It’s not Personal: How to develop a resilient mindset when job searching

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Guest post by Edel King, Maynooth University Library. Edel is an MLIS graduate currently working as a Library Assistant in MU Library. Her professional interests include Information Literacy, User Experience and Social MediaIntroduction

I graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) with a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Studies in 2015. Since then, I have been interviewed about 30 times for various posts and was successful on only five occasions. That’s not the best success rate. As a result, I have had to develop resilience in the face of all of that rejection. It has been so hard not to take it personally, to not be put off the next interview, to try again and try harder. In this blog, I will be giving some of the tips and resources that I have found useful, in developing my resilience.

What is resilience and Why is it important?

Resilience has been variously defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; the ability to “bounce back” and learn from experience; the ability to move on and not dwell on failures. Resilience is about having a growth mind-set. A growth mindset says that intelligence is to be developed. With a growth mind-set, you embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort at the path to mastery, learn from criticism and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.

Resilience while job seeking

Job seeking can be difficult as a lot of the time it may not go your way, and it can take longer to achieve your goal than you expected. This is where resilience comes in. Bouncing back from the latest rejection, learning from it and staying motivated to move on to the next application/interview are all skills that you can learn to help you on the journey. 

With that in mind, the following are some resources and tips that I have found helpful to me as I seek to advance in my career.

Some resources and tips to help build resilience

Tips

Don’t take it personally. It can be easy, when you get a rejection to think, oh I’m not good enough, they didn’t want me. But this is a direct road to losing motivation and stalling or stopping the job search. The interviewers have a position to fill, just one. They may have really liked you, thought you had great experience and the skills necessary for the job. But the successful applicant might just have an edge on you. It could be tiny but maybe it was enough to get them over the line. It’s not that you were bad. Use it as a reason to further develop your skills, get more varied experience and practice selling yourself better.

Ask for Feedback. When you come out of an interview and then again when you get a rejection, you could easily fixate on an answer you gave, where you could have done better. But you don’t really know why you didn’t get the job. The only people who do know are the ones who interviewed you. So approach them and ask for feedback. You need to do this through the appropriate channels. It may be via your Human Resources Department or directly from the chair of the interview panel.  Most interviewers will be happy to help you and pleased that you were interested enough to ask for feedback in the first place. Then the mystery is removed – you know why you didn’t get the job and what you need to improve on for the next interview.

Get Networking. Get out there and talk to others in the field you want to enter/advance in. Networking can be difficult; putting yourself out there and introducing yourself to strangers can be daunting but it can also be one of the best things you can do. You never know who you will end up talking to; what tips they will give, opportunities they know of or courses they have done that have helped them. 

Resources

I undertook a course on LinkedIn aimed at building resilience (What, Why and How to Become Resilient). Topics covered include “Build a resilience threshold”, “Face uncomfortable situations” and “Connect with your Advisory Board”. The course takes you through, step by step, manageable everyday ways of building resilience and being able to apply it to lots of different, work based, situations. 

American psychologist Carol Dweck’s TED talk on the concept of “Not Yet” is useful (Developing a Growth Mind Set). It’s aimed at school teachers but the ideas within can be applied anywhere. She posits that instead of telling somebody when they don’t do well in a test or challenge of some sort (or in my case, an interview) that they failed, you switch the perspective to “not yet” with notes on how to improve. Switching your mind set from, “I didn’t get that job because I am not good enough” to “I didn’t get that job because I wasn’t ready for it yet but I know what I need to improve on to get there” can really help develop a positive mind set.

Conclusion

Job searching can be very difficult. But there is plenty of support and advice out there to help you build resilience and develop a positive mind set. The one take away I learned from all of the resources that I consulted was not to struggle alone; to reach out, whether by taking a course or talking to someone you trust. 

Best of luck with it – you’ll get there!

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Reflections of a mid-career librarian: put your best foot ... sideways

Michaela Hollywood recently took up the post of Assistant Librarian – Engagement and Information Services at Maynooth University Library.

I recently took up a new job at Maynooth University Library. After 20 years working as a Systems Librarian at Dublin City University, I decided it was time for a change. 

