One week to Chicago
That's right -- just one more week until The Placement Exchange in Chicago! So far I'm sitting at 5 interviews, with a couple more that I need to finalize. Not a huge amount, but not exactly small-time, either. Granted, my first time at the Oshkosh Placement Exchange I naively scheduled over 20 interviews. Take my advice: don't do that. Ever.
My goal is to have 7 or 8 interviews scheduled before the conference, and to hopefully schedule 3 or 4 more once I arrive. A solid 12 interviews would be a full conference, I think.
Some questions that I've been mulling over as I prepare for the conference:
- Business cards: Do I need them? I don't currently work for a company that provides business cards. Will I need more than my resume and my winning smile as I walk around the job conference?
- Are there socials at TPE like there are at OPE, or is the social aspect reserved for the NASPA conference itself?
- Seriously, does anybody need a roommate? I'm going to wind up staying at a seedy hotel if I can't find someone to split the cost of a room with.
I'm finally starting to feel the nerves about the job search. Here's hoping I can wrap it up quickly!
Odds are, I won't be chiming in again until TPE. But I do plan on checking in "from the trenches".
Faces of Student Development
About a month ago, The Cronk posted a humorous article poking fun at how the families and friends of Student Affairs professionals have no idea what we do. I'm pretty sure my grandfather still thinks I'm a janitor, actually. Most people, when they hear I work in Higher Education Administration, either say, "Oh, so you're a principal?" or "What do you teach?" Trying to explain that I'm not a classroom teacher just gets me puzzled looks. Apparently, at a college, there are only two types of people: students and professors. Everything from registering for classes to having a safe place to live just happens magically, I guess.
But then, BreakDrink found a YouTube video from San Antonio College that might actually help to explain what it means to work in Student Affairs. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the song, but the message of the video is fantastic. Take a look and see what you think about it: