ACUHO-I News Blog

Editor’s Note: October is Careers in Student Affairs month. In recognition of that, Ellen Heffernan of The Spelman & Johnson Group is acting as a guest blogger and offering advice applicable throughout job search process. In this post she addresses the subject of selecting references.

Are you preparing to enter the job search world? Consider that, earlier this month, registration for The Placement Exchange opened. It’s the place for student affairs job placement services. Join us March 3-7, 2010 in Chicago.

View all the posts from Ellen Heffernan here.

Providing references is one of the most critical, and underestimated, parts of the job search process. It is important to create a strategy for developing a range of references that can speak on your behalf about your work as well as your accomplishments. It is also important to manage this network of references carefully and constantly. When you consider the types of references you need to have on your list, think broadly.

Your references should include your former supervisors, staff who reported to you, a faculty member you worked with, people you worked with on key committees, students, and professional colleagues that you partner with on campus. Additionally, you need to consider alumni that you may have worked with on a fundraising committee, business partners such as architects or construction developers that you worked with on that new residence hall, and professionals that you have worked with outside of your institution, such as colleagues from ACUHO-I committees. Your reference list needs to be broad and deep and your references should be able to speak to your work and accomplishments on a specific project, within a committee, or across campus.

After you ask someone to serve as a reference and you name them as a reference in a specific search you should:

• Talk to them about the position you have applied for, what you know about the institution and the position, what you think the search committee is seeking, and what you would like the reference to talk about.

• Be sure they understand that a reference may not be able to answer all the questions asked about you. They may not have worked with you in that context and they should simply acknowledge that if asked.

• Check back with them after they have spoken on your behalf to get their feedback and impressions on the process and the institution. You may learn something critical!

For more tips on creating a strategic reference list please visit the SJG website!

Tell us what you think!

Editor’s Note: October is Careers in Student Affairs month. In recognition of that, Ellen Heffernan of The Spelman & Johnson Group is acting as a guest blogger and offering advice applicable throughout job search process. In this post she addresses the subject of the job interview. And speaking of job interviews, registration for The Placement Exchange opened this month. It’s the place for student affairs job placement services. Join us March 3-7, 2010 in Chicago.

The goal of your resume and cover letter is to get you an interview for the position you are seeking. Interviews can take many forms—telephone, video conference, airport, on campus interview, etc. However, the cornerstone of a successful interview process is to be prepared.

Do your homework to gather information about the institution and the position that you are applying for and focus on the culture of the institution and the responsibilities of the position. Use resources such as the institution’s website, call your colleagues, search the Chronicle of Higher Education Web site, review the institution’s admissions materials, and whatever other resources you can find.

The best interviews are designed to test your ability to think on your feet, to make a clear and concise case for why you are a fit with the institution and with the position, and to create a sense of excitement about your work and interest in the position. Some tips for a successful interview include:

• Telling someone about your skills is not the same as showing them. Everyone has stories about solving problems or getting out of difficult situations—use them!
• The “why is this position appealing” question — you MUST draw a connection between your skills and the institution’s needs!
• Have at least Three Good Questions (ask at least one of the same questions of everyone you meet – it’s always interesting to see how many different answers you get!);
• Take your time and be on time!
• Remember the concept of FIT—you are interviewing the institution as much as they are interviewing you;
• If you don’t know which is your bread plate you better learn it before you get to the interview meal!
• Anticipate difficult and potentially inappropriate questions. Remember there are really only three interview questions in the entire realm of interview questions!

Good interviewers create a feeling of enjoying the interview process, of having balance between answering and asking questions, and of having a genuine interest in the institution and the position. For more tips on successful interviewing you can visit the SJG website.

Tell us what you think!

One of the best places to go for good information on how to be successful in a search process is your own memory. Think back to the search committees that you have served on and give some thought to the dynamics you observed. You’ll probably recall that there can be “interesting” politics on these committees — people are chosen for the committee for various reasons, and objectives can differ among the members. You’ll likely also recall that some good candidates are passed over for very minor reasons such as typos in the cover letter, the “tone” of a cover letter, a confusing résumé, etc.

Put yourself in the committee’s shoes. When you create your résumé, you want to provide the committee with the information they need to move you on to a phone interview. Your résumé serves as the foundation for information about your professional skills and experiences.

Your resume should provide:

• Contact information—cell number, home phone, office phone, email, mailing address, etc.  Do not provide a phone number if you don’t want someone to call it; do not provide an email address that you don’t check daily. Be sure your e-mail address is appropriately professional!
• A brief description of the institutions you have worked at. Were they public or private? Residential? Selective? What was the total enrollment? The search committee should have a sense of your responsibilities and achievements within the context of your institution.
• A selective list of presentations, publications, conferences, etc from recent years.

Remember:

• Your current position should contain the most detail about your responsibilities and accomplishments and should be on the first page of your résumé.
• The attention of the reader wanes after the first page so keep information clear, concise, and easy to find.
• Style manuals are your friend. Make sure your citations are correct for publications and presentations!

As many institutions are now accepting your materials electronically, it is more prudent to have your resume in a PDF format. For more tips on crafting an effective resume you can visit the SJG website!

Tell us what you think!

October is Careers in Student Affairs month. We at SJG-The Spelman & Johnson Group are very excited about being invited to be guest bloggers for ACUHO-I this month to talk about those aspects of career advancement and job search strategies that have relevance to student affairs professionals throughout their careers.

SJG-The Spelman & Johnson Group is an executive search firm that serves colleges and universities. We have conducted hundreds of searches for directors, deans, and vice presidents within housing, residence life, and student affairs. We will share our experiences all this month as we tackle a variety of topics starting next week with a discussion of resumes. The following week we will talk about cover letters, the third week in October we will cover references (the most underestimated part of the search process), and we will close the month with job interviewing.

Throughout the month, if there are specific questions you have or topics you wish us to address within any of our four themes please comment!

But to get this conversation started, for those of you that may be currently conducting a job search or if you are considering a potential move, here are some things to consider:

• Do an assessment of your strengths and understand what energizes you!
• Have a career goal –if you don’t know where you are going that is where you will end up.
• Think broadly about career paths within student affairs—options energize your job search.
• You don’t need to have a linear career path but you need to be able to explain your career path!
• Do your due diligence about a position and institution and trust your intuition about the fit.
• You can stay at an institution too long!
• You need to make sure your online brand/social network information represents you as a professional (we don’t need to see THOSE vacation pictures).
• Your new job starts the second you decide you are a candidate.
• And, you can’t turn down a position you have not been offered.

Next week we will dive right into to the topic of resumes and here is a hint as you pull out your resume to review it: Have you updated the information about your current institution?