I want to be a Greek Advisor or Student Life Administrator!

[minDyG]

Originally Posted by HeavenslilAngel

Hi all,

Please feel free to refer me to other threads if they exist on my question.

I am contemplating a career change from IT to Greek/student affairs/university administration etc. I may have mentioned like 3 completely different jobs etc. A little disclaimer, other than the fact the first place I probably need to start to achieve this is back in the classroom to get some Higher Education education, I know next to nothing about how to go about making this change.

As stated, I'm currently in the IT industry. I do technical support and want to get out of that because 1) I don't see the advancement opportunities despite the fact that I have a Bachelors in Computer Info. Systems and a Masters in IT. The reason is that politics are pretty prominate here as with any IT company. 2) I'm tired of job hopping within IT. I quit either because its boring or the politics get bad or they fire me for taking off too much or just typical lay offs etc. 3) I volunteer for ASA and absolutely love it and am very passionate about it. I find it extremely fulfilling and have spent and continue to spend approximately 30% of my life on it. I started my current position in 2006.

I'm open to other positions in IT but I fear that I may not find them fulfilling either. I want to be stable and love going into work every day. I don't dread it now but its not exciting. Any links, advice etc would be greatly appreciated!

I have other thoughts but I'm about 2 minutes from getting off work YAY!!!!

I don't have any inside information regarding this, just a thought I'd like to share...is there any way you could try to combine these 2 fields to find a career that would be more fulfilling for you? For example, my former boss's wife had a computer science degree, and she worked for UGA writing the programs they used to do bids matching. Basically (I believe, as far as I was told) she was a programmer for the Greek Life office. Maybe you could try to find something that would highlight your areas of expertise within an environment that involved more of your interests? Just a suggestion.

[HeavenslilAngel]

Originally Posted by minDyG

I don't have any inside information regarding this, just a thought I'd like to share...is there any way you could try to combine these 2 fields to find a career that would be more fulfilling for you? For example, my former boss's wife had a computer science degree, and she worked for UGA writing the programs they used to do bids matching. Basically (I believe, as far as I was told) she was a programmer for the Greek Life office. Maybe you could try to find something that would highlight your areas of expertise within an environment that involved more of your interests? Just a suggestion.

I would be open to that. However the most common issue I run into is that unless its what I'm doing currently no one will hire me because of lack of experience in whatever role I'm interviewing for. I understand that they don't want to train because of time and effort and that it would be easier to have someone with experience because all they would have to learn was company/school culture. But if no one will hire entry level how do I get the experience? Also, if I go into higher education with no high education education behind me. One of (if not the first) question they'll ask is why aren't you working in your field. I may still get that question but at least a degree in higher education may show that I really want this and while they wil probably still ask why I want to do something else, it may not be as big of a deal. I don't know. I'm open to staying in IT but working nights has to go, corporate politics .....UGH!! and higher pay would be good too. Also, I should mention that I've almost hit the top of the pay scale with what I do now and I would prefer to interact with students and faculty and university personnel over jail staff, inmate families and etc as I do now.

[33girl]

Honestly it sounds like you just need to get the heck away from the corporate drama and get into a smaller, family owned company. If you want to avoid politics, student affairs/uni admin is NOT the place to go.

Not only that, unless you hit the right opening at the right time, you're more than likely going to have to relocate.

Believe me, I have had this discussion with myself numerous times. I would love to help students and their families as well, but I want to stay in Pgh and the PCness and politics would cause me to break multiple heads (or at least office supplies).

[Xylochick216]

If you're looking for higher pay, then higher education isn't the place for you. I just earned my masters in higher ed and worked in Greek Life for a year. Greek Life is the bottom of the totem pole for many student affairs positions. It's mostly people fresh from grad school who can devote 60-80 hour weeks while getting paid for 40 hours. Even my 20 hour assistantship ended up being over 40 hours a week at times. It was a really fun job, but very tiring and thankless. Plus, most student affairs professionals are constantly on call and have to deal with crazy issues at all hours of the day.

If you really want to work in Greek Life, you'll need to get your masters in higher ed or student affairs. I can't think of any school that will hire anyone in a Greek Life position without a masters in student affairs anymore. As for job hopping, turnover is very high in student affairs, especially in Greek Life. Like I said, people get worn out doing it and move on. Even people I know who are 110% set on working in Greek Life for years end up moving on after three years or so because they are so burnt out. You might be better off seeing if ASA has any job openings.

Good luck!

[HeavenslilAngel]

Thanks for the advice. My goal would be to move up and advance from Greek Life and potentially be in a high profile type University position some day. I realize that you have to start out at the bottom and would be willing to do that since I'm already at the bottom in the IT world. Another downfall that I am experiencing in IT is that I'm the wrong gender for advancement(not sure any other way to put it). I wouldn't mind being on call, traveling etc as the Greek Life/Student Affairs jobs will require. As long as I get an issue resolved and go back home (if at night) I'm ok. As of right now, I am working 8 hours in an office all night and work every weekend. As far as relocation, I wouldn't mind that either. I've actually been wanting to move for a little while now. I would love the opportunity to work for ASA. They want experience though usually.