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I'm a recent graduate from Elon U. in North Carolina with a Bachelor's in Music. While at Elon, I had two work study jobs - one for the Office of Admissions as a tour guide and another for the Department of Music as a Program Assistant / Travel Coordinator. (I also worked in retail before and throughout college as a customer service rep). Now that I'm out in the "real world," I've been considering a career in higher education administration, whether it's in admissions, arts offices, international services (I have study abroad experience), whatever - I'm open to most anything, but I've found it incredibly difficult to get my foot in the door.
I have been applying for entry-level positions, such as admin assistant, program assistant, study abroad advisor, etc., mainly with UNC Chapel Hill and other universities in the research triangle area of North Carolina (but I have also applied to some universities in Manhattan). So far, nothing. I have submitted apps online with a resume/cover letter and a list of references and have followed up with the employers through emails, but I havent been successful yet. Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to start a career in this area? Anything you might recommend that I do? How do you typically go about doing this?
Those jobs nearly always go to former students who worked in the office already and people with degrees in student affairs and other related field. It is not an easy job to get, especially since most universities operate with the minimum staff possible. Anything even slightly high level tends to require a PhD - many universities employ their own otherwise unemployed PhD students in such jobs. They also can use graduate students to do the work for free. You might try community colleges instead of universities, since they don't have PhDs and graduate students to choose from. However, it is still a difficult type of job to get.
In my experience those jobs only sometimes go to former students and recent alums. A big part of your difficulty is your degree; it simply does not translate into those fields. A lot of entry level positions go to people with degrees in communication/PR, higher eduaction administration, college personnel, etc. Study abroad experience really doesn't mean anything for an International Programs job. Again, in my experince, those folks have advanced degrees (or terminal degrees) have extensive experience living and working overseas and/or are foreign nationals. There are also very few IP slots. Quite honestly, I don't think you have a chance in this field (and very little chance in getting on at a university in general).
Out of curiosity, did you ask your old bosses at those two on-campus jobs for advice? If not, do that right away. Obviously, don't ask for a job. Ask for advice.
I know someone who's getting an MS in this field. She has a very attractive resume, but for what it's worth, she said an MS is pretty much a requirement for most administration positions at a university.
Out of curiosity, did you ask your old bosses at those two on-campus jobs for advice? If not, do that right away. Obviously, don't ask for a job. Ask for advice.
I know someone who's getting an MS in this field. She has a very attractive resume, but for what it's worth, she said an MS is pretty much a requirement for most administration positions at a university.
Yes, I have asked them! I asked two individuals within my college's Office of Admissions for their thoughts, both my own supervisor, who is an Admissions Counselor, and the Vice President for Admissions & Financial Planning. Both never stressed the importance or even requirement of a master's degree, but rather things that I should point out on my resume and cover letter. I know that my old college hires many admissions counselors who don't have master's degrees and some of them weren't even connected to the college before getting their jobs. However, they also have a tendency to hire recent grads as admissions counselors but this year, unfortunately, they don't have any positions open.
What confuses me is that, based on the listings' requirements and preferred traits for the jobs that I've been applying to, I fit them perfectly, even having many of the preferred qualifications, which don't ask for a Master's. I do plan on going for a Master's, but I'm not sure what I specifically want to study and I have student loans requiring that I find some employment sooner rather than later...
As already noted, many institutions hire graduating students for entry level positions because those students have shown that they are reliable and have some heavily supervised experience. However, often the graduating student is not a suitable candidate or simply does not want the job.
Most openings receive dozens of applications, of which about 1/2 are viable, the other 1/2 never get seriously considered. Yes, people with higher degrees get preference, but it is not a requirement to have a masters.
There is generally a preference for hiring people with job experience in higher Ed. Some for-profit experience is beneficial if it is directly applicable, but some people have a hard time making the jump from for-profit to education, so you would need to indicate in a cover letter or interview that you are familiar with the differences between the two and comfortable with the requirements of the Ed environment.
The hiring cycle is generally pretty long. It could take months to fill a position.
All in all, there is no silver bullet. It is very competitive.
