So much for job searching...

I started off this week thinking that I would finally get around to doing some job searching. I finally asked my references at the beginning of this week whether or not they'd be willing to serve as a reference. I wrote a first draft of my cover letter. All I needed to do now was alter this cover letter to fit the different positions and then actually apply....
Can't be that hard, right?

Not so fast. I put job searching on my to-do list for Tuesday night. I had the best intentions. Then life happened....

I've spent the rest of the week dealing with strange and unusual student situation - those things that hardly ever happen and where you don't know what to do. I've spent hours every night trying to hunt down certain students, setting up meetings, meeting, updating my supervisor, hunting down the next student, etc. I haven't had a second to breathe; I didn't get any of the other things done that I should have been doing. In the few minutes I had left, I was working on advertising and promotion for Invisible Children.

I'm also getting sick; or actually I think I am sick. I'm burning up right now. Earlier I was freezing. I can't think straight; my throat hurts like hell, I keep losing my voice, my head hurts and I basically just feel like I'm about to die. But of course I don't have time to be sick. We have interviews for graduate students tomorrow. I also have to hunt down a few more students, have some meetings I can't miss and really need to get started on that to-do list.
And then of course job searching....

More "Oh, those students..." Moments

Quick Job Search Update: I have attempted to write a cover letter. I probably should have someone look at it before I send it out. Have I mentioned that I hate writing cover letters? They just sound so fake. Everyone uses the same format - explain what position you're interested in, say why you're interested in the position/dept/school, highlight your experience, explain what qualifies you as a candidate. It feels like it's stupid form you're filling out.
I am a writer (even though I haven't written anything in a while). I like to tell a story. I want people to be "in the moment" with me, to see what I'm seeing, to feel what I'm feeling. I like to start off stories by setting the scene. I can't do that in a cover letter. If I started off with a fun, creative intro, potential employers may not even read past that to find out what position I'm interested in.
I just don't feel like I can express myself within the structure of a cover letter. Argh!
And here's my other question...How serious do employers really take those cover letters? I mean, isn't the resume the most important part? Shouldn't you be judged on your experience rather than a one-page letter?


Okay, enough about job searching.

I had another one of those "Oh, those students..." moments last week.
One of my residents, an international student, came to me and asked if he could switch rooms. He said he wasn't really getting along with his roommate but didn't want to go into detail. I explained that we don't just move people, that he'd have to set up a meeting with his RA and his roommate first to discuss what some of the concerns were, that I could get involved in the mediation if he needed me to and that only if we weren't able to solve the issues, we would start looking into a room change. Well, the student decided to also apply for a single through our Housing Office - since singles are a lot more expensive, residents will usually get one if it's available - after all, Housing needs to make money.
A few days later, I get an e-mail from the Housing Office informing me that the students has been granted a single and will be moving. I contacted the student to remind him to check out with me. Then I told the students' RA.
I didn't even think about contacting the roommate. I mean, if you're moving out of your room, you'll tell your roommate. It's not like they won't notice when you're suddenly gone, right?
Well, not so much this student. He just left - his roommate came back to find the empty half of the room and a goodbye letter.

Oh, those students...

I know communication isn't easy. I know it can be challenging to confront someone. But seriously? Moving out without saying a word?

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So I had a minor freak-out last night. I didn't have the best day to begin with and then, in the evening, I sat down, put High School Musical 3 in my DVD player (yes, of course I had to get it on the day it came out), turned on my computer and started looking at job postings. I'd been avoiding the job search for the past week because I just didn't want to deal with it. Since I'm going to ACPA, which isn't until the end of March, it feels like there's still tons of time left. But then I also know that - with Spring Break (I'm going on an alternative Spring Break Trip with residents), the Invisible Children Challenge on March 21, and other things that will come up - it will be the end of March before I know it.

I pulled up the ACPA Placement site and looked at the job listings I had saved. There was one that I was really excited about. I went through the list and...

IT WAS GONE. Well, it just said, "Position no longer available."

WHY????

So then I became paranoid. Maybe they had hired some internally; maybe they have to leave the position vacant because of budget cuts - what if there won't be many positions this year because of the current economic crisis. What if I didn't find anything else that I was really excited about? What if I didn't find anything at all?

