Hello All, and welcome to the next installment of Making my Mark on the world. In this post, I provide a brief update to the steps that I am taking to secure an academic advising position.
I wish that I had more news to share, but I have been stuck in a bit of a stagnant pattern. I knew that reinventing myself would not be easy and that it would take time. I wrote Playing the long game about 2.5 months ago. In the grand scheme of things, that is not too long. However, it feels like such a long time. I am a bit downtrodden. Yet, I wanted to provide an update on some of the things that I am doing to try and break this stagnant pattern.
I’ve written about my passion to work in higher education several times. That has been my goal for quite awhile, and it even led me to pursue a PhD program that was not aligned with my interests. I am now being more intentional with this passion, and I am submitting applications for academic advising and advising related positions. My background is not that of a traditional advisor, and that is where I am struggling. I have been reaching out to higher education professionals, in an attempt to highlight my qualifications and be intentional. Unfortunately, these have yet to be fruitful. Here is an example of an email that I sent to a hiring manager regarding an academic advising opening. Note that I have removed the school’s actual name for privacy reasons.
I recently applied for the academic advisor position with [school], and I wanted to introduce myself. I have also attached my resume to this email.
I am passionate about student development, and I am confident in my abilities to advise students.
The core tenants of my advising philosophy are listed below:
Always exhibit kindness, compassion, empathy, and honesty towards all students and coworkers
Help people discover their passions and present options rather than just being prescriptive
Customize experiences per student: Be supportive of individual needs and help people to thrive based on how they best learn and what they are most interested in
Be solutions oriented: Focus on solutions rather than problems
An opportunity to further discuss exactly how I could contribute to the [school] advising team would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I was very happy with this email. I expressed confidence in my abilities, and I also shared some of my core values. I did hear back from the hiring manager, but I did not achieve the results that I was hoping for. No interview.
In the past week, I have reconnected with a career coach. My resume has been redesigned to better highlight my relevant experience, and I am now seeking opportunities to discuss industry trends and engage in informational interviews with educational professionals. Further, I am going to try to develop materials that I could use as a work product for interviews and applications.
I am down and somewhat discouraged, but I am not giving up. I want this. Now I have to take steps to further increase my qualifications and prove to others that these types of jobs are the right jobs for me. It just takes one hiring manager to believe in me and I am committed to making that happen.
As always, thank you for reading Making my Mark on the world. If you liked this post, please consider subscribing and sharing to follow along with me on this journey. There will be many more raw and real insights to follow.
You’re so inspiring!!! Please share more, the world needs your gifts 🎁