I'm a recent graduate from Elon U. in North Carolina with a Bachelor's in Music. While at Elon, I had two work study jobs - one for the Office of Admissions as a tour guide and another for the Department of Music as a Program Assistant / Travel Coordinator. (I also worked in retail before and throughout college as a customer service rep). Now that I'm out in the "real world," I've been considering a career in higher education administration, whether it's in admissions, arts offices, international services (I have study abroad experience), whatever - I'm open to most anything, but I've found it incredibly difficult to get my foot in the door.
I have been applying for entry-level positions, such as admin assistant, program assistant, study abroad advisor, etc., mainly with UNC Chapel Hill and other universities in the research triangle area of North Carolina (but I have also applied to some universities in Manhattan). So far, nothing. I have submitted apps online with a resume/cover letter and a list of references and have followed up with the employers through emails, but I havent been successful yet. Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to start a career in this area? Anything you might recommend that I do? How do you typically go about doing this?
you might wanna look into residential life or student affairs as a means to get your foot in the door somewhere. during undergrad i was an RA for 2.5 years and after 2 years of teaching after college i reached a point where i wanted to at least take a look see into getting into higher edu admin as a career. i attended a job fair in memphis, tn in march, 2006 and interviewed for dozens of jobs over 2 days. received 5 or 6 follow up interviews to be done on the school's respective campus. i decided to not pursue these any further for a variety of reasons. one of the jobs would've actually had me - a white, warm blooded heterosexual male as a house manager of a sorority house at one of the colleges and living in the house with about 35-40 girls who were all about 4-5 years younger than I. long story short i thought better of that job prospect although it would certainly have been interesting to say the least.
i know a TON of people who work in higher edu. admin these days mostly from my days as an RA. its amazing how many of the people i worked with during those days regardless of academic major went on to working at colleges / universities especially in residence life and student affairs.
you may wanna check out HigherEdJobs - Jobs in Higher Education and look around. your best bet may be to apply for grad school and get a GA in one of the depts that interests you.
Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to start a career in this area? Anything you might recommend that I do? How do you typically go about doing this?
If you’re going the admin route, you really want to develop your secretarial/clerical skills and experience. I also have a music degree and have temped for many years in between gigs. I picked up the skills (best practices, really) along the way, but it did take a while before I knew what was I doing. The skills aren’t difficult, but if you’ve never done that type of work many offices won’t hire you.
I was lucky in that I started in the mid-90s when the economy was booming and it was very easy to get hired. The administrative support industry was decimated in the last recession and thanks to technology may never recover. There are lots of people with 10+ years of experience willing to take what once were entry level admin jobs.
Keep in mind that the smaller the office, the more responsibility you’ll have. As most of these academic offices are tiny, there’s no one there to train you. They’re looking for someone to “run the office” by him or herself. Most of the ads for these positions want a minimum two to three years of admin experience.
I suggest getting an internship in an academic office or receptionist job in a large corporation (possibly through a temp agency). Those jobs will give you a better skill set for the jobs you want.
I think for "admin assistant" you may be able to get away with having only a bachelor's, but for positions like "study abroad advisor", an advanced degree is strongly "preferred" (if not required de facto), especially if the position is at a larger institution.
Getting your foot in the door as an administrative assistant in the office might be the way to get your foot in the door. If you were to get your foot in the door, and you want to stay in the field, see if you can apply to the master's degree program in student affairs/higher ed admin (whatever it is called at the institution) and use tuition remission to cover tuition for part-time study.
Now occasionally a person is hired for a student affairs/advising/admissions position who does not have an advanced degree yet. I would think that these people are exceptions.
To which schools have you been applying in Manhattan? PM me, please.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpk-nyc
I suggest getting an internship in an academic office or receptionist job in a large corporation (possibly through a temp agency). Those jobs will give you a better skill set for the jobs you want.
I have seen those type of internship positions typically go to grad students enrolled in a master's program in the field. (They are generally called "assistantships".) The OP already has a bachelor's and she has no existing ties to a school (except her alma mater); it might be difficult for someone external to get an internship in such a place.
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