Pat #8: Progress!

Before I update you about my week, let me give you a tidbit of interview advice:

Know your theory. During each of my phone interviews, I was asked about theory and how it relates to the job. About theory and how I use it. About assessment instruments and how they are interpreted. So don't blow them off and tuck them in the back of your mind. You may be asked about them, you may not. But don't you want to be ready if they do?

***As you know, I couldn't tell how my first phone interview with "SPU" went (and I still can't). To be perfectly honest, I don't expect them to be calling any time soon. But ya know, that is okay. I am starting to weigh the "glitz and glamour" of being offered that first job with "can I really be happy there?" SPU is not exactly an environment where I think I would fit.

A few days later, I had an interview with SRC. I was extremely nervous because the Director told me I would be speaking with a search committee comprised of seven people. Much to my suprise, they were very lax, cracking jokes and genuinely wanting to get to know me. They asked me a large number of follow up questions about the work I've done, which leads me to believe these are areas where this office needs improvement.

I just got a good vibe, period.

This is a school where I could see myself working. It is a medium-sized institution in a small town setting, which is where I feel most comfortable. Again, the people I spoke with were amazing, and they are administrators who work closely with that office. I asked what the timeline was for their search and they said they would be making a decision by the end of the week.

Five days of waiting? I can do that.

But lo' and behold, it wasn't five days. It was less than 24 hours. They called me the next day extending an offer for a campus interview. The Director explained the interview process, key people I would be meeting, and asked me if I would mind giving a brief workshop presentation. *Gulp* Sure. I was so excited that I forgot to ask her some important questions.

My flight is booked, hotel reserved, and now I'm working on a stellar presentation. Something about this just feels good in my gut. I'm hoping my gut isn't wrong. But hey, if it doesn't go well, at least I got to take a two-day trip to somewhere I've never been!

Okay, fine readers. I'm off to pack for ACPA where I hope to catch up with some colleagues, volunteer in the placement center, and network, network, network!

Pat #7: Please tell me it gets better!

I spent an entire week preparing for my very first phone interview. I weighed my strengths and weaknesses and carefully crafted responses to typical interview questions. I did research on the institution, practically memorizing the information on the website.

I decided to use a room at work for the interview, thinking that it would help me to stay in “professional mode.” Just minutes before the scheduled time, one of my coworkers decided to inform my whole office that I was about to have my first phone interview.

No pressure or anything.

The interviewers called me at the exact time that was arranged. “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?” they asked. Now this should not be a complicated question. I told them “a little bit,” unfortunately talking a mile a minute. With each pause I realized how out of breath I was.

The rest of the interview was situational questions and at the end of the interview, I deeply regretted only telling them “a little bit” about myself in the beginning. I feel like I nailed some of the questions, but really dropped the ball on some others. How did I fail to mention some of my key qualifications that were written on a list right in front of me?

I can’t stop analyzing every moment. Why couldn’t I just slow myself down? This isn’t how I typically act on a face-to-face interview, so why couldn’t I get it together? Hopefully I’m just being hard on myself. Too bad it will be another month until I find out how I performed.

No sense dwelling on something I cannot change. I’m off to prepare for my interview next week!

We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop? #9

So…I mentioned the job search got more interesting in my last blog, but never got around to saying why. So, let me elaborate.

A Story about Why Networking is Important
Or the alternative title: A Story about Why Who You Know is More Important than What You Know
(I don’t believe it should be like that, but I am learning that it is sometimes true.)

A certain undergraduate professor of mine, one of my mentors and, now that I have graduated, a dear friend, called me and asked me if I’d like a job at my alma mater. And I said, “TELL ME MORE!”

Apparently, he is good friends with the Director of Admissions (DA) and therefore, now has the inside track on what is going on in the admissions office, which is lucky for me. My professor, we’ll call him Dr. Smith (how original, right?), had lunch with said DA and learned of a future opening in his office. Dr. Smith immediately thought of me (it’s so nice to have friends/mentors/connections) and promptly “talked me up” to the Director, telling him of my qualifications and that I would be perfect for the job. As a result, DA is very interested in my candidacy (let’s keep in mind the job hasn’t even been officially announced/posted yet) and would like to see my application materials. Wow. I am quite flattered. Both that Dr. Smith was so wonderful to think of me (and sing my praises) and that the Director wants to see my resume, etc.