And then I started thinking back of my job search and how most of the institution I ended up having campus interviews with were the ones that had contacted me, not the ones that I had actually searched out and applied to. Why??? Had I been looking for the wrong positions? Only one school has contacted me so far and I turned them down because it wasn't what I was looking for at all. But what if nobody else would contact me? What if I get a million interviews at the convention again but then no on-campus offers? What if I'm being unrealistic looking for coordinator-level positions? Maybe I should just stick with Hall Director jobs. But even there aren't that many in the geographic regions I'm looking for.

And then the whole visa issue. What if I don't get a job in time for them to apply for a transfer of my H1B visa to their institution? I wouldn't be able to start working when the school year starts...how bad would that be! And what if institutions don't want to go through the pain of the visa application process - or can't afford to sponsor me...I mean, with the economic crisis and everything - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Whenever I mention my whole visa issues to Americans, they just tell me, "Don't worry. It'll work out." I'm sorry but that is NOT helping. It doesn't make me feel any better. It doesn't make me stop worrying. People have no idea how frustrating it is to be searching for jobs - knowing that some institution will never be able to hire me because of this visa issue - even if they love me, even if I'm their top candidate. I often feel like this country doesn't want me. I'm not wanted here. They'd be happier if I left. But what would I do if I left??? I have a degree in a field that doesn't even exist at home. I have built a life in this country. I have a career.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Oh, those students...

A few weeks ago, we had a Living Learning Community (LLC) Fair for prospective Resident Assistants. Each LLC had its own table with a display board and a more or less enthusiastic staff member explaining to candidates what their LLC was all about.

I wasn't having the world's greatest day - I was worried about one of my friends, had a pretty bad nose bleed earlier that day (for no apparent reason), hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (this was in the late afternoon/early evening), was tired and grumpy. I just made it to the fair on time, put up my display boards (I had two...one from last year and one from the year before...I've updated them a little), turned on my laptop (I was showing a slide show of pictures from events) - and was immediately bombarded by candidates.

I smiled and answered one question after the other. I soon had this five-sentence description about my LLC down, repeating it over and over again. Smiling, asking if candidates had any other questions, and making sure to restart the slide show every few minutes.

It was interesting to observe the candidates. Some seemed genuinely interested in my LLC; some were just there because they thought they had to but didn't do a good job at hiding that; others were trying to suck up - desperate to get an RA job in any LLC. I don't like "suck-ups"...I think if you do a good job, there's no reason for you to suck up.

I was talking to a group of women - asking them what they had heard about my LLC - when one of my own residents came up to me. This was a resident that I had several interactions with before - we had found alcohol in his room (it was his roommate's) and he needed guidance on how to navigate our judicial process; he also had some roommate issues that I tried to help him with. He's also one of those students, who always says hi, asks how my weekend has been or how my day is going, and goes out of his way to talk to me.
As soon as the women left, I turned toward my resident and said, "So what do you know about the CHANGE Living Learning Community?" I'd started every conversation like that and thought he would pick up on my sarcastic, joking tone of voice.
Oh, I was so wrong.
I didn't even notice it though. He said, looking a little confused, "Well, I live there" and I responded - still in a joking tone of voice - "Obviously. I was just wondering what you think about CHANGE from a residents' perspective."

I hadn't thought about this conversation until tonight. Apparently, this student had now joined Community Council - something I had recommended to gain some valuable experience and become more active in the community. When talking to one of the RAs working with the council, this resident explained that he had joined the council because - at the LLC Fair - I didn't recognize him, which made him think that he needed to have more of a presence in the hall. HUH!?!

Part of me thinks I should be insulted or concerned that he thinks I don't recognize him. I'd have to be blind not to see him and notice him when he's hanging around my office, e-mailing me with tons of questions and setting up meetings to discuss some drama in his life.
Part of me just wants to laugh. How could he not notice my sarcastic tone? This is just too ridiculous.

I think I'll go with laughing.

