Tag Archives: self care

After the Interview, by Samara Reynolds, 2009 alumna

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You are walking out of your interview, be it a first-round screening conversation at ACPA or NASPA or an on-campus visit for your final round interview. Ideally you feel confident and reflective and excited, but most likely you are simply relieved for it to be over. However, just because your interview is complete doesn’t mean your work is done. Here is some advice for putting your mind and candidacy in the best possible position after the interview:

Take Notes. As soon as you step away from your interview site, it is a good idea to jot down some notes for yourself. This may include interesting questions you were asked by particular interviewers, helpful answers you were given to your own questions, fun facts about the people you met, and your own observations and gut reactions. It’s best to get your thoughts out on paper while they are fresh on your mind. These timely notes will be especially helpful during the next stage of this process…

Send Notes. Writing thank you notes to your interviewers within 24 hours of your departure is my #1 most important post-interview tip. The instinct to write thank you notes has been engrained in me since childhood (thanks Mom), but you would be surprised at how few people actually take the time to send them. From your perspective, it’s a great way to follow up on your experience in a classy, professional way, and to make sure your final impression is a good one. From your interviewers’ point of view, it might sound strange, but the one thing folks on the other side of the table don’t know at the end of your interview is whether or not you still want the job. Now, you might say, I just interviewed and I’m job seeking, so of course I want the job?! But they really can never be sure (unless you tell them) if your conversation made you feel more or less interested in having them as supervisors/colleagues, or how you feel about this role compared to the others you are vying for. Thank you notes also give you the chance to reiterate key points from your interview, briefly say anything you didn’t get a chance to during your chat, and tell your interviewers directly that you are even more interested in the opportunity after your conversation (if that’s indeed the case).

I can go either way on email vs. handwritten these days, but if you know the turnaround time on their decision is going to be longer than a week or two, or you have the chance to physically drop a note in their on-site mailbox at ACPA or NASPA, a thank you card is best (can be typed and printed out on stationary, instead, if your handwriting isn’t stellar). However, if you know they are making decisions within the week, or that the person you’re talking with doesn’t often check their office mailbox, a well-worded email is preferable. Just make sure you keep the tone more formal than your average virtual communication, as you would if you were hand-writing.

Prepare for the Best. Let’s assume they decide you are the best candidate for the job (congrats!). Are you ready for an offer? That is to say, are you prepared to talk about salary, start date, your other requests and deal-breakers, and to decide if you want to say yes or no if they say yes to everything you ask for? Be sure to think about these items ahead of time, reevaluating if anything has changed since you interviewed, so that if a positive phone call or email comes your way, you are ready to handle it. Know that salary negotiation is absolutely reasonable in higher education, but that you will need to have some facts, figures, and reasoning behind your ask for greater compensation. And most offices are willing to wait for the right person in regards to start date, but be sure to think about what a delay on your part might mean for their team and students. Think about any vacations or conferences you’ve committed to that would fall within your first 90 days (when paid time off isn’t typically allowed, so you’d need to negotiate this ahead of time), professional development funding or other growth points you want to talk about, and any final questions you know you need answered about the role, the office, the institution, the location, your supervisor, etc. before you could feel confident saying yes.

Prepare for the Worst. And of course, it’s a good idea to reflect upon how you will respond and move forward if this job doesn’t turn out to be a match. I remember hanging up the phone and bawling when I didn’t get an offer from the first position I interviewed on-campus for my second year in the HEA program. Even though it wasn’t my dream job – which I later got, albeit two months after graduation! Oh the joys of 20/20 hindsight – it hurt to get a “no.” I had to figure out how to not let this emotional setback ruin my confidence for the search ahead. If you don’t already have a good self-care plan and support system, now is the time to get people and plans in place so that you can heal relatively quickly from any negative news, and project positivity as you seek out the right fit. Remember that you can only say yes to ONE job, so you don’t need every offer, and that you want to be on a team that can’t imagine not hiring you, even if it takes a bit more time to find that perfect match.

