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What Advice Would You Give Someone Joining Your Field?
After 25 years working in my field, I am always happy to talk to new graduate students looking to join my niche area of education. If asked to sit on a panel, give feedback on a resume, or meet in person for a networking session, I am always down to talk.
But I always like to ask myself early: “What advice would I want to hear that no one else has told me?”
The reason I ask myself this question is that I feel most people acting in informal mentoring roles play it safe. Or worse, give trite answers. Like, “Make sure you’re reading the mission statements and strategic plans before your interview so you can talk about them.”
Well, duh.
But how about you tell them, when interviewing for positions in higher education, how to access IPEDS data on the school to see what their recruitment and retention rates for students of color have been for the past year or how their budgets have been distributed to support student success? Then you can talk about how you plan to help the institution increase its graduation rates and retain students through targeted efforts— which is central to all of our jobs — rather than talk obliquely about how you plan to support the institution’s goals.
This is the type of advice that I like to give — highly specific and with a good…