But then there is the question of “Would I want this job?” Now, I love my alma mater and think I could do very well as an admissions counselor. There are a few issues that give me pause, though. One: It is slightly outside my preferred geographic radius. But I think I could deal with that. Two: I am not sure what my future holds boyfriend-wise. There is the question of where will he get a job when he graduates next year and will I be moving to follow him? Some of you may say, “Well, he should follow you since you will have your job first.” And I would agree, except that it really depends on the institution and area where I end up. If I take the job at my alma mater, let’s call it AMC, there are not enough colleges in the immediate area (actually the two closest schools are 45 minutes away) to provide my boyfriend with enough job options. Therefore, it seems I would leave AMC within a year and I would feel bad doing that. I know there is a lot of turnover in Higher Ed, but I would feel like a traitor leaving so soon since it IS my alma mater.

Despite these reservations, within a few days of our chat, I sent Dr. Smith my cover letter, resume and references, which he forward to the DA. So now Mr. Director has my materials, but I probably won’t hear back from him for several weeks (maybe a month…) since the position hasn’t officially opened up yet. Why is this game all about waiting? I am not good at waiting. Patience is not always my virtue.

Speaking of waiting, I am still waiting to hear back from College A, but I have heard back from College B – and they still want me! I am shocked. I really did not think I interviewed well with them. That goes to show you never can tell with phone interviews (which is why, like my fellow blogger, I do not like them). So….apparently College B is checking my references and if that goes well I will be invited for a campus interview! Keep you fingers crossed!

(And congrats to Pat for landing those two phone interviews!)

Pat #6: A Stroke of Luck!

Since things have been eerily quiet on my end of the job search, I decided to revisit my online applications to check the status. Most of them haven’t even been touched! My credentials have just been sitting pretty on the internet for weeks, sad and unread. By far, this is the most frustrating process I’ve been through.

Upon checking the status of the last job I applied for, I realized that I completed the application, but never uploaded my resume or actually applied to the job. (This is a good indicator of how side tracked I’ve been lately!) I frantically uploaded the cover letter and resume that I had prepared for this position weeks earlier, hoping I hadn’t missed a major deadline.

Then something amazing happened.

The day after I finally uploaded, I received an email requesting a phone interview. WAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! It’s about damn time.

I received a phone call from that particular office yesterday with the intention to prepare me for the interview. Is this normal? We chatted for a half hour about the University, the office, and the dynamic. Not an interview, but yes, an initial screening of sorts.

I am starting to get really nervous and excited about my interview next week. I’m the kind of person that hates to talk on the phone (admittedly, sometimes I’ll ignore calls from my family and friends. Tisk, tisk). I like to ensure my interest through non-verbals, nodding and making stellar eye contact. All I’ve got over the phone is, “mmmhmmm,” “uh huh,” “okay,” and “oh.” I really don’t want to blow it—especially because this is what I train my students to do. This is a job I can see myself doing and in an office where I think I’d fit in quite well.

Just when I calmed myself down and started to really pump myself up, I received an email requesting an interview at another school! This is all happening so fast… not that I’m complaining or anything. Keep ‘em coming!

We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop? #8

Okay, so life is crazy and the job search just got more…I’m not sure “interesting" is the word I want, but we‘ll go with that.

So, I mentioned I had a phone interview. Well, I actually had two phone interviews this week! The second one was for a residence life position at a larger university. So, not exactly my ideal, but it’s close to here.

Can I just say how strikingly different the interviews were? The contrast is amazing. But, at the same time, I think that how I feel (about how they went) could not really matter in the end because I am not sure anyone is ever really certain how a phone interview went. It’s so hard to tell because you can’t see facial expressions, body language, etc. And then there are those dreaded silences. Are the interviewers making faces at each other like “That was a horrible answer she just gave” or are nodding and smiling? Who knows? It’s irritating and nerve-wracking.

So I feel my first interview with College A was good. It was with one person and he seemed very personable and interested in what I had to say. The interview was extremely conversational – not question-answer-question-answer – with awkward pauses in between. In fact, I don’t ever think I’ve had an interview that was quite as conversational. It was enjoyable and even though I am not 100% sure I will get asked for a second interview, I feel I made a good show. It was only after I got off the phone that I realized how nervous I was – my hand that had been holding the phone began trembling!

