XOXO, Graduate Girl

True Life | I’m on the #SASearch #3

Location, Location

I've finally decided where I want to job search- location wise at least. There are 7 states that I've decided to search in. When you hear 7 it might seem like a lot but it isn't 7 full states that I’m searching in.

My 7 states are separated into three different categories:
1) Close to Mom – Massachusetts, Connecticut & Rhode Island
2) Close to my Partner – DC, Maryland & Virginia
3) Close to my Uncle – North Carolina

So the way I decided where to search was within an hour/ two hour commute from the home of my mom, partner or uncle.  I am blessed to have three people who don’t mind me moving in with them if I secure a job in their area. I think knowing where I can job search and the specific locations/institutions in that area make life a lot easier.

My mom is being the biggest blessing for me about my job search. She suggested that if I stay in our area, she’ll let me stay at home (rent free) so that I can save up some money to get my own place. I think it’s a blessing that she’d let me do that. I know how much money I can save staying with her and how I can get ahead of the bills and what not that way. She even offered to allow my partner to move in with us while we save for our own place.

 My partner and I have been in a long distance relationship so I've always considered moving to his area. I’ve visited multiple times and I love it down there. There are a lot of colleges and universities in that area so I don’t think finding something in that area would be a problem.  We would be close to my partner’s son and family and he would be able to keep his full time job he has down there. The only con is that we would have to find a place to move in to right away and apartments can be expensive over there depending where we decided on living.

The other option is to search for jobs near my uncle. Last time he came to visit, he said that I’d be welcomed to live with him if I found a job in his area. Again, this would be great because although I would help around the house and contribute wherever needed, I could save some money up until I got a place of my own. However, this is my last option. I want to focus on the first two sets of states and then focus on the last one.

I feel like knowing exactly where I want to search has lifted a weight off my shoulders.

On another note, I really have to practice interviewing. I had a phone interview for a part time job (non sa related) and I think that although I think the lady liked me, I think I could interview better. I definitely need to get this going before I start applying and getting interviews. I also need to practice answers to the basic questions (strengths, weaknesses, etc.).  But that’s for another post…

Graduation Countdown = 111 days

The New Girl #2

Cover Letters Coming Out of My Ears....

If there is one thing I really dislike about job searching it is writing cover letters.

Seriously.

Yes. I like your school. I have great experiences that make me a good candidate for an open position. If I didn't think it is a good fit, I wouldn't apply. I see the need for cover letters and maybe it is that I put a TON of effort into mine. First impressions make a difference, right? I need to make my cover letters personable because generic cover letters are boring and say the same thing. Blah Blah Blah you can find everything I am saying already on my resume..

I do a little research into the department's mission and vision and what their top priorities are. I find  one or two that really entice me. I also look at the position description and find responsibilities that I already have experienced then elaborate on my experience and how I excelled in those areas.

The down fall is that this takes some time to research and then personalize the letter. I also want to have my personality to come out a bit as I like to think I am a fun person to be around and I like to laugh. Although I applied to a school in Montana and made a comment about how I never imagined myself living in Montana until I did a little more research on the school. Hopefully the search committee finds some humor in it.

I have applied to attend the Oshkosh Placement Exchange in late February which is mainly a Residence Life Interview Conference/Networking Event. So the good news is that there are a ton of listings of open positions in Residence Life and offers opportunities to be on University Committees. The GREAT news is that after I posted my resume, I received emails from schools interested in me! The bad news is that in order to be considered for an interview, I need to apply online and part of the process, yes you guessed it, includes a cover letter. Yippie! But being a student in their last semester of graduate school, I have plenty of time (insert sarcasm here..)

At least, I make time at the end of the day to watch one.. okay.. two episodes of Gossip Girl off of Netflix because we need to have a healthy balance between work and personal time. Justification approved! Although I can't justify eating the whole bag of Doritos last night...my bad.

Hopefully next time, I will be able to share good news as to whether or not I have any interviews lined up!

Until next week.. you know you love the job search!

XOXO Graduate Girl

True Life | I’m on the #SASearch #2

Back to square one…

Since I started job searching last month, I had my eye on a couple of jobs. I was on HigherEdJobs and I found what I thought was the perfect job. It was an academic advising job that worked specifically with student athletes. When I read the job description, I immediately marked it so I could apply.

Over the past month, I edited my resume and tweaked it to make sure it reflected the job.  I contacted my references to make sure I could still use them. Everything was ready for me to apply, except for my cover letter. I knew I had to revamp my cover letter but I had been putting it off. I wasn't sure what I wanted to write so it made it a little harder for me to rewrite it.

The other day, I finally started to write my cover letter and went back on HigherEdJobs to look at the job posting. I noticed that it said it had been deleted. I didn't find this unusual since I know that postings are not left up forever. I went to the school’s posting and it was still there. The next day, I went to apply and the posting on the school site had expired. I was literally just a day late.

When I say I was so mad at myself that might be an understatement. I texted my mom and complained. Her response was that there will be something better for me. I mean, I agree but I thought this could have been the job.

The other job I had on my eye, didn't have a start date listed on one site so I was going to apply. However, I went on the school’s site and it set to start in February. This puts me back at square one.  I've found a couple more jobs I like. I ‘m going to look at them again and decided if it’s something I want to apply to or not.

Graduation Countdown = 118 days

The New Girl #1

Just the Beginning…

 It was just yesterday that I was closing my Residence Hall for winter break and thinking about starting the journey of job searching when my supervisor asked how my search was going. I smiled and said “Oh you know, just great” when really I was dreading it. Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited to be searching for my first full time position, but I know the amount of effort, self-presentation, and exhausting hours that all goes into a job search from attaining my Graduate Assistantship position for graduate school. Are you sure I should be graduating already?

