The Great Fishbowl Quest #20

Congratulations to my blogging buddy! I finally had the opportunity to officially accept my position this past Monday. The past two weeks have wrapped up this chapter in my life pretty well. My parents and wife were there to watch me graduate this past weekend, I accepted the job I wanted at Number One Institution working for the supervisor I wanted to work for in one of the buildings I wanted to be in. What else could I ask for?

During the ceremony, I spoke to my friends (and those I didn't know) sitting around me in the front row. Everyone around me was receiving a Master's in education and I felt it was important to take a moment to remind everybody of something we tend to forget in our field. Those of graduating with a Master's have an experience that most people will never have. In our world, everybody we work with is college-educated or attempting to be. In the world outside of our campuses, though, college provides an experience that many people will only know of through television and movies. So for those of you graduating, realize the accomplishments that you have made, and pat yourself and your friends on the back (just try not to mess up the hood).

I feel extremely grateful to already have a job secured, because with that comes having a place to live secured. While just about everybody in my cohort has secured a job, I know of others that are still searching for that position. Almost everyone I know has been offered, but many offers have been turned down. I believe everybody I know will get a job, the field is currently full of vacancies. I just wish everybody the same luck at knowing when to cash in their chips.

And finally, I leave a question for anybody reading. A current discussion among the cohort is on which professional association to join (the two biggies, ACPA or NASPA).

ACPA seems to focus on the professional, while NASPA seems to focus on the profession.

By this I mean that a lot of new professionals lean to ACPA and networking and professional development sessions seem to be the focus, while NASPA seems to be a bit more based in research.

Now before I get a billion comments, I understand that both ACPA and NASPA do much of the same. I feel that both accomplish different goals, though, and I'm trying to figure out which path to take. Many have told me to join both, but I want to join one so that I can focus my contributions.

And please don't tell me to pick based on the national conference location, you might make me throw up in my mouth a little.

Suddenly I see, this is what I wanna be.... #20

Just as quickly as everything came to the boiling point, everything simmered back down.

I headed to my on-campus interview trying to keep a clear mind. This was my #2 choice from the ACPA interviews and I knew I had to be fair with this. Since my #1 choice was no longer in the picture, obviously this became a little more important. My trip to the campus was fun and on a very beautiful day. I arrived, and I think one of the first things that came into my head was "Oh shit."

The campus is beautiful. Coming from an undergraduate institution that had the most amazing scenery, I'm pretty tough on other campuses about their atmosphere. This place looks like it's out of a movie. I loved it.

My interview day was full and tiring, but very helpful. I met so many people, all of whom were fantastic. I spoke to a few students and got to be a fly on the wall in the office during my breaks. By the end of the day I knew that I really liked this place, and I knew that was just going to complicate my decision. I was lucky because they were already moving quickly with the search and so it went perfectly with my accelerated timeline.

I left campus and burst into tears. In my head I'm thinking, "Great. WTF am I supposed to do now?!"

I am lucky to have supportive people all around me, and after a few hours of thinking and talking, good food, and a few drinks, I realized that I wanted nothing more than to get that job. If they passed on me, I would accept the other offer. As the night wore on, I wanted the job more and more. As I kept thinking about all the positives about the position I started kicking myself for not giving THAT much more energy and enthusiasm during the interview.

Apparently, my self criticism wasn't that necessary.

Yesterday, while sitting in the parking lot of a restaurant off of some random exit on some highway, I got the call that offered me this position and I immediately accepted. I will be moving in a few months to embark on the next leg of my journey through student affairs and to start a position that will bring me challenges and positive experiences. As my mom pointed out - I went on two campus interviews and got two job offers. Lucky doesn't even begin to describe it.

I have actually managed to accomplish what I set out to do so many months ago; I have job by graduation. This weekend I will walk across the stage and be incredibly proud that I finished this degree and obtained a position that I fell in love with back in February. I remember the moment I read the position description and thought, "Wow. This could possibly be the best position ever." The journey to get to this point has been exhausting. I finally feel like I can sleep and eat normally and not worry about what to do with my life. It's been almost exactly 5 months since I applied for my very first position. I am glad that this process was so successful for me (and for my blogging buddy) but I also realize that it's not been that way for many others. There are only a handful of us in my program who have already accepted positions and the rest are still actively searching and interviewing.

For the rest of the summer I will continue at my assistantship and keep plugging away at my second job. The packing and cleaning will start soon (Because I seriously love nothing else more than packing. Really.) and then I'll be off on my next adventure. Let's hope it's as great as I think it could be.

