Recruitment Update

Ruth Cutcher, Recruitment & Marketing Coordinator, shares a reflection on this recruitment season.

Joys

It is three weeks until our application deadline and we already have some applications, and many more in progress!  That’s a huge joy and relief!  After months of sending emails to everyone I could think of (apparently recruiters call this “screaming into the abyss”), we are hearing the answer to our call!  I hope I’m not giving away confidential information to share that this year’s crop of applicants is delightful.  I am thrilled to meet them and also for them to meet each other.

As a new employee of QVS, I experience joy every day as I am reminded that QVS is the most radical place I have ever worked.  Mike gave me a copy of Emergent Strategy by adrienne marie brown in order to help me learn more about the culture at QVS.  Apparently, the whole staff read this book when it first came out. 

“As a new employee of QVS, I experience joy every day as I am reminded that QVS is the most radical place I have ever worked.” -Ruth

I used to read books like this and think, “Oh, those are nice ideas; too bad there aren’t whole organizations who think like that.”  As I read this book, I am coming across phrases that are used regularly in staff meetings and everyday conversations at QVS. For example, brown talks about fractals as a way of understanding individuals within an organization.  About fractals, Brown says, “how we are at the small scale reflects how we are at the large scale.” As an organization, we hope to teach the importance of spiritual grounding for effective social justice work.  As individuals, we aim to stay spiritually grounded in our day-to-day interactions and model the behaviors we wish to teach.  It is extremely joyful to me to be able to put my energy into an organization that is in alignment with my values.

Challenges

Zenaida, the former QVS Recruitment Coordinator, said recently that “recruiting is a job that is never finished,” and I am feeling that as the recruiting season speeds toward the application deadline.  There is always something more that can be done: one (or a hundred) more emails, more campus visits, more phone calls, etc.  Additionally, QVS is facing the same challenges that all programs are facing.  After over two years of virtual recruiting, we are rebuilding in-person relationships with colleges and Quaker communities.  As I face the challenges of my first recruiting season, I am excited to be part of a supportive and loving team of coworkers, QVS fellows and applicants, board members and community members.