The Placement Exchange (TPE)

Learning domains: Leadership & Personal and Professional Development

Description: This spring I had the opportunity to participate in The Placement Exchange (TPE) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. TPE is an opportunity for individuals within or looking to go into higher education to obtain jobs. TPE had positions in Residential Life and Housing and opportunities outside of that functional area too. During this experience I was open to interviewing for positions and departments that interested me and stretch my comfort zone.

Term: Spring 2019

Learning Outcomes:

1. SWiBAT prepare for job interviews in various functional areas of their interest.

2. SWiBAT develop rapport/camaraderie with cohort mates throughout the process.

Assessment Rubric: Please click image to view the PDF.

Reflection

For SLO #1 I would rate myself as Competent/Advanced. I thoroughly prepared for the majority of my TPE interviews prior to the event itself and in between interviews. I taught myself how to navigate the TPE website and watched some of their professional development webinars beforehand. When reaching out to employers I also sent personalized resumes and cover letters if applicable. I had difficulty with scheduling an interview with a particular institution through the TPE portal, so I emailed them directly with all my information. This made it easier for them to schedule me. During this process, I created a TPE spreadsheet where I gathered information about the mission, vision, values of the institution as well as specific information about their department, new initiatives, and anything else that would prepare me. This is reflective of my arranger/learner strengths. I didn't realize I was doing this until I notice that this aligned with job search characteristics/practices such as being self motivated and gathering data to make informed decisions (Career Services – School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, n.d.). I also scheduled a mock interview with the Career Center at my fieldwork location. Although my mock interview got rescheduled until after TPE, I was able to meet with other campus partners to discuss similar positions how I should reflect on the “tell me about yourself and why are you interested in this position” question. I also created questions for specific institutions; however, more commonly I had some general questions for first round interviews then had more institution-specific ones once I got a second round interview. After each interview, I send a follow up email to thank them and highlight various characteristics I was able to communicate about myself that would be appropriate for each position.

Paterson and Coffey (2015) describe how there are various ways to find available positions from professional associations to networking and institutional websites. The Placement Exchange would fall under a collaboration between various professional organizations. For SLO #2 I would rate myself as Advanced because I immersed myself in the TPE process from start to finish with my cohort mates. Once I had become familiar myself with navigating the website, I shared this information with several of my cohort mates who were also doing TPE. For example, there is a specific way to create your own profile, apply for jobs, and add them to your calendar. Connecting with mentors and sharing their insight helped in demystifying the process. Mentorship has been beneficial in connecting with individuals with their areas of expertise and experience (Reesor, Bagunu, & Gregory, 2015). During lunch on one of the days prior to TPE, I briefly met with some of my cohort members to check in with how we were doing with the registration. Since several of us were not quite exactly sure how TPE would work logistically, we decided to carpool. That ended up being a great decision! I did not have to stress about driving for several of the days to the Convention Center and could focus on preparing for my interviews. I also got to know the cohort mates that I carpooled with better from music selection to driving style. On the night before TPE started, we went to sign in and get a feel of the layout. Afterwards the majority if not all of the CSUF C10 people had dinner together. Although I was pretty exhausted, I was glad we had time to check in. One of my mentors discussed how it is privilege to go to TPE with a cohort and that became more evident during the interviews when we would physically able to leave our bags with other cohort members and support each other in between interviews/provide last minute advice and tips. Receiving a few tidbits about how to frame my interview.

Evidence

Please see picture above.

References

Career Services – School of Public Health, University of Minnesota

http://www.sph.umn.edu/careers/

Paterson, B. G., & Coffey, C. (2015). Managing the first job search process. In M. J.

Amey & L.M. Reesor (Eds.). Beginning your journey: A guide for new professionals in student affairs (4th ed.) (pp. 243-266). Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

Reesor, L. M., Bagunu, G. A., & Gregory, L. (2015). Making professional connections. In M. J. Amey & L.M. Reesor (Eds.). Beginning your journey: A guide for new professionals in student affairs (4th ed.) (pp. 177-201). Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.