Suddenly I see, this is what I wanna be.... #19

You would think that by now I would be used to the unexpected when it comes to my job search, but I am constantly surprised by happens.

This week I was offered an on-campus interview which I immediately accepted. This comes from an institution that really interests me and for a position that seems like it could be the best thing ever.

Two days later I received my first job offer.
I hate to say that I wasn't surprised, but I wasn't. I knew I nailed that interview, but I guess I didn't realize what kind of an impression I had made until the bargaining started after I said I'd need some time because I had another interview lined up. I am completely unprepared for feeling of being recruited for a position. Luckily, my supervisors at my assistantship are wonderful, caring people. Each one of them dealt with me in the midst of my freak out, and they all helped to talk me off the ledge.

That same day I found out that an institution I had JUST applied to days beforehand was already checking my references. I went from having virtually nothing on the horizon to multiple things going on all at the same time.

I'm losing my mind.

In all truth I am in a much better place now than I was a day ago. I felt like I was walking around in a daze, and I was. Maybe I still am. I am constantly weighing my options and trying to decide what decision I should make. I am giving this on-campus interview a fair shot, but I'm wondering what decision I will make once it's all over. If I like what I see and feel at my interview I will have to decide whether or not I have the metaphorical balls to turn down my other offer. If I'm not 100% after the interview.....I will probably take the offer. The job offer is a decent one, and it's a position that I know I would be great in. My friends beyond the realm of higher ed have all said that they would pick this job for me out of any other ones that I have floating around as options. I'm taking this into consideration, regardless of whether or not I should, because these friends know me better than most.

I've been told to take some time to do some soul-searching following my interview. Despite how busy I will be, I plan on following this advice and do some major thinking.

On the other side of the coin, my life as a graduate student is officially done. Classes are completed, coursework is turned in, my last hours at my assistantship are clocked in. I just wait for graduation and for the celebrations to begin.....with or without an accepted position.

The Great Fishbowl Quest #18

So much has happened this week, I could have blogged each day. This has been my most challenging and rewarding week of grad school.

Sunday: Got back from a wedding pretty late and stayed up until I fell asleep working on my last big grad school project. Too bad half of the group members hadn't sended me what I needed to complete the project. Oh well, at this point, we still have 36 hours...

Monday: Never really went to sleep, so I never had to worry about really waking up. Totally sick; I was hoping it was just allergies, but there is a fever attached. Literally worked all day on school work, aside from two staff meetings that were excrutiatingly long. Prepped for our big presentation tomorrow. Still waiting to hear from a job. I'll be up all night, I'm fine if they call...

Tuesday: The presentation was amazing! I'm so glad we met our own expectations, we were more concerned about that then the professor's expectations. He said he felt like he was at ACPA, which means we reached our normal expectations of ourselves. We spent nine hours in one room finishing the research paper attached to our presentation. We became literally loopy with the sleep deprivation we've experienced this week. I got the call! It is still not an official offer, as it has to go to somebody like a Vice Chancellor or something, but there are four jobs, and they submitted four names. I can expect the official within 5-7 days. Just when I thought it was over, my wife became sick enough to require a trip to the emergency room. In bed by 3:00 a.m. My fever still isn't gone.

Wednesday: My body finally staged a mutiny against me and knocked me out. I slept most of the afternoon. When I wasn't sleeping, I was attempting to prep for my last two finals tomorrow. We requested them a week early for those of us in Housing who will be chained to our office next week during checkout. We had a taco night for the RAs in our area. Things are slowing down enough that I'm realizing how much I'm going to miss this place.

Thursday: Two finals, picked up my robe for graduation. Finished my classes! I'm officially done! At the closing banquet, I was awarded the GA of the Year award. I was completely surprised, but very grateful. I feel that I've made a lot of contributions to the department as a whole in my two years here, but that as a hall director, others have done more. Regardless, it was the most important award to me that I could have received.

Friday: I just found out I have a meeting in 26 minutes and I'm not ready for it. So...back to running.

I'm welcoming myself to the first full day of being a professional without being a grad student at the same time...

The Great Fishbowl Quest #17

Once again, I'm posting while in another state. This time, though, I'm in my home state, visiting family. I'm anxiously awaiting any news from the institution I'm hoping takes me in. At this point, pretty much everyone (at school and at home) knows what our hopes are. I can't think about re-entering the search process at this point; most institutions I'm interested in are close to wrapping up their process.

