How to Become a University Staff Member? ┊ I Explain the Process from Job Change to Hiring as a Novice
In my previous articles, I have written about the pros and cons of working as a university staff member, as well as the types of people who are well-suited for the role.
Click here for the previous article ⬇️
After reading this far, has anyone thought, “University staff might be pretty good.” (＾.＾)
So, what exactly do you need to do to become a university staff member?
“Is it difficult if I don't have experience working at a university?”
“Do I need any qualifications?”
“Where are the job openings posted in the first place?”
If you have just started thinking about changing jobs to become a university staff member, I think there are many things you might be unsure about.
This article is for those who are interested in becoming a university staff member but have no idea where to start!
① Are qualifications necessary to become a university staff member?
First, the thing people are most curious about is qualifications.
When it comes to working at a university, some people might think,
“Do I need a teaching license?”
If you are working as an administrative staff member, you generally do not need a teaching license. Also,
there is no such thing as a “qualification to become a university staff member.” However, in the case of mid-career recruitment, depending on the job opening,
University graduate or higher
○ or more years of professional experience
Basic PC skills
English proficiency
Practical experience in a specific field
may be listed as application requirements. Especially in departments like international relations, language skills may be required, or in information systems departments, IT knowledge may be required, with conditions set based on the expected assignment. Therefore, rather than getting qualifications before aiming to become a university staff member, I recommend starting by looking at actual job openings to learn “what kind of people are being sought.”
By the way, I took on the challenge with only a regular driver's license (AT limited)! (lol)
② Can I become a university staff member even without experience?
Yes, you can.
In fact, I myself changed jobs without any prior experience.
You might have an image of university staff as people who have worked at universities since graduating, but there are many staff members who have changed jobs from private companies and other sectors through mid-career recruitment. And in mid-career recruitment, I think it is important not just to have “experience working at a university,” but what kind of experience you have gained in your work so far.For example,
If you have sales experience, student recruitment or public relations
If you have HR/labor experience, the university's HR department
If you have experience as a recruiter, the career support department
If you have accounting experience, the finance/accounting department
If you have IT-related experience, the information systems department
If you have experience in customer service or support, there are surprisingly many jobs where you can utilize your experience from the private sector, such as
handling students and parents.
The work of a university staff member is not solely composed of jobs that involve direct interaction with students. I think it is a good idea to take stock of the work you have done so far to see if there is any experience that can be applied at a university.
③ Where can I find job openings for university staff?
So, where can you find job openings for university staff?
As for how to search, there are:
Recruitment pages of individual universities and school corporations
Job change websites
Job change agents
Media outlets that handle job openings for universities and school corporations
and so on.
When I was job hunting, I also looked for openings while checking job change websites and the like. Also, if there is a university or school corporation you are interested in, I recommend checking their official website's recruitment information regularly.
University staff recruitment is not necessarily happening in large quantities all year round like in general companies. In particular, unlike general companies, university staff positions receive many applications without having to post them on many job sites. It is common for them to be posted only on the university's website or on a single job site.
If there is a university where you think, "I would like to work here,"
you shouldn't give up just because there are no job openings; it might be a good idea to peek at their recruitment page from time to time.
By the way, it seemed that job openings for university staff via job change agents were quite rare. I was also registered with an agent when I changed jobs, but I was advised to check university websites and job change sites myself for university staff openings.
④ Check these points on the job posting
Once you find a job opening for university staff, before you immediately think, "It's a university staff job! I'll apply!", you should also carefully check the job posting.
For me, I check at least the following parts.
Whether it is a permanent staff position or a fixed-term employment
Salary
Bonus
Pay raise
Annual holidays
Whether there is Saturday work
Working hours
Department assignment
Scope of transfers
Transfers between campuses
Retirement allowance system
Various allowances and benefits
In particular, I think it is important not to just look at the term "university staff," but to always confirm the employment status. At universities, there are staff members working under various employment forms, not just full-time permanent staff, but also contract staff and commissioned staff.
Also, as I wrote in my previous article, depending on the university, there may be Saturday work, or in the case of corporations with multiple campuses, there may be a possibility of transfer. If there are affiliated schools, there is also a possibility of working there.
Even with the same "university staff" title, the way of working varies considerably depending on the university.
It is important to look at job openings while thinking about what you are looking for in a job.
⑤ What is the selection process like?
The recruitment and selection process for university staff varies significantly by university. Generally, the flow can be thought of as:
Document screening
↓
Written exam/aptitude test
↓
First interview
↓
Second interview
↓
Final interview
For those who thought, "That's not much different from a normal job change process."
That's right. It's surprisingly normal.
However, depending on the university,
Aptitude tests like SPI
Short essay
Group discussion
Presentation
may be included in the selection process.
In my impression, SPI is conducted at quite a few universities, while the others are seen only occasionally. My university only conducted the SPI.
Also, some universities have many rounds of selection. When applying, it is reassuring to check the selection schedule on the recruitment page.
⑥ Just saying "I want to be a university staff member" might not be enough
When aiming to become a university staff member, I want you to think once about "Why do you want to be a university staff member?"
Because it is stable.
Because the salary is relatively good.
Because there seem to be many holidays.
……They are all attractive, aren't they?
Actually, when I was job hunting myself, I had the feeling of "wanting to work for a long time in a stable environment." So, I don't think it's bad at all to be interested in being a university staff member for these reasons.
However, when it comes to actually going through the selection process, that alone is not quite enough.
What you want to think about is,
Why university staff
Why that specific university
How you can utilize your experience at the university
These three points.
Especially "Why that specific university" is important.
"I applied to this university because it's stable, the salary is good, and there seem to be many holidays!"
……I can't really say that, can I? (^.^)
You need to research the university's philosophy, characteristics, and initiatives, and then connect them with your own experience and thoughts.
I would like to write in detail about statements of purpose and entry sheets in another article. (Probably in the article after next...)
⑦ I also changed careers without prior experience
I have written a lot up to this point, but I was not a university staff member from the start either. My previous job was in an industry completely different from higher education. I had no experience in the university sector, nor had I worked in education-related jobs.
Even so, I was hired, and before I knew it, I had been working as a university staff member for seven or eight years. What I feel after actually working here is that the vast majority of what I know, I learned after joining.
There are unique university rules, and the work content changes significantly when you move to a different department. You do not need to know everything about a university from the start.
“I don’t have experience working at a university, so it’s probably impossible.”
If you are thinking this, I don’t think you should give up from the start just because you lack experience. There is surely experience you have gained so far that you can utilize at a university.
Summary | You can aim to be a university staff member even without experience
You do not necessarily need special qualifications to become a university staff member. Furthermore, it is possible to change careers to a university staff position without prior experience.
What is important is to think about:
“What have I done up until now?”
And,
“How can I utilize that experience at a university?”
If you are even slightly interested in changing careers to become a university staff member, please first take a look at actual job postings.
“I might be able to apply for more than I thought.”
You might find a job posting that makes you think this. I, too, once worked in a job completely unrelated to university staff. I changed careers from there, and now I am glad I became a university staff member.
I would be happy if this article could give even a small push to those who are hesitant, saying,
“I want to be a university staff member, but I have no experience...” However, even though we say “university staff,” the job content is truly varied. I think some people might wonder, “What do university staff actually do every day?” so next time, I would like to write about the work content of university staff from the perspective of an active employee (^.^)
Recommended for those who have read this article and strongly feel they want to become a university staff member ⬇️