Wow….I feel like I am so behind in my blogging! A lot has happened this past week.
First, let’s back the truck up to Blog #8…remember when I talked about my interview with College A and how I thought it was great? Well, after I hadn’t heard from College A for a week or two, I called my interviewer and left a message asking where they were in their search process. A few weeks pass and I realize I never received a reply to my message. So this time I email my interviewer and receive the following response: “We had an excellent pool of over 250 resumes and made a hiring decision last Friday.” Well, thanks a lot! It’s one thing to send out a resume and never hear anything and quite another to be phone interviewed and then be ignored!! I feel it was very unprofessional and rude of College A to not tell me I would not be invited to campus.
Moving on to College B. Remember I thought I floundered in my phone interview? Apparently not! Last week I interviewed on-campus for a residence life position at College B and I feel I have a good chance of being offered (College B has at least 2, possibly 3, positions open). I am excited!
Now, I know I said Residence Life may not be my thing, but after this interview, I think I would enjoy being a Hall Director and the experience would provide me with A LOT of professional development.
At first, thinking about interviewing at College B scared the s*** out of me. 1) Because it was my first, professional all-day interview experience 2) I had to prepare a 20 minute theory-to-practice presentation (yeah, they really do want to know what we’ve been learning in school) 3) I psyched myself out by thinking I really had not a lot of business interviewing for this position with my limited residence life experience.
However, all my worry was needless, especially since I took the time to properly and extensively prepare. Something I am not sure I have ever done for any other interview. I took the day before the interview off (from work and school) to pick my friend’s brain about residence life (he is a graduate hall director). He provided me common residence life interview questions, I thought long and hard about my answers and then we practiced mock-interview style.
The preparation really helped! I felt more cool, calm and collected. My interviewers asked a lot of the same questions my friend had and so I was prepared to answer them with concrete examples. Everyone I met was friendly and I got a sense that the department really works as a team. It was a long, challenging, but satisfying day. And now I am just keeping my fingers crossed…
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I've just recently decided I want to work in student affairs. Would you say schools really look at where you attended graduate school?
ReplyDeleteTwo universities in my state offer a master's in higher education administration/Student Affairs/College Personnel BUT I doubt they are nationally known. It would be easier and better for me financially to attend these one of these two colleges but I probably won't live in my state forever and want to have a standout school on my resume for the future. Advice?
P.S.: I hate it when people don't call back, especially after an interview!
Hmmm...I am probably not the best to answer this one. Personally, I don't think it should matter where you get your Master's as long as your program is comparable to other programs. Look online to compare the programs in your state with programs in other states.
ReplyDeleteAlso, think about what type of program you want. Higher Education Administration usually focuses more on the adminsitrative and business side of things and Student Personnel on the developmental/counseling side. But there is cross-over in some programs.
I have not had anyone in my interviews ask specific questions about my program or coursework. They are more interested in what I learned from my practical experiences (practicums and internships) so make sure the program you choose provides you practical experiences. Hope this helps!