When I was in graduate school I knew that my first professional steps would likely occur in the context of residence life. Like many of our colleagues around the country, the bulk of my graduate cohort began searching for residence director positions during the final months of our program. Certainly not all new professionals start off in residence life, but a significant amount of us do and rely on those first steps as jumping off points to the next phase of our career path.
One of the best pieces of professional advice that I have ever received came from a residence director that I met during an ACUHO-I internship. He said to me (I’m paraphrasing): if you begin your career working in residence life, treat every moment of that job like an internship. Never do just the minimum requirements if you plan to get your dream job. Working in residence life offers you innumerable opportunities for growth and professional development and, while it can be exhausting, you are investing in your future if you utilize all of the time and resources you can to lay the groundwork for whatever position you want after outgrowing your entry-level job.
I took this advice to heart and I think about it almost every single day. I cannot speak to other entry-level student affairs positions, but after two years of being a residence life professional I have learned that my job offers ample opportunity to strengthen supervisory skills, develop innovative social and educational programs, continually learn about and embrace social justice and diversity, explore new and effective ways to build community, and gain valuable crisis and conduct experience. And then of course there are the extra skills one can develop while serving on committees, being involved in professional organizations, learning how to utilize social media, writing, and presenting at conferences.
I am not intending to suggest that we all need to become Superhero Professionals and spend every waking second working – far, far from it – but instead that it is important to always keep an eye on the future when making strategic decisions early on in our careers. This has been the fundamental takeaway message for me. If you think you would like to go into multicultural affairs eventually, make sure that you create opportunities to gain related experience. If you want to be a dean, immerse yourself in leadership opportunities and innovate. I think beginning in residence life, in particular, offers myriad opportunities to grow as a professional and make strategic decisions when honing skills.
What do you think? Is this advice that you would also give to other new professionals beginning in residence life? How do you feel this advice applies to other student affairs functional areas?
