OPE Weekend
First, a little explanation for you non Residence Life types: The Oshkosh Placement Exchange (OPE) is the 3rd largest job placement conference in the United States. It's been hosted here at Oshkosh for 27 years. This past weekend (Thursday the 2nd through Sunday the 5th) we just concluded another successful OPE.
I reminisce on this weekend because this is one of the events that personally brings me joy.
Family is defined differently by many. I myself consider many of my friends to be family due to the closeness I share with them. In Residence Life, you eventually go through one of the job placement conferences, in addition to possibly changing schools at least once or twice during your professional career. Conferences (as I mentioned last week) are one of the ways you meet others and build upon those relationships. From having been a student who worked OPE, a candidate who intereviewed at OPE, and on a university interview team for OPE, this experience really is like coming to a family reunion every year.
There are two messages I want to leave you with about this weekend:
1. This weekend is a convenient way to reconnect with friends from all different stages of your life. The smallest amount of time I spent chatting with an old friend was about 10 minutes. The important thing to remember is that you don't need an event like this to reminisce with your friends. Call them when you can. Even if you're just saying hi and want to see what's up and let them know you're thinking about them. It was great to see my friends Jason, Craig, Alicia, Linda, Jen, JD Love, Paul, Mark, Jefe, Dr. Johnson, and Andrew and hope they continue to do well in their lives!
2. Although this conference is about job searching and there's a serious/professional side to it, I think that we in the field who sit on the 'commanding' side of the interview table need to remember that it is not about a competition. It's not a weekend to steal the best candidate or get the professional whose most sought after. It's a weekend to 'grow better corn' (something I will cover in a future post). You can do this by not only collaborating with other schools and talking positively about certain folks that you think may fit better at their institution but also by preparing your own candidates for this experience (please check the homepage soon as I will be launching a site for Future Leaders of Student Affairs aimed at doing just this thing). I know that there are some institutions and professionals already doing this, and I thank you. Please share your secrets with your colleagues.
The weekend usually leaves a peson worn out, and reflective. I want say that I had a chance to work with five great students throughout this year and got to see them shine at OPE: Charissa, Jennifer, Christina, Dane, and Anne. I was very impressed with all of your hardwork and I hope you find the institution that fits you best.
pb
I reminisce on this weekend because this is one of the events that personally brings me joy.
Family is defined differently by many. I myself consider many of my friends to be family due to the closeness I share with them. In Residence Life, you eventually go through one of the job placement conferences, in addition to possibly changing schools at least once or twice during your professional career. Conferences (as I mentioned last week) are one of the ways you meet others and build upon those relationships. From having been a student who worked OPE, a candidate who intereviewed at OPE, and on a university interview team for OPE, this experience really is like coming to a family reunion every year.
There are two messages I want to leave you with about this weekend:
1. This weekend is a convenient way to reconnect with friends from all different stages of your life. The smallest amount of time I spent chatting with an old friend was about 10 minutes. The important thing to remember is that you don't need an event like this to reminisce with your friends. Call them when you can. Even if you're just saying hi and want to see what's up and let them know you're thinking about them. It was great to see my friends Jason, Craig, Alicia, Linda, Jen, JD Love, Paul, Mark, Jefe, Dr. Johnson, and Andrew and hope they continue to do well in their lives!
2. Although this conference is about job searching and there's a serious/professional side to it, I think that we in the field who sit on the 'commanding' side of the interview table need to remember that it is not about a competition. It's not a weekend to steal the best candidate or get the professional whose most sought after. It's a weekend to 'grow better corn' (something I will cover in a future post). You can do this by not only collaborating with other schools and talking positively about certain folks that you think may fit better at their institution but also by preparing your own candidates for this experience (please check the homepage soon as I will be launching a site for Future Leaders of Student Affairs aimed at doing just this thing). I know that there are some institutions and professionals already doing this, and I thank you. Please share your secrets with your colleagues.
The weekend usually leaves a peson worn out, and reflective. I want say that I had a chance to work with five great students throughout this year and got to see them shine at OPE: Charissa, Jennifer, Christina, Dane, and Anne. I was very impressed with all of your hardwork and I hope you find the institution that fits you best.
pb
posted by Peter Brooks at 4:34 PM
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