by Mickey Fitch | Apr 21, 2010 | Career Skills, Job Search, life purpose
If money is all you love, then that is what you shall receive*
In this article, contributor Mickey Fitch takes readers on a values Q & A that they can apply in their own job searches, as well as personal lives.
When I was in college, at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, I was both a hall government representative as well as a community advisor. As part of the training and development for these roles, we attended a retreat at a local camp. Our supervising hall director would hold a “values auction,” where we would bid against our fellow staff for different values such as honesty, clear communication, competition, and difference. These auctions were interesting to me then, but what is fascinating to me now, as a student affairs professional, is this: The items I won at these auctions are now traits that I consider to be my strengths!
During a job search, it’s tempting to let your values take a back seat to getting the “right” job. It’s easy to spend more time looking at the duties listed in the job posting than looking at what isn’t found there: benefits, values, and institutional culture. Day in and day out, the overall picture of the position is what keeps us happy, motivated, and contributing to the success of our university, and to ourselves as people. Our job descriptions are not our life descriptions, people!
So, let me offer a few thoughts about values:
1) Your values define you as a person. Like character traits, they don’t change from job to job, or university to university.
2) While professionals talk a lot about values, it’s usually in the context of training, evaluation, or discussing problems we are having at work/with the job.
3) On the other hand, we often try to teach values to our students, or to get them to examine their own.
Does anyone else see the irony here? We are teaching and preaching, but don’t necessarily walk our own walk!
Since many of our readers are currently in job searches, I thought it would be appropriate to share the following series of questions to ask yourself, during your career exploration. (Although these topics aren’t as two-sided as I will present them, take the continuum into account as you think about them).
Do you value…
- Competition, or collaboration with peers/other colleagues?
- Regular, casual feedback, or formal evaluations?
- Individual/director decision-making, or team decision-making?
- Working alone everyday, or working with many others?
- Clear, written expectations and goals, or a general direction?
- Electronic primary communication, or non-electronic communication?
- Hands-on supervision, or hands-off supervision?
- Chains of approval, or immediate decision-making?
- Similar age/experience/education peers, or a variety of backgrounds represented?
- Clear, honest, direct communication with peers/supervisors, or passive, indirect communication?
To be more specific to our field, do you prefer…
- Structured learning communities, or general education programs?
- Supervision of several buildings/programs/operations, or supervision of one?
- Department-funded programming, or student activity fee-funded programming?
- National greek chapter affiliation, or local/university greek chapters?
- Traditional two-bed housing, or a variety of housing options?
- Being on call 24/7 or the opportunity to unplug from work each day?
- Departments as “silos,” or constant collaboration across campus?
What matters most to you, personally?:
- Living in a city, the country or the suburbs?
- Do you need full medical coverage, or is partial coverage acceptable?
- Full institution/employee contribution to a retirement plan vs. little/no investment
- Is proximity to an airport a major consideration?
- Finding employment in town for a partner? (Or is it okay if your partner must travel/stay behind?)
- Nearby opportunities for outdoor recreation? (Or are you willing to travel for outdoor recreation?)
- Would you prefer a position with a large salary, but few soft benefits, or a smaller salary with many soft benefits?
- How close do you need to be to members of your personal support network?
- What access do you need to shopping? (How far are you willing to travel to shop for things you need?)
- Will you have opportunities in the community to meet a potential partner in town, or will you have to travel? (If travel is necessary, are you willing to travel?)
- If you identify as an underrepresented person, do you need a community within your town or is it okay for you to travel to the nearest city to find other members of your community? (You can replace ‘community’ with food needs, personal needs, worship needs, cultural needs, etc., as well.)
Doing an internal audit of yourself and your own values is essential. I encourage you to have conversations like these with your peers, your teammates, and supervisors. And for those in relationships, have this conversation to see what values brought you and your partner together. For me, knowing my values is like knowing how to read a compass…they help guide and steer me not only when conditions are rough, but also when the sun in shining!
Have a question about values, or want to chat more with me about it? Please leave a comment!
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.
*Caption is a quote from Star Wars (the first of the real ones.) Princess Leia says it to Han Solo, as he collects his reward to take back to Jabba the Hutt.
by Shannon Healy | Apr 15, 2010 | Job Search, The Placement Experience
Welcome to Job Hunt Round 2: Electric Boogaloo!
For the record, I have no idea where that reference came from, nor do I know what an Electric Boogaloo actually is. But it sounds like fun, and I am determined to have fun with reentering the job search process. I’ve done the whole placement conference thing, and experienced the whole multiple rejection thing. Had that soul-crushing moment where two of my top three schools rejected me within the same two hour span. And… now I’m over it.
