On January 22, HESA hosted a Job Search Panel for second-year masters student as they begin to update resumes, submit job applications, and prepare for interviews. The panel consisted of four higher education professionals from The University of Alabama who shared their experiences and advice for the job search. Thank you to Leanne Mallory, Assistant Director for First Year Experience and Retention Initiatives; Darien Abadie, Events Coordinator for the Ferguson Student Center; Ashley Cofield, Coordinator for Student Involvement; and Jared Pacileo, Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life. The panelist gave our students a lot of great advice and we have summarized the highlights below.
In the beginning stages of the search, it is important to consider how you want to narrow down your search (location, functional area, etc.). If you look at every open job posting, the process will be overwhelming, however, narrowing your search too much will make it difficult to find available positions. To find open positions you can create ‘Job Agents’ on HigherEdJobs.com, review the TPE site (even if you aren’t going to TPE), join the Student Affairs Professionals Facebook page, and look at professional organizations job boards. When thinking about places to apply, and later when you get an offer, Leanne gave a great piece of advice. She said you need two out of three things to be happy: money, people, or location. If you don’t like at least two out of those three things, you will not like that job and you won’t stay for very long. So you hit submit, and after what felt like weeks of waiting, you have an offer to interview (yes!). Think of this phone interview like a first date: you got there but now you need to bring out the personality to show them who you are. Prepare a variety of STAR method answers (situation, task, action, result) so that you can best demonstrate your mastery of skills and variety of experiences. Throughout the job search, panelists also suggested to continue to refresh and sharpen interview skills. Visit the Career Center, ask colleagues and supervisors for their advice, or do a mock interview to practice answering questions. When it comes to accepting an offer, it is important to know your deal breakers and consider more than just the position, but whether you will be happy with the region/city, the people, work environment, pay, and any additional benefits. Our panelists emphasized that this is more than just finding a job; it is also a time to find yourself, figuring out what you want and understanding your worth. When you receive an offer, it is important to thank the employer and ask for a few days to consider the offer. Ultimately, when making a decision you have to trust your gut. A final piece of advice from Jared was to try not to take things personally. If you don’t get another interview or an offer, then you weren’t supposed to have that job. Confidence is key to being successful in the process to find the right position for you. Believing that everything happens for a reason will also be important in being resilient through the job search process.
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