by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Mar 29, 2010 | Career Skills, Coaching, Job Search, The Placement Experience
This guy doesn't need a career coach. But he may need an attitude adjustment. Who are you pointing at, fool?
If you work in higher education, you are probably already a pretty successful person, and have some pretty good ideas about where you want to go in life. Teaching positions require graduate education, and many administrative posts also require at least a master’s degree.
You’re also surrounded by many great resources, including experienced colleagues, supervisors, and even students who help inspire and motivate you. Teaching and advising are activities that stir your soul, as well as your mind. You are periodically, if not frequently, reminded of your purpose, and you probably have more opportunities than some to pursue your academic and professional interests.
So why would you need a career coach? Aren’t you already smart enough to help yourself? Can’t you connect with plenty of people who can help you, who won’t charge you a fee?
Honestly, on some levels, the answers lean toward an argument against spending your time and money for a professional coach. But these answers are also mostly likely arrived at upon a surface-level examination of your life and career, and a certain level of buy-in to some stereotypes and expectations that society applies to being a member of the faculty.
Look a little deeper, and you may discover some very compelling reasons to consider coaching.
First and foremost, getting a coach doesn’t say anything about your intellectual ability. Plenty of really smart people work with coaches to keep them accountable, help them achieve work/life balance, and set and meet personal and professional goals. Prominent CEOs hire coaches. Corporations do, too. In fact, many corporations are hiring in-house coaches to help their employees be more satisfied with their careers and more balanced in their lives.
Second, it’s true that you have friends, colleagues, your supervisor, and your students to help and support you. But can these people dedicate the time and personal attention to you that you need? Will they commit to your personal success over their own needs or the needs of the department or institution? Will they support your personal and professional development, even if it means taking you away from your job, your staff and students, or the institution? Will they keep your concerns, aspirations and goals confidential? Will they hold you accountable for meeting your goals, or do they have their own things to worry about?
Getting a coach is a great way to put your dreams, goals, and even your barriers out there, and to explore them. It’s an investment in your success. It’s also a great way to hold yourself accountable in meeting your goals, so that you can achieve them.
So maybe the question isn’t “Why do I need a career coach?,” but instead “Don’t I deserve one?”
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Mar 25, 2010 | Career Skills, Job Search, The Placement Experience
Today was a good day.
It started simply enough. I had a scheduled call with a potential new client, and it went well. She was happy with our consultation and at the end booked her initial sessions (4 of them), and indicated a possibility that she might be looking for longer-term coaching.
Getting this new client topped off what was a pretty good week for me in general. During the ACPA conference, which I could not attend, I remained engaged and involved in the many conversations people were having, via Twitter. I found great ideas shared in people’s tweets. I joined some ongoing side banter about a #fakeacpa conference with all sorts of people from all over, many of which are also members of the weekly #sachat community sponsored by the Student Affairs Collaborative Blog.It was fun to stay engaged and be a part of all these conversations.
During my weekly small group coaching session on Sunday, one client at ACPA called in to say he was offered a campus interview at a school he is really interested in. I’d helped him prep for his phone interview before the conference, and it was nice to see him making the kind of progress he’s been working for and envisioning in our talks. I was able to connect with and encourage several candidates who I’ve connected with via Twitter as well.
When I left my secure job at Penn State last November, I took a great leap of faith into the unknown territory of starting my own business. I did it for a lot of different reasons and in my heart I have never felt like it was a mistake. But it was nice to see that after several months of hard work, and of putting myself out there, that the universe was finally coming around to meet me halfway, and maybe in some way, telling me to stay the course.
After lunch, I got the e-mails about my new client’s payment for her sessions, and another one I couldn’t have expected. Her sister was having a job interview today and wanted to get some coaching to be ready. She asked if I could meet via phone with her at 2 pm today. I called her but got her voicemail, so I sent her an encouraging e-mail, in hopes that she would at get it before her interview and at least know I had tried to reach her. She called back shortly thereafter, and we talked for about half an hour before her interview. She later wrote me an e-mail thanking me for the talk and idicating she would like to schedule another meeting about possibly working with me long-term.
All these varied events reaffirmed for me the value in taking leaps of faith, and trusting that when you follow your heart, trust yourself and work hard, that good things will happen. Reading over the e-mail I sent her, I thought how applicable it is in relation to my own situation, as well as those of the many student affairs job seekers who are smack in the middle of their own searches right now, and trying to evaluate possibilities and choose the right next steps in their lives and careers.
I’ve adapted the e-mail below, and hope it will provide some needed encouragement and inspiration to anyone contemplating not only life and career changes, but the leaps of faith required to bring them to life.
