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Going on the Job Hunt

Important Questions to Answer BEFORE Going on the Job Search

What is your ideal higher education job? (What do you really want to do?)
What are you WILLING to do in a higher education job?
Were are you WILLING to live?
Where are you NOT willing to live?

Finding Job Postings

Music Vacancy List - Become a member the College Music Society at the less expensive student rate. Seeing this list requires membership.
Higher Ed Jobs - Does not require membership, but you have to search a little longer.
Chronicle of Higher Education Jobs - The Chronicle of Higher Education will send you a list each day of posted jobs that match your selected criteria.
The Music Research Nexus - Join the Listserv to have various calls for participation in conferences, and job openings.
Inside Higher Ed Careers - A site you can search that may include jobs not posted elsewhere.
American Educational Research Association (AERA) - Members are often sent job announcements.
- But you can also view the AERA Jobs Board.
Word of Mouth - Don't burn any bridges. Many people hear of jobs that aren't posted widely.
Searching Institution and Organization Websites - Searching SOME Music or Music Education Associations (like TMEA).

Imposter Syndrome

"I sit in the shadow, on purpose."

"a psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one's abilities or accomplishments accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of one's ongoing success " (Merriam-Webster Online)

"Secretly, I know someone will find out that I am a complete fraud, that I know nothing, and will never be worthy of even attempting to move up the academic ladder. I know that someone will judge me as less-than, as not-enough, because... I know that it's true. I sit in the shadow, on purpose. I work hard to overcome my own misgivings about what I can do and who I am, because my identity is connected to my career, but I also don’t want people to notice me because I know I am a fraud and don’t belong."

J.M. Kuehne

I.S. occurs in most high achievers who struggle to internalize and accept their success.
"The Sound of Silence." "We Don't Talk about...I.S."
You've been on the achievement ride your whole life. Achieving means "you're worth something."
I.S. can be more prevalent in certain groups of people because of historical and actual inequalities.
I have to write a dissertation... but I don't know how to do it, if I'm doing it "right" or if I'm just making all of this up as I go along.
Yes, I'm a perfectionist and yes it affects my daily struggle with I.S.

Choices We Can Make

Mentors are called (and are) mentors for a reason - talk with them. Chances are, they are a kindred I.S. spirit.
Look back at what you've accomplished and tell yourself the truthful story of your accomplishments.
Yes, you are doing well. Remember that.
Nope, you're not perfect, but who is?
Change your way of thinking. Cut down the time on "work" stuff. Have someone else read a draft (hmmm....).
Seek out professional help.

A Few Links

Surviving and Thriving While Working with Difficult People

At one point, or another, we all must learn to peacefully co-exist with people we don't particularly see eye-to-eye with. Further, we may even need to be functional in an environment that is partially or completely dysfunctional, whether it's through leadership, co-workers who do not pull their own weight, or people who are considered "toxic."

How do we more than "just survive" this kind of environment?

What are Functional and Dysfunctional Environments?

Functional
This seems logical, but it's an environment that supports growth, freedom and encouragement to be yourself, emotional and professional safety, and most often people consider it to be a positive environment (source).

Conscious

People's efforts are acknowledged and credited.

Dysfunctional
An environment where a person does not feel supported or even acknowledged, where they feel they cannot be themselves and must hide their true selves and/or feelings, the forces workers to compromise on personal values. There may be no professional boundaries or respect, no respect for the time and efforts workers commit, and a place that primarily has people thinking negative thoughts, or even despairing that they must be in the environment (source).

Unconscious

No one is "called" on poor behaviors, and some may actually be rewarded for toxic behaviors. People may take credit for others' work without consequence.

