The Other Side of the Desk: A former recruiter’s perspective #3

Balancing Act

So the start of my final semester landed its right hook on me today and knocked me sideways, but I'm steadily getting back on my feet. I had the impression that job hunting would be my primary objective in my final months as I head downhill toward the finish line; however, I was sorely reminded today that other responsibilities such as my grad assistantship, teaching, and taking classes also demand my attention, so I will have to worker harder to balance everything gracefully as though I were P!nk on the Grammys last night.

Despite my microcosmic balance fail, I reflect on how difficult it can be to juggle competing priorities, especially in the workforce. When I recruited, I often had to handle multiple job openings which involved scouring job boards for candidates, interviewing them, and communicating updates with clients to avoid losing the position to a competitor. For anyone who remembers the conveyor belt episode of I Love Lucy, things can get quickly out of control, and no matter how prepared we think we are, eating chocolates won't solve the problem (though they do occasionally make us feel better). So my fellow Student Affairs job seekers, what do we do to try to stay on top of it all? Take out a pen and paper (or a tablet if you're tech-savvy) and make a list!

Making a list? Yep, that's right. It seems too simple, but I have found that it truly helps take whatever is in your head and forcibly organize it in front of you. Putting the most pressing items at the top, it helps plan out how to manage your time accordingly. If something changes priority, rearrange the list, it's just that simple. Plus, the satisfaction that comes from completing a task and crossing it off the list is oddly satisfying. Now if you find that you have more items on your list than you are crossing off, then that's another issue altogether (read: procrastination), but with every day slipping past, I am taking it upon myself to make sure I accomplish progress on the job front. All this to say that my hunting didn't quite go anywhere in the past week, but now that I have my list in front of me with job hunting on top, I will have no excuse not to have something better to report next week.