Dear Job Seeker:
It looks like you have great experience. If we don’t get a chance to talk 1-on-1, here are some quick thoughts for you….Faith in yourself and your abilities brought you this far in your job search. Whether you are graduating and looking for that first job, or looking to make a step up, down or sideways on the career ladder, in your heart you know there is a reason, and you know it is good. Your work is good and the fact you have so many great examples to show is a testament to that fact. You don’t need to convince yourself you are successful enough to get your next job. You clearly are.
With most employers, experience is not as important as motivation, talent, and fit. You have the first two for sure. You worked hard to get through grad school, or to succeed in your current or last job. When you committed to this search, you had faith in yourself and felt some possibilities would emerge if you trusted yourself enough.
So you made it this far in some processes, and it wasn’t an accident. You took the leap, and so did they. Something must be working, because they invited you to interview. This doesn’t happen usually out of a sense of charity. If you aren’t good, or your style and temperament aren’t a good match, you don’t get invited to the next step.
Well, you got invited. Go in with faith enough to be yourself and if it is meant to be, fate will open the next door. It may be in the way of offering you the job you really want, or it could be in their faith at giving you a shot, even if they go with someone else. Inviting someone to interview for a position is an act of faith. Taking an interview is another one. If your mutual faith is well-founded, it will survive past the interview, and the next door will open when it is time.
Until then, believe in yourself, be yourself, and go kick that interview’s a** three ways from Sunday. Good luck with your search!
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by Shannon Healy | Mar 22, 2010 | Job Search, The Placement Experience
Next!
I have an 0n-campus interview! Let the celebratory dance party start!
But also – I have an on-campus interview! Let the overwhelming fear and worry begin as well. This school is one of my top 3 choices, and I’m hoping it goes well. It’s also the only school I’ve heard back from so far, so I’m trying not to let that affect me too much. Lots of schools are still recovering from OPE, TPE, or NASPA. Some are now on spring break and some are attending ACPA. I fully admit that I stalked down the academic calendar for all the schools I interviewed with to find out when their spring break was and tried to infer anything I could from that. In summary: not so much. Still a waiting game.
But I will not let the fact that I haven’t heard anything lately discourage me. It will sit in the back of my mind bothering me, but I won’t let it get me down. Instead, I will celebrate this one small triumph in the job search process. It does feel good. I like that I have some positive news to post on here. Now it’s just preparing for that very big jump of 30 minute interview to 36 hours spent interviewing. Bit of a difference. I’ve attended an etiquette dinner twice, so I have an idea of how to eat a meal while interviewing. My cohort has had professional development sessions on what to do (and not to do) at an on-campus interview. I think I’ve been told all I can about it. I’m ready to jump in there and do it, while at the same time incredibly worried that I’ll jump in and realize I forgot how to swim.
The nice part is how supportive my cohort has been. There’s 24 of us all out there struggling for jobs right now, and it’s nice when people are truly excited when you call and tell them your good news. They’re willing to jump on furniture with you in celebration, or go for dessert and drown your sorrows when news comes back that isn’t so good. When so many of us are looking in the same region or at the same school or even same position, it’s nice that people are spreading good feelings and not getting overly competitive.
Off to dance while looking over campus brochures and job descriptions. I’ll keep you posted!
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by Mickey Fitch | Mar 13, 2010 | Career Skills, Job Search, The Placement Experience
Occasionally on Higher Ed Career Coach, we need to take a break from our day in/day out professional lives and have a laugh about what we do (or should be doing). Join writer Mickey Fitch as she laughs and writes about the “lighter side” of working in student affairs.
At this point in the year, job search frenzy is at its peak, and all student affairs folks are abuzz with this placement exchange and that career conference.
(See Fig. 1 for a detailed explanation of the job search process.)
This is a really stressful time for year…for the searchers and the employers! But, it’s also a really fun time of year, and we forget that sometimes. So, in order to bring more fun to our lives, let’s share a few stories that might make you chuckle and also learn a few lessons.
(Click for enlarged image.)