Follow-Up. Lastly, some advice for the waiting game. If you were able to get some insight into when you would hear back from your interviewers, awesome, mark that info down in your calendar or job search tracker and plan to follow up with a quick call or email if that date passes without word. Remember that no news can definitely still be good news, especially with how SLOW and strict many university HR processes are. The hiring manager may know you are THE ONE right away, but before they fill out the right paperwork in and get things squared away on the HR side, they can’t necessarily tell you that. However, even if you don’t get a clear timeline for next steps in their process, if it’s been at least two weeks since your interview, it is reasonable to reach out to check in. Just let them know that you are still interested and wanted to see if there was any new information they could share on your candidacy. Keep your message short and sweet, and ideally they will respond with useful insight, one way or the other. In both of my full-time positions, I called to follow-up on my candidacy weeks after my final round interviews. Each time my call is what spurred the hiring manager to ask for final approval from HR to provide a verbal offer – who knows how long I would have been waiting or assuming the worst otherwise? While your search is certainly at the top of YOUR mind, it might not be the #1 thing on your future boss’s to-do list, or on HR’s for that matter, so it’s critical to be proactive and polite in your follow-up efforts. You may just get the good news, or if nothing else the closure, that you need to proceed.

Though getting from Applicant to Interviewee can seem like the toughest part of the search process, there is a lot you can do to move yourself from Interviewee to New Hire in the homestretch. I encourage each of you to spend time after each interview reflecting, showing gratitude, preparing yourself for all possible outcomes, and following-up when necessary. Each of these things will give you additional perspective, ownership, and control in an often nebulous phase of the job search process. Best of luck, and wishing you one or more excellent offers in the interview season ahead!

Samara Reynolds is a 2009 graduate of the Higher Education Administration master’s program. She is a career development professional, currently working at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can reach out to Samara with any questions at samara.reynolds@gmail.com.

Reflections from Recruitment Weekend(s), by Jeremy Elmore

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It was almost exactly three years ago when I drove my rented yellow Fiat 500 over 334 miles to Raleigh, North Carolina. I can remember it as if it were yesterday.

Who am I kidding? I can barely remember what I had to eat for breakfast yesterday (I mean, did I even eat anything?). Regardless of how vivid my memory was of the day when I came to Recruitment Weekend, I can still remember how I felt after the weekend was completed. It did not matter that I did not fully understand what to expect in my academic discussion with faculty or that I didn’t know a single soul before coming to NC State (besides my awesome buddy, Nolan Patouillet). What did matter is that I found a place that I could call home.

And who would have guessed that this would be the first of many Recruitment Weekends that I would enjoy on my journey through graduate school? As I look back at my experiences during Recruitment Weekend, both as a candidate and as an organizer, I believe there are several lessons that I can apply to any life situation (hopefully you can use some of them too).

Just breathe. Sometimes in life, we must simply remember to breathe. What I have found is that in the midst of our busy everyday lives, we tend to forget that breathing is essential to life. Without breath, we cease to exist. In those stressful moments, whether it is in the midst of an intense graduate assistantship interview or at the moment that the task at hand is towering overhead, step back and take a huge breath. It is scientifically proven that breathing exercises help the body remove stress and refresh the mind. The thing I have to constantly tell myself is that I must not take life so seriously, but I must try to pause and truly enjoy the moments that pass in front of me, as they will only come around once.

Communication is always the key. The success rests heavily on the ability for members to effectively communicate with each other. I would contend that truly great organizations have great communication. This does not mean that there are no flaws in their communications or an occasional miscommunication. The times that I felt like communication was at its highest during the planning and execution of Recruitment Weekend were the times that I felt like things were most successful. The times that vision was not thoroughly conveyed throughout the organization or feedback was not directed back towards the top, were the times that the effectiveness of the group was not as high as its overall potential. If you want to have a successful organization, make sure that you practice great communication.

Embrace the unexpected. The phrase that most people have heard is “to expect the unexpected.” However it is not enough just to anticipate problems and issues, but we must be ready to do something with the unexpected. Just like last year’s Snowpocalypse, it is one thing to prepare and make contingency plans, but it is another to endure and persevere in the midst of everything crumbling around you. We should not shy away from conflict and crises, but we must become leaders and challenge those around us to rise to the occasion.

Understand your shortcomings but celebrate your successes. What I have observed in my time, as the VP for Recruitment, is that it is not hard to point out the items that did not go as planned, but rather it is difficult to remember what victories and successes you have accomplished. It is only natural to want everything to go perfect. Therefore, it is our human nature to tally the number of times there was a hiccup in the process. While we should not neglect the areas that are in need of improvement, we must remember to recognize the items that went without a hitch. It is these items that an organization, program, or idea can really use to gather steam and propel people forward.

I am really grateful for my experiences as the VP for Recruitment and feel honored for the opportunity to represent the program I have fallen in love with. My last two years in this position have allowed me to push myself as a leader and have strengthened the friendships with folks I am proud to call my colleagues. It is my hope that you find these small words of wisdom as beneficial as I have.

