Lost in the Maze - Post #8

Date: Friday, March 9, 2007
Personal Temperature: Guilty

So, I'm afraid any day now the fabulous man who gave me the go-ahead to do this blog will email me and fire me because I haven't posted recently! (Sorry Stuart!) Friends, things have just been nuts lately. 'Tis the season in Residence Life...the hiring season that is. I have done more graduate assistantship interviews and Resident Assistant interviews than I care to count in these last two weeks...and they just keep going and going and going. I passed the energizer bunny about three days ago! Anyway, I'm back in action now, so let's get down to business.

Here is the latest scoop...I temporarily got lost in the maze recently in my quest for new cheese. I lost focus on my priorities and in a moment of sheer professional selfishness I applied for a job that was fabulous but would take me further away from my family. I lost track of that number one value that The Husband and I have agreed upon (getting closer to both our families down south) and saw a wonderful professional opportunity and let my excitment for new cheese overwhelm me. The result? I applied for the job, received a phone interview, and cancelled the phone interview and withdrew my application all in one week. Am I nuts or what?!? The more and more I thought about moving to this city, the more and more I realized how much I didn't want to do that. So, I had to refocus, swallow my pride, and do the right thing.

Fast forward to present time and here is our dual job search status. The Husband has applied for zero jobs and I have put in my application for THE job at my alma mater and today put in my application for a position here at my current university. The review dates for both positions are mid March, so hopefully I will have some news (good?) to share with you soon.

In the meantime, I feel the need to digress. This is my blog after all, so I am entitled to have a little rant now and then. So, there is the phenomenon going on in our profession right now that is quite disheartening. I am in charge of recruiting new graduate students to my university and I have been shocked, SHOCKED at the number of up and coming staff members who are not being mentored when it comes to appropriate communication to potential employers. So I feel the need to do a little internet mentoring. Future professionals...now here this...if an employer takes the time to email you and ask you to submit your resume and cover letter for further review, common courtesy and professional etiquette dictate that you do one of three things a) submit your resume and cover letter; b) respond to the employer and explain that you are going to take time to research their position and university and get back with them; or c) repond back that you are not interested in their position. Doing nothing should never be an option. Okay, off my soapbox. I just had to get that out of my system, because I truly have been saddened by the amount of people who don't respond to emails. It makes me fear for our future.

More to come....