I think it is a safe bet that unless you graduate from college and go on to start your own business, you are going to enter into a job as a lower-level employee. You’re going to have peers, a boss (or several) and very few (if any) people under you. Then again, I know little about the corporate world. I am but a simple man in the world of Higher Education. I prepare young minds to enter into that great beyond, but I doubt I will ever step foot out there myself.

I work in Student Affairs. A few of you out there know of this career. I was that guy who had the random office in your residence hall. You never came in, but you heard about your friends getting called in there when they got caught drinking in their room or sneaking girls in after curfew. You remember your Resident Assistants, I’m sure. To put it simply, I’m their boss.

My colleagues and I graduated from college – some with a bachelor’s degree and some, like myself, from graduate school – and decided to get jobs on campuses to help other students find their way and graduate with the skills to enter the working world with confidence. The catch here, as I alluded to earlier, is that I am technically a new professional, but I have the unique opportunity to be supervising 31 young adults. Yes, they are all students, but I don’t think that makes much difference. In some ways, I would argue that it makes my job a little harder. For me to supervise effectively I have to drastically adjust my schedule to accommodate for the widely varying schedules of college students.

My weekly schedule includes at least two nights that I work from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. I schedule meetings over lunch hours, before the work day begins, and I meet with students in the middle of the night when they are dealing with issues that they cannot solve on their own. To put it simply, to be an effective boss, I have to work for my employees in addition to them working for me.

Most of us graduate from college not knowing anything other than being an employee. We take orders from above and get work done. I have had to learn the fine art of delegating tasks, holding people accountable, and being held accountable for the actions (or inactions) of those I supervise.

Sometimes I wish I had a regular schedule. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a job like many of my friends who graduated from college to enter “the real world.” But then I realize just how rewarding this career is. How many times do people graduate from college and walk into their first job with the ability to recruit, select and train 31 employees? It is a rare gift, and one I gladly accept.

Popularity: 4%

Share This