Jeremy Elmore is a second year student in the higher education administration master’s program. He currently serves as the Graduate Assistant for Student Involvement in University Center Activities & Events at Duke University. He is also the Vice President for Recruitment with the Higher Education Association.

Finish Strong: Making Your Final Semester as a Graduate Assistant/Intern Count, by Samara Reynolds, 2009 alumna

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As you move towards graduation, a full-time job, or even just the end of your last semester in your current internship or assistantship before starting a new one this summer or fall, it can be all too easy to default to coasting along before fading into the sunset. If you’ve been with the same office since the beginning of the academic year or longer, you likely feel like an expert in your day-to-day responsibilities, and mentally ready to move on to the next challenge. However, it is in your best interest to put some thought into how you want to wrap up your time with that team. In the spirit of fitness goals and challenges that accompany both the new year and increasing days of sunshine in the spring, here are some strategies for “finishing strong:”

Choose a Capstone Project. Though it may be easy to keep going through the motions at the tail-end of your experience, pick one last thing that you’d like to accomplish and put your energy into doing it well. This could be as simple as making a handbook/guide for the next person who does your job, so that they can keep your progress going and not have to recreate the wheel. It can also mean thinking about something that your supervisor or students have talked about wanting to do for a while, but nobody has taken charge of making it happen yet. You may even see an improvement or program you want to add as your legacy. Regardless, this will be an awesome opportunity for you to show you care about your office and quality of work, and one more win to be able to highlight in future interviews and application materials.

Create a Portfolio. One of the most valuable exercises my second-year graduate assistantship supervisor had me complete was putting together a professional portfolio. Even though I had helped start and improve programs at each of my student affairs jobs since undergrad, I hadn’t yet put together evidence of that success in one place. My portfolio is a binder that I still maintain, where I keep examples of my work from various positions – training manuals I created for student leaders, flyers for new events, papers from graduate school that I’m particularly proud of. I would suggest, in whatever format suits you, pulling together items that represent your points of pride (this can be hard-copy or virtual, these days). You can bring this binder to job and informational interviews, if it suits you. If nothing else, it is certainly a great confidence booster to see so many of your accomplishments in one place – flipping through it before an interview may be all you need to remind yourself of your contributions in this job and others.

Add To Your Network. If there are people in your current division or department that you’ve been meaning to connect with or get to know better, this semester is a great time to start or solidify those relationships – while you still have a very legitimate reason to reach out. Think about some of the leaders around you, as well as those you think could be helpful in your future professional development efforts, and see if you can set up coffee, lunch, or a visit to their office for an informational interview/relationship building conversation. You can fill these individuals in on your efforts with your current office thus far, the goals you have set for your “capstone project,” and get both advice and buy-in on your career goals and direction moving forward.

Request an Exit Interview. If your supervisor doesn’t set one up for you, I would suggest requesting an “exit interview” – essentially a final review – during your last week or two in the office. That way, you can acquire some positive feedback and constructive criticism to use moving forward, ideally offer your own suggestions for your supervisor and the next person in your role, and have a chance to say thank you and close things down in a structured, professional manner before the all too quick slide into the end of the semester or graduation.

Ensure Future References. Part of your exit interview can be asking your boss if they would be willing to serve as a good reference for you during your upcoming and future job searches. Two key words here: willing and good. Typically this request will not be a tough or awkward one, if you have a positive relationship with your supervisor, but you don’t want to make any assumptions. This request gives them an out if they don’t feel they can provide that for you (and then you won’t be scrambling or wishing you picked someone else for your list). And if they say yes, this provides a heads up that their name may appear on your reference list, so it’s not a surprise when they get future phone calls or emails about you. Of course, your list of references can and should extend beyond your current supervisor, so use this time to ask coworkers, peer mentors, friends you’ve cultivated in your current department, and even students if they’d be willing to put in a good word for you if needed as you move forward with your career.

Give Proper Thanks. Of all the places I think a handwritten thank you note is a nice touch, at the end of your internship or assistantship experience may be the #1 most appropriate. Unlike some other professional thank you note circumstances, there are no time-sensitive deadlines involved, and expressing your gratitude in writing will likely be easier and longer-lasting than getting it out in person. And a card someone can save or tack on their wall is much sweeter than receiving the same sentiments in an email. Think about who you’d like to write thank you notes to, again considering both who you feel grateful to AND who you want to continue a professional relationship with in the years ahead. You can either hand-deliver these in your final days, or send them in the mail just after your leave.

