Student Affairs Career Exploration: Part I

General Instructions

The goal of this assignment is to help students:

▪  Become familiar with careers in student affairs.

▪  Explore their particular areas of interest in preparing to work in student affairs.  ▪ Prepare for the job search process in student affairs.

This assignment has two parts. Part I is worth 100 points, and Part II is worth 100 points for a total of 200 points for the project.  

▪  Part I (100 points): Students will use regional (i.e., University of Alabama, University of Southern Mississippi, etc.) and national student affairs job search sites (e.g., NASPA Exchange, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Higheredjobs.com) to explore career interests in the field of student affairs. Then, students will write a reflection paper on their experience job searching in student affairs.

▪  Part II (100 points): Students will select one job advertisement during their search and complete a ‘mock’ application in which they develop a cover letter, resume, and reference list. NOTE: You do not have to submit an actual job/employment application.

Guidelines for Part 1

1.     Students will review job advertisements in student affairs using at least two national search engines/databases and at least two regional job search sites for specific higher education institutions (i.e., community colleges, 4-year institutions, etc.).  Students should identify at least 3-4 job positions of interest. *Note: If you look at a local institution and there are no jobs available in student affairs, you must continue looking at the employment opportunities at other local colleges or universities until you find jobs available in student affairs.   

2.     Write a reflection paper on your experience job searching in student affairs. The goal of the reflection paper is to provide students with an opportunity to share thoughts on what was learned through the review of job advertisements. Questions to consider in writing your reflection should include:

•        What did you learn about the job search experience in student affairs?

•        What search engines did you use? List national and regional search sites.  

•        Compare and contrast the experience of the national and regional searches.  

•        What types of jobs did you see advertised in student affairs? Tell about 3-4 jobs that you found that interest you (include at least one from a national search engine and one from regional job search sites such as local colleges; see the above instruction)  

•        What are the job titles? What are the job descriptions? (Paraphrase the description; do not or list the actual job description from the website.)

•        How are these positions similar or different (do they all require a similar degree or work experience)?  

•        How easy was it to find jobs that were of interest to you?

•        Are student affairs jobs limited or in abundance?

•        What types of qualifications, experience, or knowledge seemed to be commonly required for employment in student affairs?

•        From this assignment, what impacted you the most about what you learned about the job search? Explain in detail.

Format: Using a Microsoft Word document, students will prepare a Reflection Paper that is double-spaced, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins, and is formatted using APA, 7^th Ed Style. The paper should have an APA title page. The reflection paper will use 1^st person pronouns since this paper is based on your personal reflection. Make sure your reflection paper is grammatically correct and well organized. 

Undergraduate students in SAL303 will write a 2-3 typed page paper and graduate students in SA503 will write a 4- 5 typed page paper, not including the title page or reference page.

Scoring Guidelines

Points available: 100.