Steps You Can Take That Can Help

Examine yourself, why you may be reacting to a person or situation with a negative feeling.
- Are people reminding us of previous experiences with completely different people, in completely different times in our lives?
- Are we reading non-existent things into situations based on our own background experiences?
Don't let things get personal.
Determine if you think you can talk with the person about the situation.
- If so, plan ahead and take steps. It could very well be that the person is not aware of how their behaviors are affecting you.
Keep it professional.
- Whatever the other person is doing, that's on them, not on you.
- "Take the high road" and don't stoop to unprofessional behaviors, including gossip, bad-mouthing people, posting on social media, etc.
Determine who you can talk with in an administrative position about the situation.
- Sometimes talking to "the boss" is the only way you can alleviate a professional work issue. Make a plan and be objective, trying to leave out emotions that are not necessary.
Find a new work place.
- If work place issues are not resolvable, and it's possible, look for a new position, either within the organization, or elsewhere.

SOURCE

Reflect on your Own History
- Sometimes we are "set off" because people remind us of others with whom we have negative associations.
- Try not to equate a co-worker with the person from your past.
Make Your Needs Known.
- Look, when you cut me off in meetings or discussions, I feel like my contributions aren't valued or won't be considered.
Check your Expectations
- Have realistic expectations of colleagues. We can't expect them to work in the same ways we work, or think in the same ways we think.
Recognize Your Triggers
- Certain types of people "set us off." It could be someone who cuts you off, who jokes at others' expense, who misses meetings or deadlines, etc.
- Once you recognize your "buttons" be prepared so you can maintain your professionalism and composure.
Ditch Your Assumptions
- Don't assume you know other's views, values, motives based on single interactions.
- Find out if something that was talked about is actually important.
Realize You're Not Going to Like Everyone
- Probably the hardest thing for people is reali
  zing you're just not going to like everyone in the workplace.
- You may have to work closely with people who have vastly different professional and/or personal values.
- Focus on the work, not the person.

SOURCE

Sometimes we have to work with toxic people.

Sometimes we have co-exist with toxic people.

It's not our place or job to try to understand why people act the way they act, we just have find a way to be professional and productive.

Chivonna Childs (source) points out that we often spend more of our time with people at work (8-12 hours a day sometimes) and when those work relationships are difficult, it can negatively affect the rest of our lives. Here are some of her suggestions.

Create physical distance.
- If you can avoid being in the same physical space as the person, do it.
- If not, perhaps rearranging the work environment so that the person is not in your line-of-sight is needed.
Avoid, if you can.
- If you're in a situation that is toxic, cynical, negative, etc., "walk away." Remove yourself from the situation.
Set your conversational boundaries.
- Sometimes people don't realize they are crossing personal-to-professional boundaries. Set those boundaries.
- "I'm sorry, I don't really want to talk about that here at work."
Take care of yourself.
- Leave work at work (easier said than done).
- Practice mindfulness, meditation. Go exercise, talk to your partner/spouse (or your pet!). Seek counseling to let go of your work issues there.
Stay true to yourself and your values.
- Remember work is for work. What is your purpose there? Do the job.
If you have to involve a supervisor/boss...
- Document everything. Keep a professional journal.
- Ask a trusted colleague for guidance. Make sure you're not reading something into a situation that's not actually there.
- Make sure you follow the chain of command for your organization. Who is the person you need to talk with first?
- Remember it's about an incident or behavior, and think of things in that way, rather than "attacking" the person.
Ultimately... yuu may need to consider a new job or a new place in your organization that removes the toxic person from your work situation.

Three Steps to Help with Dysfunctional Team Work from Melody Wielding (source)

Figure out what you're dealing with.
- Look for behavioral patterns. Pinpoint the issue.
Figure out what you can change.
- First - don't let little annoyances build up. Don't make assumptions. Work from known "truths."
- Professionally provide some solutions to the issue or make an appointment to discuss the issues and come prepared to be objective with solutions.
Figure out what you can learn from the situation.
- Work from a growth mindset. Okay, this experience in this situation could be different. So... next time... we'll know better.

I Need to Write a Solid Literature Review

"A literature review can be completed by doing a little every day. Like taking a vitamin each day, if you review one article/source each day, in a short time, you're done. For dissertations or field projects, consider that one 14-week semester can equal up to 98 reviewed sources, if you only take your vitamin each day" (Kuehne, 2022).