So now I’m starting the search over again, but it feels like a lot less pressure this time. There’s no cramming 10+ interviews into two days. There’s no rush to schedule, research, pack, travel, interview, et cetera. Although I know that for many positions I’m competing with up to 50 applicants again, I’m not forced to sit in a room with them before my interview and wonder how we compare. And there’s none of that added stress of wondering if you’ll be rejected or not and what it will be like. I’ve been rejected. It’s not fun. But I’ve learned it’s not the end of the world either.
I’ve mostly run out of schools to apply to in my original, admittedly small, geographic preference area. Several supervisors and mentors have shared insights about other places in the US that might fit what I’m looking for in a climate. (That would be no earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes.) So I’ve expanded to truly have a nationwide search, and have found some interesting opportunities that I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
As I said in an earlier post, I am lucky to not have anything in life that keeps me tied to a certain area. Though my original search area overwhelmingly rejected me, I still have 47 other states with opportunities. And there are still positions being posted!
So many people tried to tell me that life wasn’t over after placement conferences. That those were not the be-all, end-all of job postings. It was hard to believe that during placement conference season when the Twitter streams, Facebook statuses, and real-life conversations of all my friends revolved around Oshkosh and Chicago. But I have found that although the number of postings has slowed since late February, they have not stopped. Jobs are still opening up, and that is promising as well.
So far I’ve found a couple more jobs that I’m interested in, and am sending out another batch of applications tomorrow. It’s a lot more laid back to be in round two. There’s not as much pressure, there’s not as much stress, and there’s even more support and parking lot pep talks than round one. Besides, if I don’t find a job until August I’ve got all summer to travel, sleep, and learn to surf.
[Editor’s Note: Shannon’s a millennial, so she is too young to really know what the early days of rap and break-dancing were all about. For readers in a similar state of ignorance, “Electric Boogaloo” is a reference to Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, a movie where break-dancing brings enemies together to save their neighborhood from a bunch of “suits.” Apparently boogaloo is also a type of Latin music and a type of lyre or harp, like King David played in the Bible. The things you can learn from the internet!]
[Editor’s note, part 2: Shannon will be a guest on the Higher Ed Career Coach BlogTalkRadio show Friday April 16 at 11 am EST. We’ll be discussing rejection and starting over in your job search. We’ll also be talking to Stacy Oliver about”parking lot pep talks” and other ways to help job seekers stay encouraged. Bryan Koval will be co-hosting, and I will try to sound smart, say practical things, and not make up to much stuff. Listen in and call in with your job search questions or comments, as they relate to rejection and starting over. Here’s the URL: http://tobtr.com/s/1009384 ]
by Shannon Healy | Apr 8, 2010 | Job Search
I didn’t want to have to write this blog post. The idea has been swirling in my head for a couple weeks now, but I didn’t want to wave the white flag just yet. But the time has come to sit down, reflect, and write a blog about rejection. I’m not completed out of all search processes I entered just yet, but many doors have shut and others are doing that slow, squeaky, about to close thing. So, a blog about rejection.
It sucks! I wish I could put it more eloquently, but there’s really no pretty way to say it. It is probably best described with that plane crash/explosion sound effect. I know that rejection can be a learning experience. What could I have done better? Differently? Sooner? Take time to evaluate the experience and my performance, make changes, and go at it again. But it’s an incredibly draining experience.
Somewhere along the way of multiple interviews at conferences, over the phone, and on campuses, I just seemed to fall out of the process with schools. Either I didn’t fit what they were looking for in a new hire, or I flubbed an answer, or I decided that what they were offering just wasn’t right for me.
THAT took some guts, let me tell you. Turning down offers for second interviews or campus visits, not knowing if that would be my only shot at a job. In the end I decided that I really needed to have at least two of three things in a job: a good location, responsibilities that were interesting and challenging, and a nearby support system. If a job didn’t have those, I couldn’t do it.
I know it is better to be unemployed for a bit and wait for a job that’s the right fit to open up, even if that does mean waiting past graduation, or into summer. That’s incredibly scary though, not knowing what I’ll be doing once I graduate. I also can’t imagine returning home and working at Target or the local bowling alley with my Masters.
I also dread the thought of starting the job search process all over again. To be back at square one will be frustrating. Not only because it involves searching out positions I’m interested in again, doing the research again, interviewing again. But also because I feel like a bit of a failure not getting a job from the first round of searching. I would hate for that to dent my confidence going into round two.
I think the only humorous part of rejection so far has been getting a FOAD letter for a job that I didn’t even apply for. (For those not familiar with the acronym, check urbandictionary.com if you don’t mind some profanity.) Apparently I was horrid in the interview I didn’t have. I’m not even sure how my name got mixed up in their pile of applicants. It was especially weird because it was sent to my office, not my apartment address. Oh well. I hung it up on my fridge, and it is now a daily source of amusement.
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?”
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!
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!
