Shiloh’s Declassified Job Search Survival Guide: Landing an Assessment Role

Most days, my LinkedIn feed is filled with posts repeating a common message: the job search process is exhausting and defeating (as I typed this, I received a YikYak notification: “another day of job searching and crying 😍”). The narratives I read detail individuals applying to hundreds of jobs, hearing back from very few, and spending more time updating the Excel sheet they use to track their applications than engaging in the job search process itself. While many of these LinkedIn posts originate in fields outside of higher education (thankfully) they echo some of the challenges I recently experienced in my own job search: maintaining self-confidence despite inevitable rejection, experiencing a lack of communication from search committees and institutions, and facing a disillusionment with the sales-like process of the job search. 

As a young professional who recently landed their first full time role in higher education assessment, my tips to navigate these challenges are to:

1. Review job postings and note position responsibilities early

2. Complete a self-reflection of your job search priorities and honor your needs

3. Utilize professionals you trust to analyze the job search process with you and follow their recommendations when they make sense for you

4. Write email templates for communicating with job search chairs, committee members, and potential supervisors 

5. Treat every opportunity as practice

6. Quality over quantity

Many of these tips were given to me by revered mentors and colleagues during my search process and they helped keep me grounded in a time of uncertainty. Every individual's job search is unique to their field, career aspirations, and professional and personal needs. Still, I believe these tips will be useful for any young professional and hope they are helpful for those seeking an entry-level role in assessment. In the spirit of transparency, I will provide a bit about my background as it relates to each tip, including my experiences with assessment that I believe catalyzed my successful job search. 

TIP #1: Review job postings and note position responsibilities early

I started looking at job postings in the Fall of my second year of graduate school on the Student Affairs Assessment Leaders Listserv. Instead of applying for the open positions I saw, I used this time to note the skills necessary for an assessment position and to differentiate between the responsibilities of assessment coordinators, assistant directors, associate directors, and directors. This action helped clarify the skills I would need to obtain before graduation if I hoped to land an assessment role immediately out of graduate school. I was also able to tailor my remaining internships to gain skills I felt I lacked and identify which commonly requested skills might be negotiable or able to be learned on the job. 

For example, in my final semester of graduate school, I accepted an internship position with the Student Affairs Research and Assessment team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  When I took this role, I did so knowing that I needed to gain experience in statistical analysis of survey results and student data. This position allowed me to broaden my abilities to analyze and report assessment results. I also gained experience using SPSS and Tableau. Through conversations with my assessment colleagues at UNC Charlotte, I learned that while the use of these data tools are often listed as required in job postings, they can absolutely be learned on the job– in my case, my current employer was looking for a willingness to learn, rather than expertise.

By reviewing job postings and position responsibilities early, I was able to ensure I met the basic qualifications for each position I applied for. Further, I was able to set realistic expectations for myself when I applied for a job. In doing so, I never felt like I was “kidding myself” when I submitted an application. Rather, I felt confident that I was qualified or I could frankly admit that an application was a long shot. Either way, knowing where I stood in my capabilities provided me with a sense of control throughout the process.

TIP #2: Complete a self-reflection of your job search priorities and honor your needs

During the job search process, our priorities and needs change. In my particular experience, I was unsure if the location of the job (i.e., staying close to family) or the culture of the office I would be working in were more important to me. In the end, I was only able to ascertain which was more important through gut feeling but the self-reflection activity provided a foundational list that served as a tool for my personal judgement and allowed me to maintain confidence that I was pursuing opportunities that aligned with my priorities.

TIP #3: Utilize professionals you trust to analyze the job search process with you and follow their recommendations when they make sense for you

My passion for assessment, and thus my career in this field, would not exist without the support and kindness of other assessment professionals in our field. As a first-generation student, I cannot underscore the monumental difference mentors and colleagues made in my job search process. They shared opportunities with me, helped me prepare my application materials and practice for interviews, and encouraged me to prioritize my needs/values through the decision-making process. 

One particular mentor, like many student affairs professionals, was stretched thin with tasks, to-do’s, and meeting requests. Yet, she found and made time for me. She shared articles and books, talked through projects she was working on, allowed me to sit in on meetings with other professionals, shared her wisdom and story, and connected me with professionals across the field who have also shaped my journey. She has truly been– and I know will continue to be– a catalyst in my development professionally and personally. I can’t stress enough the importance of finding a mentor who will support you to this extent within the field!