The second interview with College B was quite the contrast. It was with two people, so I was on speaker phone, and it was question-answer-question-answer. And I have a strong feeling I did not answer as well as I could have. I forgot to have my resume in front of me and so I missed key points of my experience. I also don’t think I gave enough specific, concrete answers. It was much more difficult for me to do this because of my limited residence life experience. I do think I did a good job talking about the importance of student development outside the classroom, but I floundered when saying specifically how I have/would foster student development. To sum up, I am disappointed in my performance, but am not sure this position would have been the best place for me anyway.

On a side note, when scheduling the interview with me and today when she called me, the interviewer said that I am “one of their top candidates”. But then when I asked about the timeline, she said they were conducting somewhere between 15-18 interviews! That, in my mind, does not make me a “top candidate”. If I was one of 3-5 asked to a campus interview that would make me a top candidate.

Now for one quick rant – I am so tired of hearing from my peers who are going to the national conferences. In class one day, my professor said, “So how is the job search process going?”, which opened the door for those conference-going people to brag for 30 minutes about how many interviews they have. It’s so annoying. Who cares? And why couldn’t we hear from people who aren’t going to conferences and how their job search is going? Not that I would share much. Maybe that’s my issue – I am a private person and would only talk about my job search with my close acquaintances/friends. Well, with the exception of anonymously blogging about it for all the world to read….Am I am oxymoron? Um……yeah.

Pat #5: We regret to inform you...

Unlike my fellow blogger, things on the job search front have been pretty silent. Other than a few impersonal "Thanks for playing, the position has been filled" emails, I haven't heard anything. Rejection isn't the greatest feeling in the world, but to be honest, they weren't positions that I was especially qualified for. I keep wondering if the phone will ever start to ring. What if it doesn't? Even scarier, will I be ready when it does start to ring?

So far, there have only been two positions that I've gotten nervous about. I had been sending resumes and cover letters out like an assembly line-- but something happens when you find a job that you can actually see yourself doing. You stop dead in your tracks and start nitpicking the bullet points on your resume and the verbage on your cover letter.

My supervisor advised me not to "jump the gun" and take a position that I'm not really interested in. He said most hiring in my functional area happens during the summer months, "Don't get sucked into the idea that you should have a job before graduation," he said. I appreciate his two cents, but I hear my classmates chatting about their phone interviews and appointments they have set up at ACPA. I've got no news, absolutely nothing to share but those lame rejection emails.

We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop? #7

OMG! OMG! (and for me that is OH MY GOSH!) I have a phone interview! I HAVE A PHONE INTERVIEW! I am ssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooo excited! And, I am sure, by the time it rolls around I will be equally as nervous. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

I feel I am a little behind in my blogging since I haven’t even talked about applying for this particular job. I got sidetracked talking about other things….But anyway, this is for an admissions position at a small, private college that I would L-O-V-E LOVE to work at. It is very similar to the institution where I completed my Bachelor’s. Plus it is in the immediate area. I applied to this position probably only a week and a half ago. I just looked, and they already pulled it off their HR website. I suppose that’s because admissions positions receive a lot of application submissions from qualified candidates in a short amount of time. So can I just say that IT’S SO AWESOME THAT I GOT AN INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I can’t freak out. I have done this before. A lot, it seems (for professional positions and when searching for an internship for last summer). I need to stay focused, calm. What do I need to do to prepare? What are they going to ask?

Phone interviews, I feel, can go one of two ways – really well or really bad. What’s the difference between the two? I’d like to say it’s all preparation, but I think it is also how well you click with the personality or personalities on the other end of the phone. And that is something you can’t prepare for or predict. What you can do is research and study about the institution and office for which you are interviewing. So I have already printed off information about the person with whom I am interviewing (he also coaches a sports team at the school - very good to know. I can talk about my interest and involvement with athletics), the mission of the school and information I deem “special qualities” this institution feels it has to offer its students.

Now, I have to study and then wait until the fateful day and hour when I can “sell myself” and show off what I know. Good Luck Me!