Service to the Tower

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Author: Alenya Al'Roran
Published: May 20 2020 Tar Valon Times Blog

There are many ways to serve here at TarValon.Net, but not everyone is sure how to go about it. There are positions available in all departments, but joining one of those teams requires that an application be sent to various leaders who decide who will have the job. For some people, those applications can be intimidating enough that they don’t wish to apply. Here, I’ll describe the best way to write these applications, and encourage every member who qualifies for a position to apply to help us run the Tower.


The hiring process is relatively simple. An announcement goes up in the Hiring Forum (or, for some Ajah/Company specific positions, in an Ajah/Company forum); the person hiring accepts applications for a specified period of time and then deliberates; and finally an offer is made. If the applicant accepts the job, an announcement is made and we move on. That applicant now holds a new position in the Tower. But what are we looking for when you send an application?


The first piece of advice I have to offer is to read the job description. Most of the descriptions that show up in the hiring thread were copied straight from the Library, so if you wanted to, you could look around the Library to see what positions are available in which departments so you know what you might be interested in applying for when the job opens up.


It is important for you to note if a position is rotating or not. The jobs that are rotating will open up on a regular basis. If you want to know when a position you are interested in is going to open, head to the bottom of the page in the Library where it tells you who has held the position. The current position holder will be at the top of the list, and you can use your mad math skills to figure out when the job will next open. But what if it’s not a rotating position? Fear not! Sometimes those jobs open up because someone quit or, in very rare instances, a new one is created. Hold tight, because I can help you with those.


There are three types of leadership levels you can apply for: Staff, Administrator, and Executive (Director).


Let’s start with a staff position. In most cases, these positions don’t rotate. I say most cases because the forum moderators are staff positions and they do rotate. The same goes for some Ajah/Company specific positions. For the staff positions that do not rotate, it can be discouraging if you don’t see a hiring announcement come up when you really want to be part of a team. My recommendation? Say something. Speak to the Administrator who oversees that team. You’d be surprised how many need the help and just haven’t said anything. Or, perhaps a hiring announcement went up so long ago that it was buried on the hiring board. The worst that can happen is that you’re told there are no positions available right now. When the hiring announcement eventually goes up, they’ll know you wanted the job, and remember.


The Administrator positions report to the Directors in their departments. Administrators are crucial for keeping things running around here. They make it easier to break a department into smaller pieces and make them more manageable. If you’re hoping for one of those positions, most of them are rotating. A small handful are not. For the non-rotating positions, I would advise joining the team. When the administration job eventually opens up, you’ll be in a good position to apply for the job because you will already know how things work, and maybe even have ideas for improvements based on what you’ve experienced as a Staff member. Never discount your own experience.


Directors and Officers do not rotate and change over much less frequently, but the application process remains the same. Again, if you’re interested in maybe taking on one of these roles someday, apply for a Staff or Administrator position in the department. It will be noticed when you apply.


Now, the part you really came here for: the application. It can be a scary prospect, though it’s not nearly as bad as you’ll make it in your head. Remember when I said to read the job description? This is your starting point. Introduce yourself, state what position you’re applying for, and then give some bullet points based on that description. Explain how you fit those specific qualifications. It doesn’t have to be Tower experience. You could have real world experience to apply here and that counts for something. Use all of your tools to tell how qualified you are.


Once you do that, get a little personal. Tell why you would like the job and give ideas on changes you might want to make. You could even give a few examples of things you think are working well that you wouldn’t want to change. The point is to tell the people reading your application that you’re invested in taking on the job.


Now for the super important part. Take note of who you need to send that application to. There is almost always more than one person to send it to, and it’s important that you do. The final decision may lie with one person, but I can guarantee you that everyone on the list is somehow involved in making that decision, so make sure you include them.


One you send in that e-mail, all you’ll have left to do is sit back and wait to hear what happens. It has been discouraging for some of those doing the hiring to have an empty inbox during the hiring period, so I would highly recommend that you take a chance. You might be surprised at the opportunities that are actually open to you.