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[bluesunday]

Some sage advice and I will return to lurking status. ; )

I have applied for an Asst./Assoc. Director of Development for the Arts position at a large reseach university.  Can any of you loyal posters tell me how long these searches (generally) take?  I know instr./research faculty and other admin./prof. faculty searches take the majority of the school year (or longer), but aren't development positions different?  Because this position runs through a search committee instead of HR, what are some of the drawbacks and some of the positives?  And who tends to serve on these kinds of SCs?

A little background: I'm 32 y.o.  I have a MA in English from a top-20 creative writing program.  I've won some honors and awards.  (BA was English with Art History minor).  I have volunteer experience in fund raising, and I could probably hold a conversation with the ficus in the corner of a dark room.  I love to travel, so 16-22 visits a month?  No problem!  And I have taught as a dual-enrollment instructor of English, so I have some relative experience in (CC) higher ed--and some experience with the k-12 public school system that I'd rather forget.

If there's a chance my application, cover letter, resume, and 5 (!) references will perpetually remain "in progress," then I'm off to work at the front desk of the Y and study for the GRE lit exam.  In the meantime, I've got some informational interviews scheduled at other institutions beginning next week.

I apologize if this post is a little long and if the information has been sought and answered before.  I tried searching but didn't come up with much.  It's ironic that there's a whole column dedicated to fund raising and not much on these boards.

Thanks for the help!

bluesunday

[cardamom]

My sense is that you're aiming too high with the asst./assoc. director position. Like many areas of administration, people usually work their way up the ladder and director slots usually go to those who have been gifit officers or have otherwise done time in the trenches. People who move up the ladder have a sound history of fundraising and a very good list of contacts that are useful to a particular institution and/or area. This probably isn't you yet, even with the volunteer history.

That said, you sound like you're in a great position to apply for lower level development posts. If you haven't done any informational interviewing yet, set some up and get some feedback on your qualifications and possibly some leads on where best to look. Development people who do well tend to move up the ranks quickly, so you need not be stuck in an entry level position very long.

As for how long the search takes and how it works, it depends on the institution and the position. It is unlikely to take more than a few months, but this is the beginning of the academic year and a busy time for development offices, so searches can be slower. HR's involvement in the search also will vary depending on the level of the position and the type of institution. On both sides of the search at multiple institutions, I've never found HR's involvement to be all that helpful, but that's just me.

[bluesunday]

Thanks for the quick response. 

I, too, thought I was aiming too high until I read the entire job description and did some research on the development office.  Out of all their colleges and programs, the only divisions that actually have "gift or resource officers" are the radio station and annual giving, and even then, they only have one per program.  Everyone else is either an Assistant, Associate, or full Director.

I also have ten years experience as an admin. asst. in the for-profit sector with planning and implementation, budgeting, mgmt., and client service experience.  Does this raise the bar at all?

Thanks again.

[eatapeach]

Bluesunday,

In our place, the development office regularly hires alums straight out of college and makes them assistant directors, associate directors and even on one occasion a director when they only experience they have had was working for a couple of weeks during phonathon.  So I say go for it, I think you have a good chance of a job there.  Development offices cannot keep employees in stock, they fly off the shelves all the time and job hopping is common.  They are typically the highest paid folks on campus but are also the most often "let go" if they don't perform up to expectations.  We seem to perpetually have openings in development with four positions listed right now and we are a small school.  Good luck, I think you are doing the right things. 

As to the timing, a VP position in development took 9 months for the search process to come to completion.  The timing for other positions has varied from the two week minimum posting to months and months.  People get busy with other things, they don't get enough applicants that excite them or they have another person leave during the search process and that may result in a total rethinking and restructuring of the staffing of the office.   Just keep your irons in the fire as you are doing.

Good luck.

By the way, is your name in any way related to the blue laws that used to prevent alcohol sales on Sunday?  Is that why you are blue on Sunday?  Just curious.  I think someone should start an "explain your moniker" thread because there are many that make me curious.

[sibyl]

Administrative searches are generally faster than faculty searches, but not necessarily and not always by much.  The search might take four days, four weeks, or four months.  If they are starting a capital campaign, they may take their time; if they are trying to apply to particular funding sources that have stated deadlines (i.e. a foundation has announced it will make grants for a particular function) or if they are responding to the needs of a donor (i.e. a donor has offered a matching grant for funds raised in support of a new performing arts building), they may hurry up.

Because you just never know how long a search will take, you should keep on pursuing your other opportunities.  Don't ever wait by the phone for a job application in higher education, whether administrative or academic.

Good luck.

[bluesunday]

Thanks for all the info.  It helps a lot.  I'm not holding my breath or banking on this in any way.  I just wondered how long development searches take and if I'd even be considered, really.

eatapeach: the screen name is multi-purpose, I suppose.  I do live in the upper edge of the Bible belt, and while we can buy alcohol on Sunday, we cannot buy it between the hours of midnight (a.k.a. beer o'clock) and 6 a.m. any day.  But mostly, it's reference to a love song by The Doors.  *sap*

Thanks again!