The Placement Exchange is officially over.  In all, I had 13 interviews, three of which were 2nd interviews.  I’m walking away from TPE with several good prospects and couldn’t be more pleased with my decision to attend this year.

Looking back at the Exchange, I must say it was a well-run experience.  The best decision the organizers made was having the waiting areas arranged by candidate name instead of employer table number.  I knew that I would always be waiting for my interviews in Area A instead of running all over trying to make it to interviews on time.  Well done, TPE!

While sitting in the waiting room you couldn’t help but notice the nervousness that the candidates were feeling.  More importantly, there was a sense of genuine support and care amongst the candidates.  As people were leaving to an interview, you could hear quiet whispers of “good luck” from others in the room.  That’s the joy of this field we are in: there’s support at every turn, even in the midst of this incredible competition we’re in.

One thing about TPE that I wish we could change.  I made every effort I could to not try to compare interviews.  By that, I mean I never wanted to know “how many interviews do you have?”  Sure, I would ask how many more someone had left in the day, or if they were happy with the number they had or if they had any interviews they were excited about.  I just wish we could get away from the culture of comparing one another by how many interviews they have.  I’m sure I’m guilty of it from time to time, but I try so hard not to be that person.

Don’t get me wrong: we are all going into this process with the best of intentions.  We don’t ask these questions in an attempt to make the other person feel bad but rather to make ourselves feel better.  Deep down, we’re trying to calm our own nerves, worried about if we have scheduled enough interviews and if we’re on the right track for success.

My rant aside, as I’ve said previously, I do sincerely wish everyone the absolute best of luck in your search.  We may be competing for some of the same jobs, and I may let the air out of your tires if you land the job I’m after, but in the end there are no hard feelings.  We’re all amazing candidates, and the most difficult job is truly with the employers trying to decide just which of us amazing people they’re going to hire.

I feel like everyone was in their groove today. Candidates and employers both had finally gotten the hang of things and were running interviews like well oiled machines. Even the guy who (I swear) missed every interview on Day 1 was there for his appointments today. I was so proud.

Highlight of the day was the lunchtime Tweetup made possible by the crazy #sachat crew. In all, there were probably 9 or 10 people there. Not bad for an impromptu meeting. Ah, the power of social media.

As for my experience, I had a very successful interview day. I interviewed with a couple schools that were very interesting. I hope they like me as much as I like them.

Interesting note: did you know that today is Friday? Also, we’re in the season of Lent? Yeah, I wish I would have remembered that before I inhaled that sausage pizza at lunch.

One more day to go, folks. Good luck to everyone. You’re in the home stretch!

I came in here today expecting to have a bit of a rough start.  They always tell you to schedule a couple interviews as “practice” or “warm-up” interviews to get rid of the nerves and to work out answers that you were still unsure of.  Today I didn’t have that luxury, though.

My travel plans changed as I was trying to save a little money by staying one less night in the conference hotel, so I woke up at 4:30 this morning and was on the road by 5:15 driving to Chicago.  I arrived at about 10:30am and immediately ran into several people I know, and a couple I hadn’t seen in a few years!

First interview: 1pm.  It was a school I was very interested in.  I feel as though I did very well, and managed to land a 2nd interview with them.  Bonus!

Then there was the surprise interview that somehow didn’t make it onto my schedule on my computer, but was on the website.  I did some frantic quick research and managed to finish strong with that interview, though I don’t know for sure if the school is the absolute best fit for me at this time.

Then there was some down time.  I spent some time trying to track down some folks on Twitter for an impromptu tweetup, while simultaneously inhaling a Southern Style Chicken sandwich from McDonald’s at the bargain price of $8.  Despite our best efforts, @thestacyface and I couldn’t make our schedules jive.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  Any other Higher Ed/Student Affairs twitter folks out there who want to meet up at TPE, hit me up: @erikbates.

I wrapped up the evening with one last interview that went pretty well, and I started to mosey back to my room, after calling home and stopping off to chat with @dwibb, an old friend from graduate school.

On the whole, it was a very successful first day.  The volunteers were very friendly (one was actually an old friend from undergrad) and helpful.  Check-in went very smoothly, and the waiting rooms were quiet, but not dull.  People were obviously nervous, but not annoyingly so.  I’m looking forward to day 2.  I have several more interviews tomorrow, so I’m going to be much more frantic.

Photo by Marc Balanky

It’s times like this that this whole concept of “Challenge and Support” really has meaning.

UCSD has some major work ahead of them.  A racially-themed party, followed by several racially-charged events in response to the (rightful) outrage of black students at UCSD has created a bit of a crisis, with many minority students declaring a “racial state of emergency.”

I’ve been in the field for 5 years, but in the college setting for 12.  This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an offensively-themed party, and I’m positive it won’t be the last.  College students (people, in general) are notorious for making decisions without considering how they will impact anybody outside their immediate social circle.

What is really strange about this UCSD situation that is different than what I’ve seen in the past is that after the outrage of the first party, some students actually had the gall to stage a follow-up party with the same theme!

“We pretty much want people to just choose a culture and harmlessly poke fun at it,” Mike Randazzo told NBC San Diego.

I could go off on a rant here about how the media makes this whole thing possible.  Comedians like Dave Chapelle and Carlos Mencia poke fun at culture all the time, so it’s ok for everyone else to do it, right?  There’s a fine line between social commentary and blatant ridicule of a culture.

