The Other Side of the Desk: A former recruiter’s perspective #13

ACPA Recap/Job Hunting Blues

This year was my 1st time attending ACPA and having only been to NASPA, I had always heard about how different the two are. NASPA is supposedly more "buttoned up" and formal whereas ACPA is more community-oriented and social. I'm not one for falling for stereotypes, but I definitely felt a huge difference at ACPA, especially when it came to job prospecting and networking. Just like NASPA, I also opted out of Career Central, but instead, I made a lot of great contacts, mostly peer-level or mid-level during socials and presentation sessions. All of whom were very intentional about trying to keep me in mind for jobs. There were several opportunities that were floated my way by my new contacts; however, all were in geographic locations outside of my preference like the Midwest. Oh well!

Anyhow, I realize that the past couple of posts have been a bit matter-of-fact and not telling of where I stand on my job search; however, the exciting news is…I still have nothing! I do think my efforts during conference season will push me one step closer, but how many more steps until I get the job is out of my hands. I have actually decided to focus my efforts specifically into landing a position in career services, which is largely because it is the only area I stand a chance of not getting relegated into the lowly ranks of the Student Affairs ladder. I also have been giving some of my non-existent free time to working at my university's career center and it's been awesome! 

My latest woes have been fussing over cover letters and my resume, which I plan on dedicated a blog to in the next couple of weeks. Anyhow, keep on trucking my fellow Student Affairs job hunters! With that being said, I've now applied to six jobs and counting, with a recent one completed yesterday for a career advisor position in the Baltimore area. Hopefully there might be some traction, but as I've recently been told, most jobs in career services especially don't come through until mid to late Summer. Thus I'm settling in for the worst and hoping for the best. Keep on trucking y'all!