Real World: Job Search #9

Spring Break…and preparing for interviews

It’s Spring Break and if you recall, I’m not going anywhere. Instead of spending money on a trip, I’m saving it all for hotel and airfare for conferences and interviews.

I may not have gone anywhere, but I am still enjoying break. I have time to do everything that I haven’t done all semester: reading for fun, watching TV, crafty projects, experimenting with recipes. My apartment has never been cleaner. I’m so incredibly relaxed and refreshed…this is exactly what I needed as the job search/interviewing phase kicks off in high gear!

I have a phone interview this week with one of my top three! Besides all of the fun stuff I’ve done, I’ve spent a pretty sizable portion of time researching the school: its mission, the departmental mission, the kinds of students who attend, the structure of student affairs, the President’s background, the surrounding city…and the list goes on. The more that I research, the more I am falling in love with it.

I’ve also started doing my research on the others with which I have interviews at the conference. I guess I’ve been pretty diverse with my choices of institutional size, location, and to some extent, even position descriptions. It’s important to go into interviews with a general idea of the institution, what it stands for, its goals and values, and the structure of the administration. Knowing all of this information helps me to figure out if the institution is a good “fit” for me personally. It also helps me to generate questions for the interview.

And I had an epiphany after my last post: apparently, I DID think that I needed to apply to more schools. On Saturday alone, I applied for six positions at five institutions. Individualized cover letters and all.

See? I’ve been productive. I’ve even done some homework. I think that sometimes, in the midst of the job search, the anticipation of the future, and all the duties and responsibilities of my assistantship, it’s been easy to forget that I’m still a student. At least for another fifty-something days. There are books to read, projects to complete, papers to write, and finals to take.

It has been so beautiful, weather-wise, that I’ve taken all of my work and just sat outside on campus for hours reading and writing. Campus has been so quiet, with most of the students gone. While I certainly miss them, I am enjoying the peace…and I’m enjoying the productivity.

I thought I’d be pretty miserable staying here (alone) in town, but I have to say…I really love this break!