I know, I know.  I’ve been absent the past few weeks - between finishing up my job at Dartmouth, starting my job at Fire Engine RED part time, keeping on top of my work with DoJo clients and doing a bunch of stuff for Champlain before I begin my adjunct faculty gig there, to say I’ve been busy would be an understatement.

But I did want to make sure that, on the occasion of my last day of work for a college full-time, that I took time to post my reflections about my seven year journey through higher education.

Higher education has it benefits: The environment, free classes/degrees, the vacation days, retirement, health care, discount gym memberships, not working for “the man”…there are lots of valid reasons to take a salary that might be a bit lower than what you would get in the corporate sector to work in this industry.  I got my MBA virtually free and clear so I certainly can’t complain.

But this year was different, as many colleges also experienced layoffs due to the economy.  At Dartmouth, that sent morale, among the people I talked to, into a tailspin - no one knew if the layoffs were over and if their job would be safe if there was a next round.  I was never worried about my job - the web is one of the safest things to work on when people are trying to save money since they instantly think of moving stuff to the web - but it was still an odd and startling experience for me that made me rethink things.

If the corporate world operated like higher education does, capitalism would come to a grinding halt. Imagine what the iPod would look like if it was designed in a higher ed environment? A little like this, perhaps?

(let’s be honest - higher ed would take the Microsoft iPod to a whole new level…)

Egos, egos everywhere: We all have egos.  They aren’t inherently a bad thing. But when someone honestly thinks the world revolves around them…and that they are better than everyone else they work with at every possible thing….then those individuals become toxic to their environment. They lower morale, and make it near impossible to get anything meaningful done. Now, this is certainly not unique to higher education, but what I do think is interesting is how many of us have had experience with people like this…who may or may not be very good at their jobs…and yet rise to positions of authority where they dictate at their whim.  Everyone around them may know that they’re wrong, and that they have no business being in that position, but no one ever does anything about it. And so they stay. And eventually people get tired of it and quit because of it. How many fantastic people has your college lost because they simply couldn’t stand working there any longer?

When more than one person has complained about a problem child…and there are documented instances of that person acting against the best interests of the organization (either purposefully or because they aren’t very good at their jobs), then it is the college’s responsibility to do something because not doing something will probably have far worse results.

But keeping a positive attitude can trump all that: It sounds cliche, but just not letting all the bullshit get to me has helped me through the past several months.  Now I’ve had experience at two different schools working directly with people like I’ve described above. The first time, I let it get to me. Big time. I lost all of the confidence I had worked for years to build up, became severely depressed and a bit of an alcoholic. After I left that job, things drastically improved - I had my life back again. Then the same BS started happening all over again.  But this time was different - I didn’t let it consume my life or define my self-worth. Instead, I focused on things that were good for me, and the people I liked working with. Pretty soon, the person who was the thorn in my side became irrelevant. Sure, they were still there…acting out irrationally…but it didn’t matter. I expected them to try to hurt me, and so it wasn’t a surprise or a shock to my system when they did. I just put a smile on my face and went on with the rest of my day.

By the way, if you find yourself in a situation like this, don’t for a minute think that you “need” your boss to get out of it. They might threaten to withhold references blah blah blah…but if you’re good at what you do, then they don’t have the power in the situation. I have gotten many-a-job without my boss’s reference (and, yes, before this blog became popular too).  Plus, you can always get references from other people you work with (even better, get them to publicly endorse you on LinkedIn, then put their quotes in your resume). Just be honest with your prospective employers about the situation - you’re leaving a toxic working environment for reasons a, b and c…but you’ve also learned x, y, z from the situation. Most employers will understand better than you think they will.

If I had it to do over again, would I? Yes. Through working for colleges full time has certain given me my fair share of headaches, I’ve gained an invaluable amount of experience, not to mention a free MBA. This is only going to make me better at the job I’m going to do at Fire Engine RED.  But I don’t know how long I ever would have lasted working for colleges full time, because I don’t blindly buy into the system as it is.  I have this crazy idea that when things aren’t working as well as they could, someone should say so and at least acknowledge a problem exists.


So on Monday, I join the “evil vendor” ranks.  My official title will be Senior Copywriter and Client Marketing Specialist. I woke up this morning feeling better and more excited than I’ve felt in months. I feel like I’ve “found my people” with Fire Engine RED.  I’ve been working with them part time for a little bit now and have been nothing with impressed in the team they’ve put together.  This was one of the easiest decisions for me to make in the world, and I have not second guessed it once.

But don’t worry - I won’t be trying to sell you guys anything in any of my upcoming presentations!