“On Cinco de Mayo, we have parties making fun of Mexicans; on Veterans Day, we make fun of veterans (yes, the same veterans who uphold our rights to free speech); on St. Patrick’s Day we make fun of the Irish. Everyone gets made fun of out of jest now, not hate,” the invitation read.

I love the “we make fun of everyone equally, so nobody should be offended” logic.  Yes, you may be making fun of someone out of jest, but does that make what you say or do sting any less to someone who is proud of who they are?  ”We always do it” is not an excuse to continue to do it.

There won’t be a quick fix to this event, nor should there be.  Perhaps it takes a crisis such as this to finally make progress in educating our students.  While the event in question may be taking place at UCSD, lessons from what led to the conflict and how it is being handled can be used at institutions everywhere.  I’m sure this won’t be the last we hear about UCSD, and, honestly, I hope it’s not.  I am looking forward to seeing how they respond, and how schools across the country respond, in turn.

Further reading:
UCSD Frat Denies Involvement In ‘Ghetto-Themed’ Party
‘Compton Party Part Deux’ Organizer Defends His Actions
Student Protest Video
New UCSD racial incident sparks rage, confrontation
Twitter search: UCSD (note: a lot of NSFW language here)

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:

1. 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?
2. Are there socials at TPE like there are at OPE, or is the social aspect reserved for the NASPA conference itself?
3. 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”.

With the ArsTechnica post above, it makes me wonder: how popular are the student blogs hosted by universities?  Are they actually seeing heavy use?  I know I read them, but, as I mentioned above, I’m old and fit into the age range of people who are still interested in blogs.  I don’t recall ever hearing a student mention reading the student blogs at my previous schools (a sign that maybe it just wasn’t implemented properly?).

I’m not breaking any ground here saying that Facebook seems to be the most popular and effective way to communicate with our students.  I’m encouraged by the fact that more official groups sponsored by campus offices are starting to spring up.  I recently stumbled upon this post over at Eighteen and Life (written by Debra Sanborn, who you should all be following), which, while a bit old, brings to light the age-old argument that faculty and staff are often reluctant to adopt new tech trends.

That being said, I am encouraged by the number of my colleagues I see using Twitter and posting to blogs.  Sure, our students may not be flocking to these arenas, but I am very happy to see the network that has formed using these services.  Fortunately, plenty of the posts out there, and even one #sachat has focused on utilizing Facebook to connect with students.  The “unpopular” mediums may not be a hit among our students, but they are a very valuable tool for us professionals.

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:

We talk quite a bit about sustainability and “going green.”  I’m not here to say that this is a bad thing.  As far as I’m concerned, I think it’s a wonderful thing.  I have one big question, though:

How do universities justify the immediate cost of going green or implementing sustainability measures in a rough economy, such as the one we are in now?

You’ll notice I’m not asking how they justify the long-term, which, in theory, could save universities hundreds of thousands of dollars.  What I’m curious about is how universities, which have had to cut positions and implement hiring and wage freezes have justified new green initiatives which, admittedly, will save the university money, but at the present time will cost more than enough to keep those cut positions, or give cost of living wage increases to those who truly need it.

Perhaps I’m just going off on an unnecessary, unfounded, and uneducated rant here.  I’d really appreciate being put in my place (politely, please), or just a lively debate if you’re up for it.

1. Complete my profile, including figuring out how to write a blurb again (suggestions appreciated).
2. Find the most current version of my resume.
3. Take said resume and try to add my current retail experience into the mix so that it doesn’t look like I’ve just been sitting around not working for the past 6 months (suggestions on this part are also appreciated).
4. Browse around the TPE website to see who is hiring!

How much of this did I get accomplished?  Well, I dug up the resume and knocked the dust off of it, and I played around with some formatting (with and without my current retail experience), and I browsed the TPE website.  I worked on my profile, but will need a little help from some friends to get the blurbs looking polished and ready for presentation.

The question of the day regarding my resume:

Regarding my resume, do I include my current retail experience and, if so, how?

I’ve had suggestions on both sides of the argument.  Either leave it out and explain it in my cover letter (which employers won’t actually see while browsing the TPE profiles), or put it in because having a gap in employment looks worse than irrelevant work experience.  I can understand both sides of the argument, so naturally, I’m torn.  Thoughts and suggestions from anybody who wishes to chime in would be greatly appreciated.

On another note, is anybody going to TPE and needs a roommate?  I don’t snore (much), and I don’t hog the bathroom!

So, here I am, polishing the resume and trying to figure out just what my next step should be.  My options (at least in my opinion):

• Residence Life
• Housing (yes, I’m making a distinction between the two)
• Academic Advising
• Admissions
• Dream world: Campus Ministry (though not likely with my experience and education)

I’m making preparations to attend The Placement Exchange.  It’s a short trip for me this year — St. Louis to Chicago, and with some luck, I’ll be able to share a hotel room with a friend or two who is attending the conference.

So, the hunt is on.  Honestly, I enjoy the job search process.  It is a little more fun when you’re searching casually, though.  This search has a little more importance, though, as it’s going to (hopefully) get me out of retail land and back into the higher ed game where I belong.  I’ve enjoyed working at Office Max.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like my coworkers, and I think I could see myself staying there longer if I only got paid a bit more.  Unfortunately, $8 an hour in a part-time job just doesn’t make the monthly student loan payment.

To those of you who are entering the hunt this year, I wish you the best of luck.  Unless, of course, we’re applying for the same job.  In that case, watch out.  I’m coming for you.