Cherry Coke Makes Campus Interviews Easier. When I interviewed for my Hall Director position at Iowa State University, I was very excited about the new suit and shirts I had bought. I was also very excited about the possibility of working at ISU. My interview day was going great, and then we went to one of the dining centers for lunch. Feeling a little low on energy, I decided to have a few glasses of Cherry Coke to up the energy level a bit for the next round of interviews. My host and a few other Hall Directors walked me around and helped me get to the Coke machine. As I put my cup up to the machine and pushed the button, Cherry Coke blasted outward in every direction instead of into my cup. Turns out the dining staff had not put the cap on the end of the spout that helps form the stream into the cup. And there I was….with my brand new expensive suit, with my fancy shirt….covered in Cherry Coke. Luckily, two good things happened for me: 1) I was staying in an apartment on campus that was close to the dining center and 2) I had packed another shirt that matched my suit. As it were, I went back to my lunch, poked some jokes at myself and we all had a laugh about my Cherry Coke misfortune. With a few minutes extra over lunch (which always happens) I was able to run back to the apartment and get rid of my suit coat and stained shirt, and put on a fresh shirt. Not only did this give me a chance to show my “true colors” (i.e. my sense of humor) to my interviewers, but it allowed me a few quiet moments to gather my wits and get focused for the afternoon. Moral of that story: always bring two shirts…and a great sense of humor.
The Miss That Prefers Mister. We all know that when you’re writing cover letters to potential employers, that it helps to be very proper and address them to Mr. or Ms. Soandso. But what do you do when you don’t know the gender of the person to whom you are writing? Well, at the time I decided to just go with the gender of people I had known with the same name, which was female. A few weeks later I get told by one of my friends that this person is actually a man, not a woman. Fast forward a few weeks to the Oshkosh Placement Exchange (the big interviewing conference from residence life folks) and I am interviewing for all the graduate assistantships and grad schools I really wanted to get into. There I am, waiting in the lounge for my name to be called (insert clapping and cheering), and as I am walking back with my interviewer, he introduces himself. As the person I wrote the letter to….the person whom I referred to as Ms. Potential Employer. Being the honest and humble person I am, I apologize profusely about the gender mistake in my cover letter. We both turn red and have a little chuckle over it, but I am thinking that this mistake cost me the opportunity to go to my #1 graduate school. Well, how did it turn out? One year later when I was not only attending that school and working in that department, I was asked to be on the graduate staff search committee…and I made the recommendation that we have the “big boss” put Mr. in front of his name. Guess little mistakes are good things to laugh at…and learn from.
Emergencies Happen. A friend of mine was at a on campus interview for a high level position a year ago. He was really nervous, but also really excited, at the possibilities that lie within this university and job. As anyone who has done a mid or senior level search knows, typically some type of “open campus presentation” occurs through your interview day. Sometimes you know the topic beforehand and are able to prepare a detailed presentation, sometimes you are given the topic just hours beforehand. In his case, he was given the topic a week prior and was really jazzed about it because it was an area of expertise for him. He had handouts, a powerpoint presentation, and some YouTube videos with interactive elements. He was determined that his half-hour presentation was going to knock the socks off his interviewers and would be the icing on the cake for them to hire him. About ten minutes into his presentation, the fire alarm in the building he was presenting in went off. Completely thrown off, he evacuated the building with everyone else. Unfortunately, the alarm could not be silenced despite it being a false alarm. Being a warm day outside, the head of the interview group asked him if he would be able to continue the presentation outside away from the building. He did, and he made quite the impression: his impromptu presentation away from his computer/handouts/videos landed him the job just two hours after leaving campus! Moral of that story: emergencies happen. You can’t plan for them, but you can prepare for the worst. Know your material, and know yourself and you will do just fine.
Karaoke Brought Us Together!
Karaoke Helps Get You Jobs. A few years ago I attended the Oshkosh Placement Exchange again, this time as an interviewer for the second time. As an employer, life at OPE is much more relaxed and fun. One night, a few colleagues and I decided to meet up at one of the local establishments that was known for its great karaoke nights. With Oshkosh, Wisconsin being the somewhat smaller town that it is, the bar was overrun with employers catching up and some brave candidates out for a relaxing brew. There were a few candidates there that it seemed “everyone” was really interested in, and one of those candidates just happened to be getting up on the stage every few songs to sing. I was impressed: not only was a candidate seeming very relaxed, having a few drinks, but also was nailing every song he sang. That next night, Karaoke Guy was swarmed by employers at the socials and I had heard that he had been offered several on campus visits right then and there at OPE. Moral of that story: Be yourself….always. In student affairs, we are hiring for not just a job, but a lifestyle. Showing your true colors helps employers see who they are getting as a whole package.
Have a great job searching story that makes you laugh, cringe, cry, or do all of the above? I’d love to hear it, please leave a comment below! And check back often for more “On the Lighter Side”!
