RA Interview Process

            The process to help select residential advisors, Carousel, is scheduled for 23 March.

            Residential advisor applications are due Friday, Feb. 22. Those who attend Carousel are chosen from the applications.

            Carousel is a team effort organized and operated by the Residential Life Staffing Committee.

            “Carousel is a several hour long process where we are basically looking at how potential RAs interact with one another,” said Caitlin McCowan, assistant coordinator and Staffing Committee member since 2010. “Every applicant that is invited to attend is observed by Res Life members, professional as well as student RAs.”

            This process is used like a group interview, to see how they interact with one another, how they communicate. Res Life members want to see how potential RAs approach situations that are uncomfortable and challenging, whether or not an applicant has a sense of humor and how they can voice their opinion.

            “[Carousel] is helpful as an RA because as an RA you are put in an unlimited number of situations, and for situations we always have a guideline or a procedure that helps you in how to handle that,” Said McCowan.

            Situations RAs deal with range from roommate disputes to depression and suicide issues or rape.

Current New Hall North RA Michelle Best has been an RA for three years. “I’m one of those people that needs to be involved to be an awesome student,” said Best. “I love my job.”

“Carousel is cool, very different from any other job interview you will have. It is a good way to start to see your real personality, like I’m not a competitive person but I am more a lead from behind. I thought at the end of the day, it did not go so well but they called me and said I had done well,” said Best.

            “We want to see how you think on your feet,” said McCowan.  

            Another current RA is David Harbison. He is in his second semester of being an RA in Warf residential hall.

            “I asked a lot of questions about Carousel so I knew what was going to happen,” said Harbison. “In the big Carousel, there were five activities and you could tell which one relate but then there were some smaller ones that I’m not sure where they came from.”

            Carousel is useful to see how individuals handle situations that he or she is not used to handling and can give Res Life a sense of who will be best suited for the position.

            As of now, any student can apply to be an RA but it is highly encouraged that students wait until they have completed their freshman year so they are adjusted and have a good balance in their on-campus life.

“For me the hardest thing about being an RA is time management,” said Best. “Your residence come to you when they have a problem but they don’t always remember that you have class or other previous time commitments.”

For each residence hall, approximately 6-12RAs as employed by Tennessee Tech and Res Life expects to hire about 35 new RAs for the Fall 2013 semester. Currently, there are 71 RAs on campus between the 13 residential halls and Tech Village with 2200 people living on campus.

“Being an RA has a lot to do with interpersonal skills and their ability to think quickly and work in a group, no matter if it is with other Residential Life members or students in the dorms,” said McCowan. “Carousel gives us a very brief gleams of what that is and it’s also important to know that RAs, when they are hired, they do about seven days’ worth of training before students come back.”

Carousel is a tool used to see if an applicant is willing to learn and to see if they can be trained in the way that will best suit the situation.

“Res Life kick starts friendships and when I was a freshman I remember someone was always down in the lobby,” said Harbison. “I just wanted to help freshmen transition and start getting involved.”

Carousel is a common use in universities and has been used at Tech for several years. However, the staff does make minor adjustment to the program to improve its function and to keep it current.   

“I feel we have always employed involved students, we’ve always had willing students who have a pretty strong work ethic to help us out with Res Life,” said McCowan.