The Basics of Landing a Student Development Job: Saving Yourself from the “NO” Pile
- Jun 6, 2010
Having participated in many candidate evaluations for various positions at our college, I have been struck by the wide spectrum of skills displayed by the applicants. And I don’t mean that in a good way. While some are clearly well prepared, far too many make critical mistakes that greatly diminish or preclude their chances of being considered. After over 20 years in higher education, which have included serving on many search committees for both faculty and staff, I have finally decided that I might have a few pointers that could prevent the sadness of perfectly good student life candidates shooting themselves in the foot by overlooking some of the basic principles of getting a job.
Written Materials
First, it starts with your writing. Cover letters and essays are very important and even small mistakes undermine an application’s effectiveness. One cover letter spoke of the virtues of our college, only to switch to the name of a different college in the next sentence – a clear hazard of using one letter for more than one application. Very few cover letters show that the writer has done their homework and even looked at our institution’s website. Only one out of a recent batch referenced something about Westmont that they had gleaned from looking online. It impresses us when we see that you have taken the trouble to find out something unique about us.
Out of the seven applications in one search, four had substantial errors of grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. A sentence in one essay seemed as though it must have been a combination of two different thoughts and was basically indecipherable. This should never happen. At least two other people must proof-read your application before you send it out.
Here I have to add what borders on an obsession with me, so take it for what it’s worth: in both verbal and written responses, the common misuse of “I” and “me” is so prevalent. I have heard mistakes from professors and college presidents. In an example from a “thank you” note a potential candidate sent, we read about “the plan that God has for my wife and I.” God does not have a plan for “I,” he has a plan for “me.” Another candidate wrote about how, “me and a colleague put together a leadership program.” Did “me” put together a program or did “I” put together a program? It may seem like nitpicking, but to those who are sensitive about proper grammar, it sounds like fingernails on a blackboard.
But even when essays are structurally and grammatically sound, far too often they are simply boring. Donald Asher, who has written books on getting into graduate school and writing statements of purpose, interviewed many graduate school admissions officers and the abundance of boring essays was one of their main complaints. The essays often put them to sleep. I have definitely found that to be the case with student life candidates, as well. In trying to be careful and not say anything inappropriate or unconventional, essay writers end up with bland, cliché-ridden pieces that all begin to sound the same. I find myself wanting to beg them to ban from their repertoire “holistic development,” “comfort zone,” wanting to be part of a team that “seeks to mature students spiritually, academically, and socially,” and any other statement with obvious, tired, and overused descriptions. Challenge yourself to scrupulously avoid anything that we’ve all heard a million times and are a given for our field. I’ll be very honest: most essays are barely worth reading because they don’t contain anything we haven’t read from 25 other candidates. You don’t want to stand out in a bad way, but you do want to stand out.
What’s the solution? It’s easy actually, and I’ll reiterate it when we get to interviewing: tell a story. When you cite or reference a key skill, give us a compelling illustration, because that’s what we will remember. When you say you’re a good leader, that’s just your opinion of yourself, which is inherently biased. When you give us a great story of how you led something, we sit up and take notice, and we believe you. When you talk about the goal of a balance between “challenging and encouraging students,” tell us something about what that looks like on the ground.
A final word on essays (and this applies to the interview as well): don’t downplay academics. One essay I remember talked about the fact that the most important lessons of life don’t come from a classroom. While there may be some truth in that, don’t tell it to a faculty member whose collaboration we desperately need to be successful. Historically, there has been the classic divide between student life and academics and most of us have spent our careers trying to counter that mentality and bridge the chasm that has come from such an artificial distinction. Don’t display your lack of understanding in this critical area.
Most candidates seem to have done their homework when it comes to resumes, and I have few complaints there. My experience, in fact, is that people exert significant effort in creating their resumes and spend very little time preparing for the interview. That seems to be true of student development candidates as well.
The Interview Process
So let’s turn to the second key element, the interview. There is something unfair about the way most jobs are acquired in this country, because too often we end up evaluating how a person interviews, and not how they will actually do the job. A recent study showed that relatively poor interviewees did not do any worse in their eventual jobs than did good interviewees. However, this is not something that will change in our lifetime, so preparation for the interview may be the best place to focus your energy. It is a big mistake to give less attention to the interview; as we say in my field, you can get a job without a resume, but not without an effective interview.
At Westmont, we always start with phone interviews and these present particular challenges. For one thing, some people simply don’t come across effectively on the phone. An article I read recently advised that someone being interviewed on the phone should dress up similarly to how one would for an in-person interview and stand up when they speak. I don’t know if that works, but it can’t hurt. Certainly it is harder to stick with someone you can’t see, if their voice is low, if they lack energy, and if their answers tend to ramble. One recent interviewee had all those qualities and we couldn’t wait for it to be over. Needless to say, he wasn’t considered for the position, even though I had the feeling he could have done a fine job. Effectiveness on the phone is certainly not a universal skill, so there is only one way to address that: practice! Call up a friend and have them put you through a mock phone interview. They will tell you things only a friend would.
There are plenty of resources on interviewing, so I will only mention a few key points:
- Develop confidence. In my view, what you most have working against you in an interview is nervousness. Your goal is to come across naturally and represent who you really are and anxiety completely undermines that and you project some other person – the one with the quavering voice, dry mouth, and nervous tic. Pray for God to bring peace to your heart and have confidence that you have done in your preparation – and then leave the rest to Him. Introverts will find the whole job search process (perhaps especially the interview) more daunting and exhausting, and need to be aware of that.
- Tell stories. As stated above, this is the heart of a good interview. Both the resume and the interview are essentially skills exercises in which you lay out your strengths and prove them. The way you prove them is by providing a compelling and interesting illustration of how that skill worked itself out in real life. Don’t wait for the interviewer to ask you for an example, rather, make that the heart of your responses. Take your cue from Jesus. He was a prolific storyteller and whose stories stick in our mind in a way nothing else can.
- Err on the side of brevity. Interviewers can always ask follow-up questions, but there is no time for that if you have spent 5 minutes answering a question that should have taken one minute to answer. Extroverts tend to be more long-winded and need to pay particular attention to this pitfall.
- Practice, practice, practice! Why would we assume that a person could naturally do well in an interview when we don’t assume that about any other activity? How is interviewing any different from bowling? Good interviewing is actually a difficult and sophisticated task that is as much art as science. As with any other skill, it develops as we practice it. No one should go into an interview without at least three mock interviews under their belt.
Any job search process is anxiety producing and demanding. It is sad that so many candidates have done their due diligence in their academic background and relevant experience, but have not invested the effort in being prepared to present that in an articulate and effective way. Give being well prepared your full attention and don’t make it an afterthought. It may well keep you from the “NO” pile.
Dana Alexander serves as the Director for the Office of Life Planning at Westmont College, located in Santa Barbara, California.
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