It’s nice to have coworkers in our Collegewise offices. There’s always someone there to high-five when a student gets into his first choice, or to ask an opinion when we need some college suggestions. Even Katie, who runs her own Collegewise shop near Seattle, still has regular meetings with us via Skype. And she loves to regularly talk smack to us about just how many interesting, cool and quirky colleges her kids are willing to consider.
That kind of professional camaraderie isn’t just good for morale; it makes us better counselors, too. We can learn from each other's challenges and successes. And if one of us faces a situation with a student we haven’t seen before, someone in our office probably has and can tell us how to handle it.
If you’re a private counselor who runs your own solo shop, here’s an idea. Start a monthly pancake breakfast, or an evening round of drinks, or something in between when you and your competitors get together and talk shop. How are things going? Where are your kids getting in? How do you handle a parent who keeps rewriting her kid's essays? What surprised you about your admissions results this season? Compare notes and bond over your pancakes or beers.
A lot of small business owners are reluctant to associate with their competitors like this. I’ve never understood why. Your competitors are there whether or not you reach out. So why not make nice? You’ll find that you share a lot of the same joys, challenges and frustrations. You’ll learn from each other. You’ll be able to refer each other business when you meet a family who’s not right for you, but might be right for a competitor. And I’ll bet you like each other, too.
Just send an email out to three or five or ten local competitors and invite them to break some bread together. You’ll probably enjoy your jobs even more and be better counselors for it.
katiegate says
In Seattle, there’s a group called the Seattle Area College Counselors that does just this, three times a year (although sans pancakes/drinks). It provides that camraderie and gives us the chance to share resources. It’s also kind of incredible how many referrals it generates (from counselors who already have their maximum student load, usually).
It’s just one more thing that makes Seattle cooler, apparently. That and the fact that my kids go to Millsaps and Agnes Scott. Just sayin’.
-Katie