An Insiders Take on Recruitment

It's that Time of Year

As recruitment time ramps up here in the writing center, there is a flurry of conversation surrounding what consultants will take on which roles, as well as how the initial meet and greets and interviews will shake out. We consultants are told that 'this is an opportunity to pick who your coworkers are!' while we ready ourselves for the influx of incoming students ready to see what our writing center is truly about.

While I await my time to join in on the recruitment festivities, I was struck by memories of my own recruitment on January 20th, 2024, as an anxious high school senior who was recently accepted into Coe College. That day on campus in the Stewart Memorial Library was a core memory for me then, and I still hold close the conversations and experiences I got to have that day, and want to share them with all of you. Lets take a walk.

First Impressions

I enter the third floor art gallery, anticipating conversations with dozens of new individuals. I notice the snacks and drinks on the front tables surrounded by energetic conversation, but am easily distracted by the empty couch furthest away from the action. I take it all in, easily picking apart the high school students from the Coe students I'd soon have to talk to. Surprisingly, I recognize two of them from a club fair we had attended earlier in the day, Emerson Porter and Adele Dummermuth, my now current coworkers. 

They grab our attention along with the director, Jane Nesmith, to share a few thoughts before we got started. The suspense builds with each passing word. This was a chance for them to get to know me? To hear about my skills? We're leaving to be interviewed in a different room? I'm psyching myself out so much and I haven't even asked myself why. 

Introductions & The CWC

Once we were split into groups and escorted downstairs to the Richter room, I start to reason with myself; the students I've met so far have been nothing but welcoming and friendly, this was just going to be a way for them to see if I have what it takes to be a consultant. It's not as if I'm getting kicked out of Coe for a subpar interview I had at their writing center.

We went through student and consultant introductions, and started chatting about what the Coe Writing Center (CWC) was truly about. 

"It's a conversation center really. You won't be tutoring students on their papers, rather talking them through the writing process, brainstorming, editing and revising specific elements or even the whole piece. We're here to guide writers, not take over their writing,"

They hand us small blue notebooks and a few prompts to guide a short essay response. These essays were going to be used to conference with each other as the consultants took notes and observed each of our developing styles of conferencing. I watch carefully as they demonstrate a mock-conference for us to see what a typical appointment will look like, and while it looks to be very straightforward with no room for error, I'm too busy thinking of all the possible errors.

Conferences

I'm so incredibly stressed about making sure I could show the consultants how to give a writing conference, I almost entirely forgot what I was supposed to be doing when the time came. We split into pairs and chose who would be the client first, me, and I was completely blanking on what I wrote my essay about not even five minutes ago.

I manage to pull myself together, review my work and pay close attention to how my partner conferences with me so I can replicate it when it comes to be my turn. 

But as the timer goes off signaling for us to switch, I start out very different from them. I'm making small talk out of habit, I'm asking lots of questions about the topic of their essay and why they chose those specific ideas to cover. Now that I have more information about my 'client' and have stalled just enough for my brain to start thinking up ways to tackle this essay, I'm able to recreate the conferencing strategies the consultants showed us not too long ago.

I rush through the methods I was able to recall with the few minutes I have left on the clock, wanting to ensure the consultants saw that I could adapt to various styles and client needs. They pace around, jotting notes down onto cards, stopping to simply watch and listen, and I can feel it happening. But I was able to push that down and continue going through my clients essay paragraph by paragraph, just like I'm supposed to.

The Beginning

The timer goes off once again, and just like that we are done. We move back to our seats, collect our blue notebooks and peek at the scribbles on comment cards. My heart's racing, but a huge weight is off my chest. I survived the conference and didn't have any major mess ups that I could recall. I'm already thinking of ways I could have improved my conference if there was a next time, but I'm sure of that yet.

I leave the Stewart Memorial Library feeling lighter, and even accomplished of what I did. I went in blind with fear of the unknown, and came out having spoke with dozens of students and writers that opened my heart to Coe. I thought even if I don't get in, I'm still lucky enough to see some of these writers again and have gotten to talk with those I met during the CWC's recruitment event.

Shortly after leaving to head home, I'm greeted by a few of campuses own squirrels! 

And a few weeks following the event, I receive a phone call from my admissions counselor saying I'm accepting into Coe's Writing Center, with a post card from a consultant waiting in the mail for me.