Updates

I wish I had exciting news for you on the job search front, but I don't. It's just too early, I guess. I got one e-mail from an institution that saw my resume on the Placement Web site and asked if I was interested in applying for a position at their institution. Exciting? Hmm, well, it could have been but the position was "just" a basic hall director position. I mean, yeah, maybe I'd consider that (if it was in a great location, which this one wasn't) and I know I could still love being a hall director for a few years (especially if it had some other responsibilities, or at least the option to work with graduate students) but it made me wonder what my chances are of getting a higher-level position. I'd been looking at some coordinator-level positions. I have the minimum qualifications for most of them - master's degree and 3-years of post-master experience - but what are your chances of getting a job when you just fulfill the minimum requirements?

Oh well, enough about the job search. There's not enough going on yet....

On the job front, things have been busy. I've been going to Community Council and student organization meetings all week to recruit new teams for our Invisible Children Challenge. Having two or three meetings a night is definitely exhausting - but if we can just get a few more teams, it will all have been worth it. There's fourty days left until our Closing Ceremony. I'm starting to get a little worried about whether or not we'll be able to reach our goal. My RA, who is helping me organize the challenge, and I have big dreams - we want this to be a huge campus-wide event. We've had a decent amount of interest in the challenge but not as much as we'd hoped. We've also had more interested from Community Council than RAs, which has been a bit surprising. And I just recently found out that several Greek organizations have their formal the night of the Closing Ceremony.
*Sigh*
It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine.
Maybe if I say it often enough, I'll be able to stop worrying and will eventually believe it myself. I mean, we have five teams signed up and I'm expecting to get registration forms from at least another 5 teams, maybe even a few more.

Well, I should get back to work. I was gone all weekend (another one of our fun roadtrips...and let me tell you, this one was A LOT of fun!!!!) but now I have tons of work to do.

Have a good week!

Candidate #0000

Once again, I have a candidate number. Once again I spend my free time reviewing/fixing my resume (last time around, I "reviewed/fixed" it countless times and after I finally decided it was good and started sent it to about 20 institutions, I realized that I had a typo in it...good news though: I got a job at one of those 20 schools in spite of the typo), writing cover letters, staring at the same job postings over and over again, researching institutions and in general just agonizing over the job search.

It's been three years since I last had to do that. That was also when I started writing this blog, back then as "Candidate #0000." I browsed through some old entries and came across my "final thoughts" regarding the job search...

"Job searching...

...is one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" experiences (just that you know you'll have to go through it again some day...but hopefully it won't be as bad because you'll have more experience and usually won't be as pressured to find a job)

...means that your self-confidence will take a beating. There's just no way around it. Keep your head up and remember: there's a light at the end of the tunnel (as cheesy as that sounds, but seriously, you'll make it through). And remember, you only need one offer - the right offer.

...is not a competition, even though some people will try to make it one. Don't let them drag you into this comparing who has more interviews at conference, who had more on-campus interviews, etc. Job searching is one third luck, one third experience and qualifications and one third coincidence. Some people will find a job early; others won't. It doesn't mean that one of them is more qualified. It also doesn't mean that one of them will get the better job. It just means that one of them was in the right place at the right time.

...is about finding A job, not necessarily the perfect job. Don't get stuck on what you think your dream job, dream location, dream institution is...this will be your first job. You'll have many more chances to get to that "ideal position and institution." Keep re-evaluating your priorities...and maybe you'll end up somewhere totally different and be much happier about it."

I thought job searching wouldn't be "as bad" the second time around. I'm not so sure about that anymore. I feel just as nervous and anxious when I think about it. There's just about the same amount of pressure; after all, I turned in my intent letter saying that I will not be returning. So if this doesn't work out...
Okay, let's not think about that.

I've almost finalized my resume - almost! I had three people look at it. I've made lots and lots of changes. But then I realized I should probably add this assessment grant that I received last year to my resume...and how do you cite an assessment grant? What section should I add it to?
I spent lots of time searching internet sites to figure out a good way to cite it; I haven't found anything. Oh well. I put it on there somehow. I'll probably ask a few people in the office on Monday for advice. I'm just annoyed because I wanted to have it all done by tonight. Argh!