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[mrsdavis71]

Greetings Chroniclers!   

I am seeking to transition into the higher education arena into a staff leadership position in a college setting and have submitted some on-line apps.  I have a 16-year work history in the nonprofit sector (workforce/community development) and am still employed.  I have both direct service and leadership experience in this area.

I rec'd an email last week indicating that I have been invited to an on-campus, semifinalist interview at an area community & technical college.  The position: Assoc. V.P. of Career & Technical Education/Workforce Development.  While I am excited about the opportunity, I am not familiar with the college/campus work culture or their interview & selection processes.

If anyone can provide a glimpse of what to expect, typical interview processes, or what the interview panel might ask - - I solicit and welcome your feedback, advice, and input!!   Thank you!

[zharkov]

Get a copy of The Academic Job Search Handbook, for starters, and spend some "quality time" reading past postings and threads in the forums here.  Check out the one for admins.

In a nutshell, there is typically a search committee that interviews a number of candidates (say 3 to 5), then forwards one or two names to the admin in charge (VP or whatnot).

[dale1]

Well good luck, Mrs. Davis.  I expect you'll hear very similar questions, as this is something of a non-academic position.  I would imagine you'd have questions about your background, experience in the field, supervision of staff, budget management, and perhaps development/fundraising.  Also sales and marketing, considering it's a workforce development job and you are likely going to have to convince people to contract with your CC/Technical College for these services.

Additionally, I agree with zharkov.

[glowdart]

Congrats on the interview -- and I was about to post what Zharkov just posted, so... what he said.    

Here's the admin board on the forums:  http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/board,31.0.html

Be ready for anything on the job interview, too -- the places I've been all did/do mid-level admin interviews very differently.  If we were hiring for that kind of post here (not a community college), then the interview would definitely involve a meeting with students and a meeting with the staff in that area and in related areas.  Other schools might just have the Search Committee (shortened as SC throughout these boards). Another school had mixed SCs rather than a series of meetings with different groups; by mixed, I mean that the SC would have a student or two, a couple of faculty members, some staff and some admins.  Approaches can vary quite a bit.  If they send you an itinerary, then that might give you a sense of their approach; you might not get one, though.  

I might also search the forums for "community college" and "administration" or cc and administration; you might find some specific threads.  The search engine can be a little persnickety, FYI.  

[mrsdavis71]

These are all great tips/pointers! 

I will definitely seek out & find The Academic Job Search Handbook so that I can wrap my mind around some of the content.   I will also check out the other forums here as well.

I haven't rec'd an itinerary and the interview is on Nov. 28th.  It was requested that I submit submit a 2-page writing sample on a specific topic (completed), and the interview will be for 1 1/2 hours - not sure with whom?!

I really appreciate the guidance and information, so thank you all!

BTW - Happy Thanksgiving!!