Update Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile. While the experience is fresh on your mind, be sure to update your resume, including this position and related accomplishment statements as bullet points. Updating your LinkedIn profile to include this position and your contribution there is a smart idea. Additionally, you can select relevant skills based on this position that folks can endorse on your page, upload presentations and other virtual evidence of your success, and/or ask for recommendations from staff and students that will tag on to this position and stay on your profile in the long-term.

Stay In Touch. Lastly, as alluded to throughout this post, in the weeks and months and even years that follow, be sure to stay in touch with key individuals you met through this position. The end of semesters, the start of a new calendar year, their birthday(s), after conferences or other interesting professional experiences, and/or after reading an article they might find interesting…these are all simple and more natural times to check in with colleagues. Let them know what you’ve been up to, ask about them, and depending on the relationship, find a time to meet up for lunch or coffee or have a phone conversation every once in a while. Use a spreadsheet, calendar reminder, or other contact management system to remind you of how and how often you’d like to reach out to individuals in your network.  This will help keep you close, and it’s always neat for past supervisors, colleagues, and students to see you grow and change with each new career move.

I hope this post gives you some concrete ideas of how to make the most of your final weeks in your current job as a graduate assistant or intern. Best of luck in whatever new professional adventure is next on your journey!

Samara Reynolds is a 2009 graduate of the HEA master’s program. She is a career development professional, currently working at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can reach out to Samara with any questions at samara.reynolds@gmail.com. 

Financial Literacy for the Student Affairs Professional, by Jason Lynch, 2011 alumnus

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How many times have you heard a colleague say, “I’m definitely not in this field for the money”? While it’s true that being a new professional in Student Affairs may not be the most lucrative career choice, you can definitely make your paycheck last longer by paying attention to your monthly budget! For this blog, I enlisted the help of 215 colleagues across the country to give one piece of advice to new professionals about managing their finances.  (You can access the full results of the poll by following this link.)  As with all advice columns, your situation may not match up with the advice given.  Take what resonates with you, and leave the rest.

Creating a Budget

The first, and perhaps most important, thing you can do towards better financial security is to create a personal budget.  How much do you normally spend per month?  Be real with yourself.  An easy way to obtain this information is to look at your last debit and/or credit card statement.  Adding up categories such as food, gas, clothes, etc. will help you see where you are spending the most money.  From there you can decide what is essential to get by every month, as well as what can be reduced or modified.

Follow this link to view the budget excel I use every month.

Student Loans

Many new professionals don’t realize that working at a college or university qualifies as a public service job, and therefore qualify to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLFP).  Through this program, qualifying individuals would make 120 of their lowest possible monthly payments.  This is roughly 10 years of payments.  After this period of time, the remaining balance will be forgiven.  So let’s say I have $50,000 in student loans, and my payments are $250 through the income contingent payment plan.  I would end up paying $30,000, with $20,000 forgiven.

Here are some tips if you feel like this may be an option for you:

  • Make sure to fill out a verification form found on the PSLFP website.  This form will need to be submitted to the HR department at your institution.  You have to fill out a new one every time you change institutions.
  • Save a copy of each of your monthly pay stubs.
  • You can defer payments and still remain eligible for the program.  (It will just take longer for you to qualify for forgiveness.)
  • Only government loans qualify
  • Use this website to contact someone regarding PSLFP or find answers to Frequently Asked Questions  

Credit Cards

Many peers will tell you to avoid credit cards, but, this is one area in which I would have to disagree, particularly if you accept a “live-on” position.  Often, new professionals are in a position where they are starting to build credit.  One way to do this is to appropriately manage a credit card.  Other ways to build credit include car payments, rent/mortgage payments, etc.   If you choose to open a line of credit, make sure that you that you are able to pay the credit card off every month.  I would also advise that you get a credit card with a rewards system, such as cash back or flight credits.  For example, I use an Amazon.com Rewards card through Visa.  For every dollar I spent, I receive one point, or more depending on certain purchases, which equates to a penny per point.  At the end of the month, I can use my points to pay towards my credit balance, or redeem them on Amazon.com.  If I spend $1,000 per month, I would receive $120 per year on rewards!  Remember, the trick is to pay off most of  the card each month so that you are not paying interest.

On the other hand, if you have found yourself already in debt via credit cards, it is highly important that you get these cards paid off as soon as possible.  Carrying large balances on your credit cards can hurt your credit, and you end up paying unnecessarily large amounts of interest.  If you’re in this situation, consider calling your credit company to negotiate a lower interest rate.  You can also obtain a free copy of your credit report once per year.