I just recently learned that whyen I declined my #2 a week ago, they had to reopen their search process. They had only invited a very small number of candidates onto campus and now they seem to be back to square one. I only know this because a person in my cohort was contacted the afternoon that I declined the opportunity.

I love attempting to explain how this process works. I find it hard to give advice to anybody new to the process, as it requires so many personal variables. Somebody recently asked me, "How do you decline your #2 without any assurances of your #1?"

My answer was, "Very carefully."

Our job searches in student affairs require a level of gambling (most true in entry level positions, from my viewpoint). We interview with a number of institutions, all on different timelines, choose the best fits (usually with some level of ranking), and have to choose how long to hold out for. In addition to that, many of us will attempt a level of negotiating and find leverage through offers.

I think that this is the most challenging (and most exciting...and frightening) part of the process. I had the realization last week that I've officially declined two job offers (one I declined twice) with the hope of getting the only other job I took an on-campus interview for. While I feel rather confident with that decision, there are others who have made similar choices and feel that they've put themselves in jeopardy.

Only time will tell (I'm hoping my time will be Monday). At this point, I believe only 1 of 16 people I know job searching have accepted a position.

Will I have my #1 job? Will I need to make our families cry and develop a last-minute plan? Stay tuned...same bat time, same bat channel...

The Great Fishbowl Quest #16

Well, I’ve been waiting to post with secrecy in regards to where I was at in the process. Only very few people know that I’m blogging, but my family was included in the few. Because my wife and I were doing essentially two separate regional searches, our parents have been holding their breath.

This past week the best/worst thing happened in our opinion. We received a fantastic offer from an institution in the Far-From-Home Region and another fantastic offer in the Close-To-Home Region. If it was that simple, the choice would be Close-To-Home, right?

Comparing these two offers felt as if we were comparing apples to...radios. The communities, the job opportunities, the institutions, etc. were completely different. However, with regards to the “totality of circumstances” (thanks, “Law and Ethics” course) it became a clear decision.

My wife and I committed to making a decision before either offered. If this is your first job search, I believe it is critical to trust your original impression of an institution. Offers make opportunities look so much more amazing. That is why it is important to journal your thoughts as you go through the process.

Knowing all of this, we made our decision prior to any offers this week. We had privately chosen Close-To-Home with no intention of sharing this decision until it was official. The first to call was Far-From-Home on Thursday. I asked to have until this coming Monday to provide a response. I spent (what felt like) all day Friday trying to get in touch with Close-To-Home to find out where I was in their process. It had been made clear to me multiple times that I ranked rather high on their list, but I had no intentions of banking on that.

With two conflicting schedules, I was never able to speak with my contact at Close-To-Home, but received an e-mail that has rather clearly laid out where I am in their process. For legal reasons, though, they cannot officially offer me a position. This means that in communicating, I have to pick up enough signals to know that I’m secure.

With that said, I have a hard phone call to make Monday morning to Far-From-Home. It also means that I’m bungee-jumping without a cord and hoping that Close-To-Home follows through with an offer, because legally they don’t have to. If some type of snag happens, there is no Plan B. I’ve turned down all other campus offers except one or two that have me listed as a Plan B candidate. Close-To-Home won’t finish interviewing until this coming Friday, meaning I’m holding no hope of knowing anything until next Monday at the earliest.

My wife and I feel good enough to share it with family, but let’s just say we haven’t gone out to dinner to celebrate the new job yet.

In the meantime, my job search is complete (we’ll keep praying) and I passed my comprehensive exam. All I have to do now is buckle down for a few more course projects, meet my own expectations in class, and prepare this office well enough that somebody new can step in and take over.

I can’t wait to truly share my excitement with my peers, but some of there are still early in their process and with me finishing my process, new stress is added to them.

The Great Fishbowl Quest #15

Well, with another on-campus interview complete (third of the season), I think that I’ve seen enough. I’m on the fast timeline, which means at this point I’ve started declining on-campus interviews that I otherwise would have enjoyed visiting. I hope that I’ve declined in a matter that hasn’t shut any doors for future opportunities.