During my job search, this mentor also helped me analyze and understand the mixed signals I received from institutions during my search process– and pushed me to hold tight to my search priorities and needs. Most importantly, she emphasized that my journey was my own and encouraged me to pay attention to my gut reaction when she passed along advice. She always noted the importance of following your instincts, as the path for each of us looks different and we have to do what makes sense for our lives. In the end, I don’t think I took the job she would have chosen for me but I know she respected my decision as my own. I want to give a special thank you to her.

Those in our corner often have the biggest impact on our careers– seek out individuals in the field and at your institution that you admire and revere, and share that with them. As assessment professionals, we know the key to our success lies in our relationships; the same can be said for the job search. 

TIP #4: Write email templates for communicating with job search chairs, committee members, and potential supervisors 

I started applying for jobs in the Spring of my senior year, about four months before graduation. In total, I began applications for six jobs, completed materials and submitted applications for four jobs, passed the initial application screenings for three jobs, landed first and second-round interviews for two jobs, and landed two job offers. 

At some point in the job search process for both of the employment offers I received, there was a moment when communication went dark or stalled. I utilized the same email templates to reach out to both committees and ask about timelines. This allowed me to save mental energy when engaging in the job search process. Often, I found myself feeling like a cog in the machine, frustrated with the feeling that my time and effort were not valued by the job search committees I engaged with and facing a disillusionment with the sales-like process of the job search. Preparing templates and reducing replication of my efforts allowed me to feel like I was on equal footing in the process– if a school or Search Committee Chair engaged with me as an individual rather than a task to check off, I could choose to write a more personal message… if they did not, I could rely on the templates!

TIPS #5: Treat every opportunity as practice

I believe in over-communication and love asking for feedback. Always ask for feedback regarding your interview performance and material qualifications. Every application and interview opportunity is practice. The key to improvement, however, is to reflect on your performance in a meaningful way. Following up with committee chairs can allow for the sharing of valuable feedback to improve your chances in the next go– it might also lead to a new professional connection, and sometimes a recommendation to apply for another job opportunity. Treating each opportunity as practice allows you to maintain flexibility in the job search and can remove a bit of pressure from your performance. 

TIPS #6: Quality over quantity

My final recommendation is to be intentional with your time and focus on quality over quantity. Assessment positions, especially at the entry-level, are not so available that you’ll be able to apply to hundreds in a given year. Instead, you can spend time tailoring your materials and preparing for interviews with intention. 

Use institutional and divisional resources (usually found on their website) to hone your materials. Speak with colleagues to see if they have friends working at the institution who would be willing to speak to you about its culture. Research the office, division, institution, and job. Prepare questions for each round of interviewing to showcase your interest. Listen to search committee members and potential colleagues, seek to understand their perspectives and roles, and begin building a relationship with them during your interview time. 

These actions require more focus and energy but they’ll pay off in the long run. I found this intentionality to help calm my nerves– I treated interviews as conversations rather than a testing of my knowledge. This allowed me to feel comfortable exchanging with potential colleagues and contributed to my confidence in the interview. I was able to act and speak– humbly– as if I had the job because I felt like I knew the role, the office/department, and the division. 

Although I've now been in my first role for a year, I can still vividly remember the anxiety of the job search and the uncertainty that comes with it– and I’m sure I’ll enter that space again at some point in my career. It's challenging to maintain the belief that you'll find a job, and the process can be discouraging. I think it's important to honor those emotions as they come and to practice self-care to heal from the stress. After you've taken time for self-care, remind yourself that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Remember, too, that you have the power to control the narrative of your job search. I hope these tips will serve as a guide to structuring your job search in a way that works for you and remind you that you can be in control—while letting go of what you cannot. Thanks for reading and good luck! You’ve got this!

P.S. If you’d like a copy of my resume, cover letter, or email templates mentioned here as a guide or reference, please email me at shilohslovette [at] gmail. I found it helpful to see what experiences and abilities my mentors/supervisors highlighted on their resumes to plan for the skills I needed to build!

This post was written by Shiloh Lovette, Assessment Coordinator, Division of Access and Engagement, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Shiloh also serves as the SAAL Operations Coordinator.