Stage 1

I have an idea, or two, or three. Explore those ideas by trying to find research in those areas.

Stage 2

Decide on an idea for which you want to create a literature review.

Stage 3

Part 1 - Collecting and Reviewing - "Take Your Daily Vitamin"

Use all the tools at your disposal. There isn't a single right way to do this.
- I use mendeley.com but there are several other similar options (Zotero, Endnote, or plain old Excel).
- Decide on a Work Schedule. For example:
  - Monday = Collection Day.
  - Tuesday - Friday = Reviewing and Writing My Own Abstract for one article/source per day.
  - Saturday-Sunday = Off
  - Do the math: one 14-week semester, reviewing 4 sources a week = 56 completed articles.
  - But, what if you collected on Monday and also reviewed one on Monday, then... 14x5=70 sources reviewed.
  - Using the research review form, you could have an abstract in your own words completed for 70 sources in one semester.
- To quote that famous line from Seabiscuit, "Bit by bit my friend, bit by bit."

Part 2 - Organizing Your Reviews

Create a schedule for when you will work on this part of the literature review.
Organize Your Work
- Large Categories followed by Sub-categories (Hint: These are your Headings in the paper).
- Look for trends and patterns between each article and reorganize so that similar articles within a Large Category or small category are consecutive.

Stage 4 - Putting Things Together

- Copy and paste your abstracts into a NEW single document using your organized and then reorganized Large and Sub-categories.
- Transitions are the key to making things flow. For example - these are ways to transition within a single paragraph and to connect paragraphs together (transitions are in bold).
- Do this for every section in the literature review.
- Edit along the way, and/or after you're first draft is completed.
- Example:

Three authors examined high school students' shoe color trends. Smith (2020) indicated that shoes that most people wear to school are brown. However, Jones (2021) discovered that while brown was a prominent color, blue was more prominent among high school students who identified as male, while green seemed to be a common color in one of the northern high schools she surveyed. Similarly, Doe (2021) found that green was also a common color among all students in one of the high schools he surveyed in the Midwest. Finally, all three authors noted that the least number of students, regardless of their demographic information, wore yellow shoes.

While some examined shoe colors, two others examined whether students focused on matching shoes and part of the clothing they were wearing... (and so on).

Who is a "Professor?"

Titles in higher education are tied to "rank."

Non-tenure-track positions may still carry a specific rank title.

Adjunct Instructor
Part Time Instructor
Instructor
Lecturer
Senior Lecturer
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Associate Professor
Clinical (Full) Professor

Tenure-track typically have three levels, and then sometimes "endowed" too.

Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
(Full) Professor
Sometimes Endowed (Full) Professor

Be sure when you list your job on CVs, that you list the right one! You want to represent your position honestly! DON'T LIE.

Conference Session Proposals and Workshops, Chairing a Conference

Why Present at Conferences?

To share your work with others in your field.
To begin to build your academic/professional reputation.
- In some/many institutions, a national reputation in your field is part of the evaluative process. People will be asked to write external letters evaluating your work. If you don't share your work, people will not be familiar with it, nor with you.

Let's look at an example: Southeast Conference on School Climate | Conferences & Events | Georgia Southern University

Pay attention to what the conference is, who it serves, topics listed as part of the information page.
Is there a particular theme for that year's conference? If so, determine if your work meets that theme, or COULD meet that theme.
Plan your proposal out before sending.
- Open the proposal page well before the deadline to see what is required before you create your proposal.
- Create your proposal and any required materials (use Word, Google Docs, etc.).
- Return to the proposal page and submit your materials.
- In this way you also have what you submitted as your own record.
Pay attention to when you should be notified about acceptance (or not being accepted).
Don't be discouraged if you're not accepted. These go in ebbs and flows. For example, one year I think what I was doing was in every conference and I was accepted in 4-5 conferences. In another year, I was accepted for one conference.
- Just keep working and submitting your work to share with others.

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