It's a residence hall NOT a dormitory - 10

I’ll be spending the next few weeks focusing on acronyms. ACUHO-I. NODA. OFYE. It may sound like teenage texter lingo, but to those of us in student affairs, those words mean so much more. Right now, I get to decide how I’m going to spend three months of my life this summer. I have to sift through information such as dates negotiable, travel reimbursed, meals provided, recreation center access.

So, let the phone interviews commence. If you’ve never done a phone interview, let me be the first to tell you it’s just a little bit awkward. I mean, I’m not sure I feel completely comfortable interviewing in person but it doesn’t get much better on the phone. Sometimes, schools interview me on speakerphone and I can just barely make out what they’re asking. Sometimes, I can’t judge when a person on the other end is going to speak and I end up interrupting. And, inevitably, I’ll get another call and have to cross my fingers that the interviewers can’t hear that annoying beeping.

My first phone interview this year was with a school on the west coast. The interviewers were very friendly and we even had a few mutual connections. Things were going swell until they informed me that it would be a behavioral interview. This means they would ask me six questions related to how I behave in specific situations. I was directed to explain a specific example of a related situation, how I handled the situation, and the results of the situation. For example:

West Coast Academy: Tell us about a time you felt like you’ve let someone down.
Me: Well, recently I’ve had scheduling conflicts with an RA and haven’t been able to meet with her one-on-one to complete her RA evaluation. I knew she was becoming frustrated because she wanted to get feedback from me and from her residents. I felt like I was letting her down. I have talked with her about the scheduling conflict, and we were finally able to find a mutually agreeable time to meet this week. I apologized and told her I understood her frustrations. She seemed happy that we would be able to meet.
West Coast Academy: How could you tell she was upset?
Me: She sighed and seemed disappointed. I also picked up on nonverbal cues. Just the look on her face made me think she was upset.
West Coast Academy: Can you be more specific?
Me: Uhhh….

I remember doing a behavioral interview in the past. I don’t remember sucking so badly. The interviewers kept asking me to me to be more specific even though I felt like I was being very thorough. Did they want specific dates and times? Should I just use another example? Should I expect a call on February 11^th? I doubt it.

My second interview went ok. Finally, today, a good interview. I guess the third time is the charm. This time, I talked one-on-one with the Director of Orientation. We talked for ten minutes before the interview even began. I felt like we had a lot in common and I like she genuinely cared about getting to know me. The school is doing second interviews so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed.

I have another seven interviews scheduled for Thursday and Friday and I’m hoping I feel like I have a good fit with some other schools. I already sent out apology emails to EIGHTEEN schools I felt uninterested in, so I’m really hoping that I’ll get at least one offer. For right now, IDK.