Your Future Coworkers

The student affairs job search isn’t about just finding a job at an institution that you want to work for. It’s not about finding a boss that you want to report to. Really, it’s about finding the people that you want to work with. So interviewing your future co-workers is just as important as determining if the institution’s mission statement is in line with yours.

But what does it mean to “interview” your future co-workers. After all, you will not always have one on one time with them. How can you learn more about them? What is a good way to learn as much as you can BEFORE consider working with them?

How do you research your future coworkers in the student affairs job search?

This article will review how to conduct a staff background check when you are being considered for an on-campus interview. It includes the rationale for why this is important as well as the two facets of the background check: a professional review and a personal review.

This background research into your future coworkers make up the staff background section of your briefing book. This article will review how to research information on the administrators, students, faculty, and executives interviewing you. The staff background portion of your research includes what information is important to know and how to intelligently gather information about your future coworkers.

Staff background

The staff background section of your briefing book examines and analyzes the individuals you’ll encounter during the on-campus interview. This section also includes the people that you’d work with directly. You most likely won’t know many of these professionals, so it’s important to do as much research about their background as possible.

This research includes reviewing their professional backgrounds by examining their LinkedIn profiles, CV/resumes, and past conference presentations. You can also attempt to find individuals’ blogs and personal websites (if applicable). You’ll also research each person’s background via social media or through traditional networking with other professionals you know.

Staff background: your future colleagues

Understanding the job position and the institution is important. However, the people you work with every day will likely be the most critical aspect of the interview process for you. That’s because these are the individuals who will have the greatest influence on the hiring decision. They’ll also be people you’ll interact with most frequently. Because of that, it’s important to understand this group of future colleagues so that you can find common ground and put your best foot forward.

Researching the staff who’ll attend the upcoming on-campus interview occurs in two major phases: the professional background review and the social background review. The professional background review examines the individuals involved in your search from a professional level. Comparatively, the social background review examines the same individuals from a more social and personal perspective.

Professional background review

The professional background review relies mostly on your future colleagues’ professional-facing documents and profiles. For most of this research, you’ll rely on what you’ve been able to discover through Google searches; on their LinkedIn profiles; as well as their CVs/resumes if you have access to them.

In addition, you should also search and determine if any of these individuals have been part of conference presentations in the past. Specifically, look at the topics and descriptions of those presentations to gain some insight into what these professionals are involved with. Lastly, determine if they have blogs or personal websites documenting their professional activities.

The research that you conduct into the professional backgrounds of these individuals will help you determine what kinds of questions they may ask during the interview. In turn, you can also ask purposeful questions about their areas of expertise. Both approaches serve to showcase yourself as a candidate in the know.

Professional Background

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/

-CVs / Resumes: Search Online

-Conference Presentations: Check different professional organizations (e.g., NASPA and ACPA)

-Blog: Search online. Most develop these on Wordpress.com.

-Personal Website

-Your Connections: Ask your network if they know any of the individuals you will be interviewing with

Social background review

The social background review is different from the professional review. Examine individuals’ backgrounds based on their social profiles and social circles. It’s best to conduct this through your own personal and professional network to determine if someone knows any of the individuals involved in your campus interview. If no one you know has any connections to these individuals, then you can always turn to publicly available social media profiles through sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Social media profiles provide you with valuable insight that will serve you well during the on-campus interview. Insights on common areas such as past institutions, alma maters, sports, hobbies, family, and other interests will help define you as a personal candidate who can relate to the lives of your future colleagues.

Personal Background

-Facebook https://www.facebook.com/

-Twitter https://twitter.com/

-Instagram https://www.instagram.com/

-Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/

-Snapchat https://www.snapchat.com/

-Your Connections! Ask your network if they know any of the individuals you’ll be interviewing with.

Takeaways

This article reviewed how to conduct a staff background check when you’re being considered for an on-campus interview. It included the rationale for why this is important as well as reviewed the two facets of the staff background check. The first included a professional review of each individual’s credentials and background. The personal review included leveraging your network as well as social media channels to discover more information about your future colleagues.

If you found this helpful and need some additional tips on navigating the student affairs job search then check out the free eBook Getting Started in your Student Affairs Job Search available here.

Happy searching,

Dave Eng, EdD

Provost, The Job Hakr

@davengdesign

References

Bensalah, S. (2019, August 7). How to Impress Potential Future Colleagues at Interview. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/come-meet-the-team-how-to-impress-potential-future-colleagues-at-interview.

Eng, D. (2018, December 18). How to answer: "Why do you want to work here?" - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2018/12/18/how-to-answer-why-do-you-want-to-work-here.

Eng, D. (2019, July 1). On Campus Interview - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2019/6/26/4-steps-to-navigating-the-on-campus-student-affairs-interview.

Eng, D. (2019, July 8). Do I fit here? - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2019/7/3/does-this-institution-fit-me-the-student-affairs-job-search-question.

Eng, D. (2019, June 3). Network like a Pro - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2019/6/3/network-like-a-student-affairs-pro.

Cite this Article

Eng, D. (2020, January 22). Your Future Coworkers. Retrieved MONTH DATE, YEAR, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/1/22/your-future-coworkers

Internal Ref: JHKRHTNIR4ZRW