For those of you who aren't familiar with the meat market that is student affairs job searching, let me give you this brief tutorial, so you won't be confused in later blogs that talk about my adventures. The first chore is obviously updating the resume, which I've already done. Organizing references is the next step, which I have done, although they do keep changing, depending on the requirements of the particular job I'm applying for. For convenience, I've now decided to just include every reference I have and let the employer figure out who they want to call. This is the first time all of my references are from one employer (Missouri Western), because I've been here long enough that my references from other places are out of date.
There are three common ways to find jobs in student affairs. The first is to consult job listing sights (The Chronicle of Higher Education, higheredjobs.com, studentaffairs.com). The second is to sign up for online placement sites (there are two that I know of through major student affairs organizations ACPA and NASPA/ACUHO-I/NODA/NACA) and search through jobs there. The third is to go to a Placement Exchange (giant job fairs--there are three that I know of: The Osh Kosh Placement Exchange which is almost exclusively housing; ACPA Placement, which is right before the ACPA convention; and The Placement Exchange, which is run by NASPA, ACUHO-I, NODA and NACA and is right before the NASPA convention). I am doing all three (I'm going to ACPA--if I had known I was doing a real extensive search I would have gone the NASPA route). I have job listings coming out of my ears.
OK, so I have these listings and print off the jobs that I want to apply for. I customize my cover letter for each job (although some jobs do end up with virtually the same letter because the jobs are very similar) and send it off with my resume and references. Most places want you to email your stuff, which is cool. Some want it actually snail mailed, which is OK, but more of a pain. Very few actually want letters of recommendation, thank goodness. So I send off my letters and resumes and wait for responses.
The next step is for the employers to either call me or email me to schedule a phone interview (except for those in the Placement Exchanges, they call or email to set up an interview at Placement). I respond, we set up a time, and they call me at the appointed time for interview #1. After the phone interview there are a couple of things that could happen. One, they could call for a second phone interview. Two, they could call for a campus interview. Sometimes they call references before the second call. And sometimes there isn't a second call. Those employers are missing out for sure. At Placement Exchanges, they could invite you for a second interview on site, or they could call afterward for a phone interview or they could call and invite you to campus. There is also the rare employers who will invite you to campus based on your cover letter and resume and/or reference checks and not bother with the phone interview. Those places kind of freak me out, but I go anyway.
Now, let's talk about the Placement Exchanges for a bit. I've gone to OPE in the past, which is where I found Iowa State. I've also gone to ACPA twice with no luck. A few campus interviews, but none that resulted in anything. Placement Exchanges are plain awful, really. I won't go into OPE, which is a unique sort of evil, since I'm not going there this year. My purpose for going to ACPA is actually to go to the conference. I added on the placement just because. But basically, you set up interviews before the conference. When you get there, you check your conference mailbox (which is how employers communicate with you). Employers will solicit interviews with you, and you'll solicit interviews with employers who you didn't pre-schedule with. It's all formalized, so you don't have to worry about screwing it up. You end up with a TON of stuff from employers, from packets of information to stress balls to pens to cups to shirts and so on. This is why it's a good idea to stay at the conference hotel. Anyway, you go to the assigned waiting area for your interview, and at the scheduled time, the employer will walk through a curtain partition and get you. You follow them through the curtain into a massive room full of tables. So while you're interviewing at table #1, there is someone interviewing at table#2 next to you on the right, someone at table #0 on your left, someone at table #14 in front of you and someone at table #20 behind you. It is a fine art to keeping your concentration on your interview and to be loud enough to be heard, but not so loud they can hear you at the next table. This goes on for days. There are socials at night and early morning that you get invited to so you have to go to those to show you're interested in the job. You have to make sure to be on your best behavior the whole time of the conference because you never know who is watching. I don't love this, but the good thing is that you get a bunch of interviews out of the way.
The campus interview is a marathon of extroversion where you're in the spotlight all day and you talk with everyone on campus, from students to janitors to the President. I'm not kidding, I had one once where I talked to all three of these groups. It is typically 6-8 hours long, with hour long interviews with various individuals and groups. You get taken to lunch (and sometimes breakfast and dinner, depending on when you arrive, and if it happens to be a two-day campus visit) and they tell you that the meal isn't an interview, you can relax, but then pound you with question after question, and you don't really get to eat. But the campus visit is crucial, because that is the measure of how well you "fit" with the department, your potential colleagues, the students and the community. Fit is 75% of what determines who is hired and who is not.
After the campus interview you wait. And wait. And wait. They give you a timeline during your visit, but you don't really know for sure when the call will come. In the case of Iowa State, I was the first one to campus, which was in late March. They didn't call me to hire me until mid May. Here at Mo West, they told me they would be making decisions within a week. Two weeks later they called to hire me. You never know what could be going on, delays happen. And sometimes, you aren't the first choice. But they don't want to tell you they don't want you until their first choice accepts the offer. So you get good at waiting.
So now you know what's going to be happening with my life until June 30. My updates will be vague, because I don't know who is reading this :) Wish me luck!
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