I was an RA… is that relevant?

Do future employers care that I was an RA? Is my RA experience a waste of space on my resume?

To consolidate some of the reasons why I believe it is a valuable experience, I decided to blog about it.

My first year at Carolina, I decided to apply to be an RA. I thought having a single room would be really nice, and getting paid on top of that made it seem like a really sweet gig. When I got the call with the job offer, I immediately started to daydream about what my sophomore year would be like as an RA — I’d have my own space AND I’d be making pretty decent money.

However, I had no idea how challenging it would be at times, or how far I would stretch myself in areas that would be very valuable to me down the line. Read on to see how.

Crisis Management

Any good student in the School of Journalism and Media recognizes the phrase “crisis communication.” The ability to be quick on your feet and respond promptly and effectively is a great PR skill that is best developed with experience. As an RA, I was required to be “on duty” several times per month. This involved being responsible for sitting at the front desk until it closed (at midnight), going on rounds of the building to check for safety concerns, and holding the duty phone overnight. The volume had to be up all the way so that it could wake you up in this sleep, with a ringtone that came to haunt the entire staff pretty soon into the job.

My first night on duty, I jolted awake to the earsplitting jingle of the duty phone ringtone. I answered the phone, threw on some shoes and dashed out my door to address the issue. Unfortunately, the very first incident I had to deal with was a pretty serious one, and I ended up having to rope in a couple others for back-up.

Part of crisis communication has to deal with understanding and following protocol. As an RA, we go through a very intensive training process that includes learning additional points of contact for issues, being familiar with campus resources, and knowing how to document and report a variety of incidences, ranging from being locked out of a dorm to dealing with suicidal thoughts.

Event Planning

Another large part of the job is programming. One of our main goals as an RA is to make sure people feel included and welcomed in their home away from home. Part of the ways we do this is through coordinating multiple programs per month that encourage residents to socialize, de-stress, learn more about an interesting topic, or just eat food together.

Each RA received a monthly budget and we were responsible for coming up with supplies list (food, arts and crafts supplies, etc.) for all of my programs and making sure they fell within the budget.

I also had to be mindful of the time and date of the events. Whether it was coordinating a study session around midterm season or hosting a mix-and-mingle pizza party at the beginning of the semester, I made sure to plan events that would be most helpful or useful to my residents.

Meeting Management

Checking in with my boss on a bi-weekly basis was something completely new to me. I had to be prepared to give status updates on my residents and programs I have been hosting. I also needed to be familiar with the feedback process, which included accepting constructive criticism and willingly asking for help with my weak spots.

RA’s also host a couple meetings that include the entire hall (for me, this was 54 people!). I had to facilitate ice breakers at the beginning of the year and talk through an agenda all by myself in front of all 54 residents. This was incredibly intimidating to me, but after a few meetings, I started to get more confident about it.

Team Building and Being a Team Player

Again, making people feel included is one of the most important parts of this job. We are responsible for facilitating ice breakers, encouraging roommates to get to know one another, and even making sure we are involved with our staff! We did several team building exercises internally that led the RA’s to become close to one another. Ultimately, this made it easier to do our jobs because we always knew the people we could rely on for backup.

Time Management

Looking back, I have NO idea how I managed my time with a full course load, 54 residents to be prepared to respond to at any given time, programs to host, bulletin boards to make, and working at the front desk multiple times a month. During this time in my life I really started to get a feel for Google Calendar and how much easier it was to use to keep track of everything I was juggling in my life at the time.

This experience had a huge impact on me during my time at UNC-Chapel Hill and it has armed me with a skill set that is very widely applicable outside of res-life. It made me feel much more connected to my school and really encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone.

I will say, though… I’m SO glad I no longer have to share a bathroom with dozens of people.