Resources and Tips

Below, I have bullet pointed some resources and tips that may be useful in finding your own way of managing your finances:

  • Consult a Financial Counselor.  Many institutions offer free consultations with a financial counselor.  They are particularly helpful in obtaining advice about retirement, savings, and investments.
  • Are a techie?  Use an app such as ‘Mint’ to help you budget.
  • Reach out to your Human Resources department.  Often, HR will have special employee programs meant to educate about topics such as personal budgeting and retirement
  • Work with your students to put on a program about personal finance.  I learned a great deal of information when one of the RA’s I supervised collaborated with the business department to put on a personal finance workshop.
  • Your employee ID will often grant you the same student discounts at local businesses such as movie theaters, or just hang on to your current student ID!  Institutions also tend to have a list of local venues that offer student discounts.
  • Keep a jar to put spare change, and don’t touch it!  Use it to contribute to your retirement savings or help pay down any debt you owe.  You’d be surprised how much change you accumulate in a year!
  • Because we all love listacles:  http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/50-quick-easy-ways-save-money.html

Jason Lynch is a first year doctoral student at Old Dominion University focusing on higher education policy and first generation student access and support.  He is an alumnus of the NCSU program, graduating in 2011 and has worked in Residence Life, Fraternity & Sorority Life, and Multicultural Student Affairs.  You can contact him by email at rjl5883@gmail.com. 

What’s In A (Buzz)word? Defining Mentorship in Higher Education, by Shauna Morin

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In recent years, mentor has become a buzzword in higher education. Throughout my master’s program, and during my time as a student affairs educator, I often heard peers and colleagues speak about their mentors—faculty members, supervisors, or other individuals who had played a significant role in their professional preparation. In these instances, I always quietly wondered what it was all about. After all, I didn’t really feel like I had a mentor. What level of guidance and support warranted such a title? What degree of expertise and experience equipped someone to fulfill such a role? Most importantly, how exactly did one go about finding a mentor?

I have been fortunate to uncover the answers to these questions during my time in the HEA program at NC State. In the capstone class of our master’s program (for which I served as a teaching colleague) we discussed responsibilities of mentors emphasized in the higher education literature: facilitating socialization of students and professionals into new environments; sharing effective approaches to research and practice; encouraging career development; offering lessons learned from personal experiences; and providing encouragement in the face of emotional challenges (Tull, 2009). Clarifying these roles helped me better understand the level of commitment and intentionality required to cultivate an impactful mentor relationship.

Our program has also opened my eyes to the many types of mentor relationships that can exist across diverse professional paths and career stages. Members of the HEA faculty model traditional mentorship on a daily basis by drawing from their myriad experiences as student affairs educators, researchers, and academicians to enhance our development as scholar-practitioners. Opportunities also abound to seek mentors from our growing network of alumni, comprised of new and seasoned professionals alike, and inclusive of many higher education leaders right here in the Triangle. Our alumni possess a wealth of knowledge gleaned from various institutional settings and functional areas, and serve as conduits to a larger community of professional colleagues. Finally, the Higher Education Association’s Pack Pals peer mentor program encourages us to learn with and from fellow students as a means for building community and facilitating student success within the HEA program.

The final question yet to be answered is how to establish a mentor relationship. Most of us can probably identify individuals who have shepherded us on our professional journeys, and yet they are often not characterized as mentors. How might we transform these relationships into formal mentorships? Thanks to my own mentor experiences at NC State, I now realize the first step is simply to ask. Reach out to colleagues who know you best and ask if they are willing to play a more active role in your professional development. Next, spend some time discussing mutual expectations and responsibilities. If it turns out that a mentor relationship isn’t feasible with someone you already know, begin laying the groundwork for future mentorships with others. Above all, be strategic and capitalize on the opportunities available to you. For those of us at NC State, such opportunities are plentiful…we just need to seize them! Doing so will keep our higher education program buzzing with the energy and excitement of mentorships for years to come.

References

Tull, A. (2009). Supervision and mentorship in the socialization process. In A. Tull, J. B. Hirt, & S. Saunders (Eds.), Becoming socialized in student affairs administration: A guide for new professionals and their supervisors (129-151). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

Shauna Morin is a doctoral student in the Educational Research and Policy Analysis program with a Specialization in Higher Education Administration. Shauna serves as the Graduate Assistant for the Higher Education Program at NC State and is a Doctoral Liaison for the Higher Education Association.