For many students, being an RA is one of the first jobs, if not the first job they have ever had. This also means that for many students their first time having a conversation about their job performance or being evaluated by a supervisor. These conversations can seem really intimidating if you don’t know what to expect, or if you have never received feedback in a job setting before. However, I’ll let you in on a little secret, you are not the only person who is anxious about receiving constructive criticism. Generally, people don’t love being told ways they should consider improving. Yet, when you begin to change your mindset to be open about receiving feedback and recognize the importance of performance evaluations, you can begin looking forward to conversations that focus on personalized ways you can succeed in your role.
One of the first ways you can begin to calm your mind and prepare yourself for a conversation about your RA performance is to self-reflect on the ways in the role where you have shined, improved, and need to tweak in the future. Before your performance meeting, you should ask your Hall Director or supervisor the categories and criteria on which you are being evaluated. This way, you have some insider scoop on what the conversation may look like and can self-evaluate beforehand more effectively. Some questions to start the ball rolling on your proactive self-reflection are:
- How much effort and intentionality went into making your door decs?
- What about your bulletin boards? Did you handle any difficult policy violations recently?
- If so, how did that confrontation go and is there anything you would change?
- In what specific ways have you built an inclusive and welcoming environment for all of your residents?
- What programs of yours were successful and which ones were not?
These are just some of the starting points of considerations to think about, but you will know your abilities, community, residents, and role best to better be able to specifically reflect on your performance.
During the performance conversation, you should listen to all feedback carefully. Oftentimes, the RA role can be quite selfless, so this is a great time to soak in the ways you are helping students and have made a positive impact on a community. You should also be listening to understand and be optimistic about ways to improve. Oftentimes constructive criticism is not given to be malicious, but rather to provide a different perspective about how you can learn and grow in your role. When hearing about ways you can change within your role, don’t focus on the big picture. This can often be overwhelming and take away from the feedback you may receive about doing well in the RA role. Rather, you should take notes of the small details that you can improve on that can make a big difference. To help you understand any feedback and make the performance conversation as productive as possible, you can ask for follow-up and clarification. You should also be able to ask your supervisor for specific examples of when you have done well in the role, or where your supervisor thought you could change in the future. It is beneficial for you both to be on the same page about your performance and to consider both parties’ perspectives and thoughts.
After an evaluation, you should set aside some time to check in with yourself and see how you are feeling about how the conversation went. Maybe the conversation went really, really well, and your nerves beforehand were the worst part! This is great and you should be proud of yourself! Maybe you were told you’re not necessarily exceeding expectations, but rather just meeting them. For many RAs who are often achievers, this feedback can be not so great to hear. However, recognize that meeting expectations is not a bad thing. There are so many responsibilities within the RA role, that meeting expectations probably means your supervisor is quite confident and happy with your performance. Maybe your conversation didn’t go as well as you hoped, and you received some constructive criticism you were not expecting. This can be really tough, but remember to be kind to yourself. Your worth is not solely in your role as an RA, and you can grow and improve from this conversation. No matter how the conversation went during your evaluation, you should see any constructive feedback you receive as a productive failure, and do not be super hard on yourself. We all make mistakes and have room for improvement. By implementing the feedback you receive, you open yourself up to new tactics and strategies that can make you more innovative in coming up with new ideas and can help you become better at reaching your goals. After an evaluation, you should not feel low or have a loss of hope, but rather be optimistic and feel motivated to learn, create, and work differently.
Listening and receiving feedback about your job performance is really difficult, but you shouldn’t miss out on insight, valuable ways to improve, and tips to becoming more successful because you are not open to learning from these conversations. There is no point in which you can stop self-improving, so be open-minded when your supervisor schedules an evaluation with you, and see it as a conversation that creates more opportunities for you to grow and thrive!
Carley Eichhorn (she/her) is currently a Hall Director at the University of Michigan. In 2021, she graduated from Central Michigan University with undergraduate experience as an RA and a tour guide. In 2022, she graduated with her master’s degree from Oklahoma State University, where she served in the Residential Life department as an Assistant Residential Community Educator and a Social Media and Communications Intern. With two degrees in Communications, Carley loves to write and chit-chat, but also has a passion for reading, hiking, playing water polo, and taking naps with her cat, Obi.
