regroup Certain In Its Uncertainty By Stacy Oliver and Bill Mattera Like those in any field, sometimes housing professionals doubt their career choice. It’s a conversation that hall directors have in hushed tones while lingering at dining hall tables. It’s a question many mid-level professionals ask themselves but are wary of bringing up to colleagues or supervisors. And, on occasion, even chief housing officers find the idea sparking in the back of their minds. Should I leave the field? What else would I do? Are any of my skills transferable? The decision to leave the field, or even search within a different 24 TalkiNg STick functional area of student affairs, can be a frightening prospect. Residence life professionals are often considered generalists with a variety of transferable skills; however, there are very real concerns about how a move out of residence life or housing will be perceived and how a hiring supervisor may view the residence life experience. The reasons that residence life staff have to leave their field don’t necessarily differ much from those of professionals in other careers. Whether