Now Hiring?-Post 1
Post 1 from Now Hiring?
How today went: I'm still breathing...
What song is in my head (or my headphones): James Brown "Make it Funky"
So, I gotta do this "blog" highlighting my job search and my last semester in graduate school. Well, as David Alan Grier's character in In Living Color, "Like to hear it? Here it goes!"
About me...I'm a simple cat, so I'll keep my introduction nice and easy for you...
-I'm in graduate school studying higher education.
-I need work.
Maybe that was a little smart-assed, but bear with me. I'm an engineer by training, so I'm very dualistic in my thinking. How I got into student affairs, I'll never know. It was like I went to sleep with dreams of making TONS of money and designing multi-stage rockets, then I woke up as a teaching assistant in some Women's Studies course, making NO money. Plus...here's the kicker...I work in multicultural affairs at a PWI in the midwest. So, there was the challenge from learning development theories and dealing with the issue of diversity at a place where it's not the in-thing to discuss all the time. And, I was struggling to get over my engineering mindset and learn to do little things like...reflect. Ugh. But, since I'm almost done, there's no point quitting. Plus, I actually like what I do, no matter how paltry the paycheck is.
When I got to graduate school (which was a journey, truth be told), everybody told me their horror stories about job searching, and in particular, Placement at ACPA. I heard several versions about this process, and there were two common themes:
1) Placement and searching was like a meat market, where employers lined up and took their pick for the perfect "fit" (Imagine someone at a big school saying "Um...I'll take 4 hall directors, 2 academic advisors, one of those multicultural affairs thingies, and...um...that greek advisor there...no not that one, the one behind it")
2) Placement and job searching is a modified yet complicated version of the NFL Draft ("With the third pick in the Admissions round of the draft, Nowhere State U. selects...)
However, so far it hasn't been this way. I've found some gigs that I would be PERFECT in. However, the schools didn't feel this way, and I've got a stack of "You were qualified, but we've moved in another direction" letters piling up. And, it seems every day there is a multicultural affairs job opening up somewhere, and everybody I work with tells me "You're the perfect fit!" At times, I wish they said that to the employer. But, I'm also looking at residence life jobs, and I'm liking my prospects. But, if all else fails, I'm hoping NASA is hiring.
Well, that's all for now. Until later, or I get another rejection letter...
How today went: I'm still breathing...
What song is in my head (or my headphones): James Brown "Make it Funky"
So, I gotta do this "blog" highlighting my job search and my last semester in graduate school. Well, as David Alan Grier's character in In Living Color, "Like to hear it? Here it goes!"
About me...I'm a simple cat, so I'll keep my introduction nice and easy for you...
-I'm in graduate school studying higher education.
-I need work.
Maybe that was a little smart-assed, but bear with me. I'm an engineer by training, so I'm very dualistic in my thinking. How I got into student affairs, I'll never know. It was like I went to sleep with dreams of making TONS of money and designing multi-stage rockets, then I woke up as a teaching assistant in some Women's Studies course, making NO money. Plus...here's the kicker...I work in multicultural affairs at a PWI in the midwest. So, there was the challenge from learning development theories and dealing with the issue of diversity at a place where it's not the in-thing to discuss all the time. And, I was struggling to get over my engineering mindset and learn to do little things like...reflect. Ugh. But, since I'm almost done, there's no point quitting. Plus, I actually like what I do, no matter how paltry the paycheck is.
When I got to graduate school (which was a journey, truth be told), everybody told me their horror stories about job searching, and in particular, Placement at ACPA. I heard several versions about this process, and there were two common themes:
1) Placement and searching was like a meat market, where employers lined up and took their pick for the perfect "fit" (Imagine someone at a big school saying "Um...I'll take 4 hall directors, 2 academic advisors, one of those multicultural affairs thingies, and...um...that greek advisor there...no not that one, the one behind it")
2) Placement and job searching is a modified yet complicated version of the NFL Draft ("With the third pick in the Admissions round of the draft, Nowhere State U. selects...)
However, so far it hasn't been this way. I've found some gigs that I would be PERFECT in. However, the schools didn't feel this way, and I've got a stack of "You were qualified, but we've moved in another direction" letters piling up. And, it seems every day there is a multicultural affairs job opening up somewhere, and everybody I work with tells me "You're the perfect fit!" At times, I wish they said that to the employer. But, I'm also looking at residence life jobs, and I'm liking my prospects. But, if all else fails, I'm hoping NASA is hiring.
Well, that's all for now. Until later, or I get another rejection letter...
posted by StudentAffairs.com at 7:36 PM
2 Comments:
Sometimes it might not hurt to have some of those folks who are telling you that you are a "perfect fit" to make a call or two on your behalf. On second thought use that advice at your own discretion…
I came across this blog totally by accident and I'm excited! I'm a former accountant (from a PWI in the midwest i might add) turned wanna-be student affairs professional in grad school. i look forward to going back and reading all your entries :)
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