Mickey Fitch is a higher education professional who has crafted her career around the residence life experience on the college campus. Mickey loves to tell stories and help students make the most of their residential experience on campus. A native to the upper Midwest, Mickey is currently undergoing a job search to find her opportunity to serve in residence life. On the personal side, Mickey is an avid fisherman and outdoorswoman and is currently engaged in a life-changing health and fitness journey! You can learn more about her at mickeyfitch.weebly.com.
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by Shannon Healy | Mar 7, 2010 | Job Search, The Placement Experience
Placement is Over...Now the Waiting Begins. Woo-hoo.
OPE and TPE are now done. While it’s incredibly nice to be done with placement conferences, I can’t help but feel a bit antsy about what happens next.
Up until now, my job search has been completely under my own control. I decided which schools I would send interest letters to, which interviews I would accept and when to schedule them, what to say in interviews and thank you notes. Everything was up to me. Now that interviews and socials and thank you notes are all said and done, it’s up to the school and the interview team to decide if they want to bring me to the next step.
This scares me. There’s nothing else I can really do outside of preparing for second interviews, or hopefully an on-campus interview. It’s just sitting and waiting. The ball is in their court, and that makes me nervous. I know I should take this time to relax (and do my thesis), but it’s hard not to go over each interaction over and over again in my head to decide what I should have done differently.
The thing I’m needing to work on now is phone interviews. During a couple of interviews the school mentioned doing interviews over the phone before bringing anyone on campus as a way to save money. I hate the phone. I’m not that great on it, because you can never tell how the interviewer is feeling about things. Are they slightly smiling and nodding and seemingly interested in what you’re saying? Are they frowning and shaking their head “no” and glancing at the clock? On the phone you can’t tell if they’ve already written “no way” on your application and picked up the latest People Magazine crossword puzzle.
Some people have heard my horrible phone interview story from last year when I did interviews for my summer practicum. I talk with my hands, and got very excited during one story and accidentally threw the phone across the room, where it hit the floor and hung up. Completely mortified, I called back and profusely apologized. Thankfully the interviewer just laughed and said the next question was about how I deal with unexpected complications on the job. This is still not a situation I’d like to repeat, however.
So now I’m taking some time to travel the Midwest on my Lake Michigan Circle Tour and get my mind off interviews and job placement and things. I’m fairly confident I’ll get a job – I’ve done well in my classes, have a strong resume, and have (what I think is a) fun personality. It’s just this time in between step one and step two that is probably going to drive me crazy.
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by Mickey Fitch | Mar 5, 2010 | Job Search
After I completed my first professional job search, I likened the experience to taking an additional course in graduate school. You have intense amounts of research to do, lots of information and websites to read, a strong need for lots of pens and highlighters, and you have to some how make sense and digest all of what you are gaining through your search. Now that I have been through several more searches, there’s a few things I’ve learned along the way and want to offer on to other searchers.
Often times what I find as both a reference for others and a job seeker for my references is that we don’t provide enough information or utilize our references enough to make our search go even more positively. Below you will find just a few tips and tricks to help utilize one branch of your search process even more efficiently and effectively.
1) Make sure your reference is a positive reference, and is available to you/your search.
One of the first pieces of advice I was ever given when I entered into my very first search many moons ago was to make sure that the people you are asking to be a reference will agree to be positive references. A reference can be your supervisor, a professor, or a mentor that worked with you during an internship. But, just because you think you did a great job for them doesn’t mean that they will necessarily speak glowingly of you in the important phone call. A few years ago I asked someone to be a reference for me and I followed their “yes” up with a “can you agree to be a positive reference for me?” and the answer I got was “no”. The two good things that came from that were: 1) An opportunity for me to talk openly and honestly with this person about conflicts and unresolved issues (and miscommunication) that we had in the past and resolve them and 2) An understanding that just because someone is above you or around you in a flowchart doesn’t mean they would be your best spokesperson.
Above all else, make sure when you ask someone (yes, you have to ask….don’t assume) to be a reference, make sure it is positive. In fact, be brave and ask them if they would share some of the things they would say about you just so you know! Those positive strokes and things they would highlight about you can often times be good ammunition and examples to use in your initial interviews for a position.
Also, make sure when you are confirming a reference, be sure that they can be committed and available through your entire search. I served as a mentor to a staff member in the past who found out that they were not progressing in a university’s process because one of their references would not return phone calls and emails and therefore their application became incomplete. Be sure you have appropriate contact information for your reference and make sure they know that this process could last several months to several years for you!
2) Send regular updates to your references to keep them updated.
