Seeing Double: Job Searching for Two in Student Affairs

Maria Francese

Springfield College

                Job searching is stressful for any graduate student.  Whether you’re searching locally, regionally, or nationally, there are many factors that all add up to finding your fit.  The job description, the institution, the city (or lack of), the cost of living.  To me, this has always been an exciting puzzle that I was anxious and excited to solve.  But, I have an added twist involved in my search.  Both my partner and I are simultaneously job searching in the same field, with relatively comparable levels of experience. 

                My partner and I met 4 years ago while we were both orientation leaders at our undergraduate institution.  I know, so cute right? We had both already chosen higher education as our intended career paths.  He was a senior and I was a junior.  Upon graduation, our lives had fallen into place perfectly.  He got a full time job offer as Coordinator of First Year Experience at our alma mater which offered him tuition remission at any comparable program.  He took a semester off before enrolling in Northeastern’s completely online Higher Education Administration Program.  I finished up my degree in business and went on the more traditional full-time route as a Graduate Assistant in Student Activities at a local Higher Education program.  We moved into a modest apartment and have lived relatively smooth graduate student/new professional lives.  

                Now the fun starts.  While my cohort mates have national aspirations and would go just about anywhere for their right fit, I remain reserved and strategically apply to positions in more populous areas with abundant opportunities in orientation, advising, student activities or leadership development.  We have multiple job agents on higheredjobs.com, which scour the site for us matching up relevant postings within a pre-determined radius.  Our emails are flooded with potential opportunities, but rarely are there multiple matches in nearby areas.  Being unmarried, there are restraints on some live-on positions, and some areas will require grueling commutes.  Not particularly conducive to our not-so-9-to-5 lifestyles we both willingly chose.  

                Don’t get me wrong- it is the greatest thing in the world having a partner who truly understands what you do and why this is so important.  We are equally passionate and willing to make the sacrifice for one another.  Just today, his dream job was posted at his dream institution.  My dream job which I’ve applied to is two states away.  He has on-campus interviews coming up- meaning a potential offer could be on the table before the dream job ever even sees his resume.  These are scary thoughts.  I find myself searching Zillow and Craigslist for pet-friendly apartments in areas I know nothing about.  But that’s the reality of our ultra-gratifying careers.  It’s worth it- all of it.  We met in this field, and we are just as in love with finding career happiness as we are relationship happiness.  Just as everyone tells us – “It’s all going to work out”.