A Love for Here
By Katie Steele
“We have faith you’ll love it here” is etched in my memory. It was a slogan from one of the many advisement banners that lined the Loyola Chicago – my alma mater – campus, and it has stuck with me since the campus tour I took when I was a high school junior. Aside from its incredibly effective marketing, it was only after four years of seeing this banner as a student there that I came to know the weight of its truth. Lately, it has continued to stick out in my mind, especially when I get asked about making job transitions (having found myself applying for positions internally) or navigating how to apply to new roles within my field.
In my current role, and in mentoring newer professionals, I’ve been asked a lot about how to know if the right move is the right move at the right time. Simply put, I’ve looked at job transitions as an intentional patchwork of moves that all relate back to the notion of affinity for place – a love for here.
For me, this collective love of place has been most exemplified by the hallmarks of Jesuit Catholic education: a tight-knit intentional community that values relationships, collaboration, community, and a commitment to intentionality, reflection, and social justice. These were all things that I was first introduced to as an undergraduate, and in retrospect they’ve been things that have helped me make very deliberate career moves.
Most notably, this affinity for place has given me a better idea of how to negotiate internal (or nearly internal) job processes. When considering applying for roles, I’ve figured out that my personal values best align with schools that also live out the Jesuit values I’ve been steeped in. And when I’ve taken on roles that are outside this framework, they have been lovingly short-lived. Case in point: If your personal values don’t align with the priorities of a department or institution, you’re probably going to feel like you’re swimming upstream the entire time you find yourself there.
Twice in my career I’ve found myself in a situation where I’ve applied for internal positions. Each time, I was brought back to this idea of place. Aside from dealing with concerns about readiness and imposter syndrome, I’ve had to ask myself the following questions: If this position doesn’t work out, do I love this place enough to stick things out and see what happens? And if this position does work out, do I love this place enough to know that despite what challenges may come, I will continue to love it for what it is?
The involvement in interview processes has meant carrying myself with a continued love for a department as a whole: the idea that I always hope I am the best fit for a position, but if I’m not what is best for a role or a department, it is best to act as such. With my love for place comes humility. In both internal processes, I made it known to the search committee that other candidates might be a better fit for the role and more like what a given department or team needed at that time. I was excited about these positions and the possibility of what was to come, but I didn’t feel I deserved either job just because I had a history with the department.
On a very practical note, love for place means interviewing very intentionally. In interview situations, in addition to ensuring that the examples I share are robust and varied, I’ve learned that people resonate with stories and a connection to place. You don’t necessarily need to have experience at a given institution to find a place that feels like one that is dear to you. You do, however, need to balance vulnerability with skills and experience. Part of being compelling is talking about what you love and painting a picture of it for others so that your story resonates with their story. I’ve learned that the key to being interesting is being interested: the most memorable candidates are the ones who make an interview process one of reciprocity. Taking a genuine interest in the journeys of people on the other side of a process creates opportunities for connection and fosters a positive experience for everyone involved, whether you get the job offer or not. And during an internal process when it can be tempting to refrain from asking questions, it becomes even more crucial to do so. As an internal candidate, you may feel that you know everything you need to about a role, but in these cases it’s almost more vital to ask about people and place, using your contextual knowledge to structure questions that build on the connections, partnerships, and understanding you already have.
When I’ve applied for internal positions where I would have prospective peers reporting to me, I’ve also always had a clear idea of my place regarding those people. When considering internal promotions, I’ve chosen to pursue only those roles where I am very aware of where I am positioned within a department in terms of how others view my mentorship and supervision style and how my work is received on campus. While it’s always a candidate’s choice to share whether or not they are pursuing positions, I have chosen to be transparent with peers, engaging in open dialogue about what a shift in position would mean for our relationship and how such a shift might impact our dynamic or our friendship. I’ve only applied for roles where I have unwavering support from peers to potentially become their direct supervisor.
The most important thing I’ve learned about love for place is knowing when to let go. In internal job processes, sometimes timelines aren’t perfect or other factors force you to withdraw despite having incredible love for a place. Sometimes, letting go when you can’t imagine doing so leads you to a place – another here – that you love more or just as much.
Katie Steele is the associate director for community engagement and learning initiatives at Seattle University in Washington.