I’d like to provide an update on the institution with a quick turn-around on the job offer. When I e-mailed them, I expected them to offer an extension, even though one was denied to me on the phone. The response I got, though, pretty much was summed up, “Thanks for declining us. Good luck, pal.” I was surprised that such an uncompromising timeline really stuck. I don’t feel that I am typically one who wishes a hard time on those who give me a hard time, but I am glad to say that I received an e-mail this weekend from the person who wasn’t willing to compromise by a day on the timeline. The e-mail stated that I would be getting called tomorrow to discuss our search processes.

Needless to say, they received an e-mail from me saying they are no longer a part of my search process.

Apparently, this institution has a history of offering like this to all levels of staff. That’s not the place for me. It seems that it’s not the place for others, either, as apparently they were not able to get enough people to accept this past week.

This story seems to sum up my thoughts about the power of the candidate. I think far too often new job candidates underestimate their worth and negotiating power. I know that there isn’t a magic formula for knowing how much power a candidate has, but there are some factors that help determine your power.

A good example, and the easiest to determine in my opinion, is “supply and demand.”

In short, if they are hiring for a larger number of positions, you may have some level of power in negotiating timelines, salaries, other tangibles (moving expenses, preference in living location). A good and fair question to ask to determine the “demand” is: “How many positions are you hiring for and how many candidates are you inviting onto campus?”

You can also ask, “Where do I stand as a candidate with your institution?” If they are highly interested, more than likely they will share that information.

This does not apply only to institutions that are hiring a large number. The more important factor to look at is the ratio between open positions and candidates invited on-campus.



Alright, enough of the strategic talk. I hope to have this search process wrapped up by the end of the week. That’s the plan. My wife and I have it narrowed down to two schools and the timing is perfect. I’m pretty confident I will have one offer that I believe I will have high negotiating power with and a potential offer from another institution. Regardless, I will hear from one institution this week and will use it to solicit information in regards to where I stand with the other institution. Based on the details that we can work out, I hope to select a position.

My wife and I (and our families) are holding our breath in regards to which job we will select if both offer.

The decision of the next chapter of our lives is quickly coming to the decision we feared most: a great opportunity in a dream location far from family versus a great-but-not-dreamy opportunity in a great community (but far colder) closer to family?

Stay tuned for the surprising results (even we don’t know yet…)…

The Great Fishbowl Quest #14

Wow.

Good opening for both me and my blogging buddy.

There is a job offer on the table.

I’m grateful for the offer. It was an interview I enjoyed, the people I met on campus were great, and the job would be close to home. Here is why there is no exclamation point on that sentence.

This past week I had an on-campus interview that exceeded the offered job in every category except for being closer to home. I also have my third on-campus interview scheduled for Friday of this week. Now, typically, because I enjoyed the interview and could see myself working there, I would ask for time to make a decision. This way, if the excellent institution didn’t offer (I believe they are only inviting three onto campus), I wouldn’t end up jobless or taking a job somewhere that I didn’t enjoy.

I asked if I could contact them in two weeks. They laughed.

I explained that I had one more on-campus this Friday. They were gracious and gave me this whole weekend to decide.

Keep in mind they contacted me on Thursday.

From what I’ve heard and experienced, this is a rather unrealistic timeline. Typically, when you ask for a specific length of time for a specific reason, you can get it. If not, there is some level of compromise that you can work with. In this conversation, no compromise was made, regardless of the number of options I attempted to provide.

It can mean different things, but at this point in the process, I see it as a bad sign. To me, it says that there is poor planning on their part, high pressure to have me accept before checking out my options, and it communicates a lack of foresight. I was told when I finished interviewing that there would be every effort made to accommodate my timeline as necessary within reason; now I’m being told there is no time for a decision to be made.

Having to make a decision in such a short period of time, I asked if they could tell me what position I would fill. I was told that they weren’t sure if I would be placed in one of two halls. This typically occurs when hiring multiple professionals for the same level of position. However, wanting a quick response from me warrants me having extra information. I was told I could end up in an all-male hall composed of mainly freshmen or a co-ed hall of upperclassmen. These are two very distinct populations. One of which I’d be excited to work with, one of which I’d be somewhat hesitant.

Needless to say, I’m going to have to respond tomorrow declining the position. This is very frustrating, as I did enjoy my experience and could see myself working at the institution down the road. Also, from a practical point of view, having a “contingency” plan never hurts. I know that we don’t tend to talk about “Plan B’s,” but they make sense to have. I didn’t really view this institution as a “Plan B” yet; there is still one other institution I wanted to be able to compare it with.

So…I am officially making the decision to continue this exhausting process and tell a pretty good place that at this moment in time, if they require a response, I’m not interested.