There are so many aspects that pop into my head when searching for a career in higher education such as the size of the institution, public or private institution, size of the town, geographical location, field of interest, size of department/peer group, salary$$, benefits, professional development support, opportunities for advancement, vision and mission of the institution, social life, social media interests/marketing and my favorite one to look for when considering live-in positions, the pet policy! Whew.  That was a long sentence, but what did I all miss on that list?  I’m sure I missed some that I will kick myself for later, but I’ll get over it.

I guess it all comes down to priorities, right? What is most important to you or what do you value the most? One thing that is super important to me is the people that I will be working with but I can’t consider that until I get an interview with an institution. So for now, I am focusing on the vision and mission of the institution/department. I know, deep right? My first job search and I’m already digging right down to the core of departments I want to work for.  However, if my values don’t align with the mission of a department I’m working for, I doubt I would want to work there, much less be happy working for a department I don’t believe in.

My other priority would be found in my field of interest. Currently, I hold a graduate assistantship in Residence Life, but I LOVE athletics, and yes LOVE is in all caps for a reason. I played collegiate athletics at my Division lll undergraduate school which most likely fuel my passion for working with student athletes and athletics, and also the reason I am doing a practicum with our athletic department now to wrap up my master’s degree towards Higher Education Administration. I work directly with our Athletic Director and she is, yes SHE is amazing. Not many schools can boast National Championships with a female Athletic Director so I’m in awe of her “amazingness” and all she does for the students at our institution. So I’m considering a full time position in Residence Life as well as keeping an eye open for working in athletics. Oh and did I mention I also have experience and interest in First Year Experience, academic affairs, student organizations, community service and student conduct? Whew. I’m all over the place when it comes to experience it looks like.

So that’s only two aspects and I’m already starting to stress out about this job search again. I still need to tell my future employers about my resume and how my experiences will make me a great candidate for that open position as well as impress the boots off of the search committee with my phone interview and my on-campus visit. I also need to make sure to drop by my references with chocolate and remind them how much they love me and all the hard work that will make me the perfect candidate for when my future employers call them up. Oh and I need to register for either Oshkosh Placement Exchange or The Placement Exchange, but I can’t decide so I’ll need to pick out of a hat. I also have to look online for open positions being posted there. Thank God for technology or I would be geographically stuck most likely to one or two states. Better start writing this all on my To Do List for this week. On a positive note though, weather doesn’t bother me! Yeah I know you really considered that when searching for your first job. I’ve spent winters cold as ice up north by these great lakes cleaning ice and snow off my car but then, I have also sweat my bum off this past summer down south at an internship in the desert. I think I can roll with the punches in any state when it comes to weather temperatures and conditions!

Well if you have made it this far through my blog, congratulations! You have had a glimpse into my non-stop mind with the crazy thoughts and considerations I relished in this past winter break while the snow was somewhat falling around me. I would suggest you stay tuned for my crazy journey and all the mostly enjoyable aspects of a full time entry level job search this spring.

You know you’re excited. XOXO, Graduate Girl

P.S. that’s as close to the Gossip Girl sign off I could get!!

True Life | I’m on the #SASearch #1

True Life | I’m on the #SASearch

Ah, the beloved student affairs job search.  Since I entered grad school, I have constantly checked (by constantly, I mean at least 3x a day) job sites, read countless job search articles and have had my resume checked by numerous professionals and fellow grad students.   With everything that I’ve heard, you’d think I’d be ready to face this job search head on.

Yeah, that is not the case, not at all.  I think one of the things that has me nervous is my case of imposter syndrome. I’ve seen a couple job listings that I truly like but then think that there may be someone out there who is better qualified for the position and I talk myself out of applying. As we both may know, that will not get me a job anytime soon and by soon I mean hopefully by graduation in May.

So what am I going to do about this? Since it is show time now, I am going to prep for the search as best as I can. I have three ways of staying organized:

1)      A binder: The binder is divided by job types. In the front of each section, I keep a copy of the resume for that job type. I then keep track of each job description and a copy of the cover letter and references page I sent in.

2)      An excel sheet: I learned this from last year’s StudentAffairs.com bloggers. My excel sheet has a record of the jobs I think I can apply to, a list of jobs I applied to, a list of school login information and a list of jobs from TPE that I have applied to or been contacted about. This is color coordinated by the current progress for each job. I have a color for the jobs I applied to, a color when I get an interview, a color for when a job is offered and a color if I get rejected.

3)      Trello: The other day, someone posted a link to an article about using this site to organize your job search.  I had never heard of Trello but decided to give it a shot. I think it is a great tool for my search. I have several lists including Prep Work, Job Listing Sites, Idea School Locations, Possible Jobs, Jobs Applied To and Jobs I am in the Running for.  I like these lists because you can add information to each and even attach files and comments to it.

a.       As an avid color coder, I have decided to color each type of area I am applying to (Student Activities, Academic Advising, and Multicultural Affairs). Jobs that involve working directly with Student Athletes also have a special color. I’ve then sorted them by location. New England is my primary geographic location however; I am open to the Mid-Atlantic region as well.

b.      Trello is good for supporting my color coordinating habits because they have labels that are color coded. This was a plus!

                      

As a bonus: I also keep track of my search on a white erase board I have in my room. It mainly has a list of things to do that are related to my search as well.

Can you tell I like to be organized? I am now officially ready for this job search to begin!

Graduation Countdown = 125 days