One of the tools that I use to keep my own group of references “in the know” about my current search is by sending them periodic emails with updates. In my last search, I had applied to a wide breadth of positions and universities, so I created a document that listed a lot of information for my references to utilize in a “quick call” manner. In this document, I:
- Listed all of the position titles and universities at the beginning, like a table of contents
- Created a separate page or two for each position
- Bolded the position title and university at the top for easy finding
- Copied the exact job posting/description
- Included the date that I applied, and any information I had about their process
As I progressed in several processes, I would include that information in the document. In the body of the email that I sent to my references, I would highlight specific updates (things like just completed phone interviews, placement conference attendance, etc). Having an “all-in-one” document like this allowed my references to have a handy go-to guide for my search process. Before returning a phone call from a potential employer, they could review the actual job I was applying for so that they could better gear their comments towards it.
Just like any other business email or document, make sure that you have it geared toward the audience/recipient. Your references are very busy people, so do what you can to highlight important information in bold, put questions that you have for them in red, or underline important deadlines so they stand out for their viewing. You want to make it easy to be your reference.
3) Recognize that references and mentors don’t have to be (and sometimes shouldn’t) be the same people.
In future posts, I will talk more about what it means to be a mentor. It should be noted in brief, though, that mentors aren’t necessarily references, and references aren’t necessarily mentors.
When you are doing a job search, you want your references to be knowledgeable advocates for you as an employee. You want them to have in-depth knowledge of your skills, strengths, areas of improvement, and unique aspects you will bring to your future employers. You also want these people to be knowledgeable about our field and be able to speak intelligently about the positions you are applying for. Ideally, your references should include a group of “been there, done that” folks who have been in the positions you are applying to, allowing them to not only personally but also professionally relate.
Mentors, on the other hand, may not be people who are knowledgeable about our field or education. Mentors sometimes are people who were our club advisors from high school, a pastor from church, or the 4-H leader from your hometown. These are people who probably have longer term knowledge of us as a person, but may not have the skills and professional base knowledge to be effective references.
The same can be said when I am doing reference checks for potential Community Adviser/Resident Assistant candidates. While I appreciate hearing from a hometown pastor who has known you from age 5, it is more helpful for me to hear from your professor who has supervised you in your lab position or from your current Community Adviser. These people know the environment, and often times, the position you are applying for therefore can be more effective in advocating for you as a candidate.
4) Utilize your references for preparation.
One of the things I hear most often from my current references is “let me know how I can help!”. A good reference wants to not only be there to take a phone call and speak on your behalf, but they want to be able to help guide you through the entire process.
Again, your references have probably “been there, done that” so they can offer a substantial amount of advice and experience that is from an insider’s perspective. It is important to remember that you references represent you in the job search process, just as much as you represent them/their university. The way you present yourself to your potential employers also helps them determine how they view your previous institution.
I cannot stress enough to utilize the help that your references will and can offer. Do this through in-person meetings, phone conversations, email exchanges, Skype conversations, etc. Run through a list of practice interview questions with them. Show them your interview clothing choices (I asked one of my references to help me shop for one of my suits with me because she has a great sense of business fashion!).
If you are at a distance from your references, as I am, send frequent and pointed emails to your references. Don’t just update them on your process, but make sure that you are offering your thoughts, questions, and concerns with them. As I highlighted in #3, I bolded out a few questions that I was desiring some feedback on before a recent interview, so I could get some guidance and advice from them. This advice turned out to be very helpful during my interview.
5) Listen to what they have to say, even if you don’t want to hear it.
Your references are a group of 3-6 professionals who have strong, detailed information about you as an employee. These are people who have known you for several years, and hopefully have seen you through both success and struggle. They know you as both an individual and person, but also as part of a team and a growing professional. These may even be people who you’ve shared personal aspects of your life with.
Because of this in-depth knowledge about you, these people can often times have an incredible objective viewpoint on your job search. They can help you see beyond your emotional and personal excitement about a position and help ask particular questions to guide you in the right direction.
References can help ask tough questions during a search like: “Is that REALLY the type of department you want to be in?” or “What kind of challenges do you think you’d have in your transition to that university?” or “Will you be able to find a community supportive of your hobbies there?”
Listen to your references when they ask you those tough questions. You may not want to hear the advice they have to offer, or the questions they have…but again, these are the people who know you best.
Mickey Fitch is a higher education professional who has crafted her career around the residence life experience on the college campus. Mickey loves to tell stories and help students make the most of their residential experience on campus. A native to the upper Midwest, Mickey is currently undergoing a job search to find her opportunity to serve in residence life. On the personal side, Mickey is an avid fisherman and outdoorswoman and is currently engaged in a life-changing health and fitness journey! You can learn more about her at mickeyfitch.weebly.com.
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