The Placement Exchange: Day 3 (The Finale)
Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
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.
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".
Placement Exchange Prep
Preparing for The Placement Exchange is a big process. Todays to-do list included:
- Complete my profile, including figuring out how to write a blurb again (suggestions appreciated).
- Find the most current version of my resume.
- 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).
- 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!