Talking Stick - September/October 2008 - 52

Conversations Hiring During Slow Economic Times: A Pain or a Plus? Members discuss who shows up at the interview table during these times and what skills they can contribute to the housing environment. Participating in this conversation are Sandy Schoonover, associate director of housing and residence life at the University of Oregon in Eugene; Allan Blattner, associate director for staff and student development for the department of housing and residence life at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and Connie Carson, vice president of student services at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Sandy Schoonover: I’ve been thinking about recruitment into the field and have been mulling over how you recruit staff during slow economic times, and I’m not sure what it is like for you and your organization, but I have found that at times it is easier to recruit when jobs are scarce. We recently completed two midmanager positions for residence life and, despite advertising late for these positions, we had an excellent pool and were able to hire two outstanding candidates. Do you agree that slow economic times often mean that people are more willing to go into education because jobs in the private sector are hard to find? What have you experienced in this area? Allan Blattner: I’ve been fortunate not to have many mid-level residence life positions to fill, and when I did (a little over a year ago) we had a very deep pool and made a great hire! I have noticed the economic impact on our live-in pools: good economy, not as many candidates. There seems to be a bit of a “lag” in seeing this impact because I think the two years of grad school provide a bit of a buffer. I think the impact of the economy is felt much more outside the “res life” staff. When we try to fill housekeeping, technology, and support staff positions, we see a significant difference in the number and quality of applicants and in our ability to hire/retain them for the salaries we can offer. When the economy is bad . . . we look pretty good. When it turns around . . . there are other opportunities for them. We often get the impression that people believe they can just work in our field without experience or educational credentials. Sometimes we also see people who just want to work at the university because they see it as a stable, viable environment. Connie Carson: It is interesting to look at how the economy has affected our candidate pools. In general with the poorer economy, we have seen an increase in numbers of candidates at all levels of positions. Admittedly, though, we have also seen a lot of candidates who truly are not qualified for our positions. Schoonover: We have seen an increase in the number of people who are qualified for our positions, but we have also seen an increase in the number who are applying with the needed skills and credentials for some of the positions. We recently hired a new financial manager for our department, and we were able to recruit a person who had never worked in higher education before this position, yet he was able to prove that he had the skills and qualifications needed for the position. He did his homework before the interview and was able to show that he had the transferable skills necessary to be successful in this position. 52 Talking Stick

Talking Stick - September/October 2008

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