I started my library career in 1996 as a Library Assistant at, what is now, The University of Roehampton London. I really loved this job, and it was a great introduction to working in an academic library. I was one of twelve people on a graduate trainee programme designed to provide graduates with work experience before going on to study for a Masters in Library and Information Studies.

In January 1998, my partner Paul and I left London to move to Dublin. Paul had got a job as an English Literature lecturer in Maynooth University (funny how things turn out!). We thought we’d come over and have a bit of an adventure in Ireland for a couple of years. In March of that year, having been in Ireland for only a couple of months, I took up a post as a Library Assistant at the issue desk in Dublin City University Library. 

I continued working part-time in DCU while I completed a masters in library and information Studies in University College Dublin. Quickly after qualifying I was fortunate to get a project post as an Assistant Librarian in the Systems department at DCU, and then very soon after I got a permanent position as Systems Librarian in DCU.

Roll on 20 years. My career had almost exclusively been in DCU. I started to think that it was time to change my job and time to change my employer. Sounds simple!    

Taking time to reflect

There are huge benefits from being in the same job for a long time, especially a technical job like a Systems Librarian. I knew I was very good at my job. I had that confidence that experience brings. A lot of my time was spent dealing with problems, and my experience taught me that there are very few problems that cannot be resolved in one way or another. There is, though, a flip side to being in the same job for a long time. It’s hard to imagine yourself doing anything different. It can be comfortable being in the same place, with the same people. And the thoughts of changing things, of leaving all that is comfortable, can simply make you freeze. 

I was in a situation where many of my work friends and colleagues were of a similar age. We all got permanent library jobs within a few years of each other. A lot of us raised children along the way, and our jobs allowed us combine raising a family and working. It suited very nicely. We had no reason to change things. Occasionally someone would get promoted to Sub-Librarian, but that didn’t happen very often. So what do you do, career wise, when you are a librarian with 20 years’ experience? Do you wait and hope that a Sub-Librarian’s job is advertised, a job that interests you in a place where you want to work? How long do you wait?  These were all questions I asked myself.

After mulling things over for some time, and discussing a few ideas with family, I came up with a two-year plan. But before doing anything I first asked myself a question: did I still want to be a librarian? I gave myself some time to think this over carefully. What else could I do? I did some research on doing a Data Analytics post-graduate course, but while the subject interested me, I knew I didn’t want to go back to studying, especially while working and caring for two teenagers. Also, I felt that this was too related to my role as a Systems Librarian. So, after a while I was happy to discover that the answer was yes, I did still want to be an academic librarian. First step taken.

Making a Move

The Irish academic library world is quite small and that makes it relatively easy to keep track of jobs being advertised. I started to do some research into academic libraries within commuting distance. I explored their websites and social media platforms to see what kind of services they provide. I looked at job websites, mailing lists, and social media to get an idea of what kinds of library jobs were out there. It was on Twitter that I saw my current post mentioned. 

In early 2020, an Assistant Librarian post was advertised – Engagement and Information Services Librarian in Maynooth University! I read the job description and I could feel this sense of excitement as I read and then re-read the details. I texted my sister in the UK to tell her about this great job that had come up, and how I thought that this was the job for me. The only problem was that it was at the same grade as I was on, it wouldn’t be a promotion. Would it look bad that I was moving sideways rather than up?  My sister simply said that sideways is good, and not to worry. It would give me new experiences and new skills. It was then that I came to the realization that a sideways step is ok. It’s more than ok, it’s brilliant!  But first, how did I get here?

I hadn’t been for a job interview for about 20 years, and in fact I hadn’t been to many job interviews prior to that. I do remember thinking that I had been quite good at them though. I needed to work on my confidence to bring it back up. If you haven’t been for an interview in 20 years you cannot imagine yourself in that situation. You cannot imagine yourself in a different job. I remember thinking that if a Systems Librarian job came up, I couldn’t possibly apply for it as I wouldn’t have the required technical skills, despite being very capable and very confident in my own Systems job!  Somehow you have to find the confidence to imagine yourself in a new job and taking that step to apply for it.  

I felt I hadn’t been as visible in the library world as I perhaps should have been. I wasn’t on any library-related committees outside the University and I realised that, although I had worked in DCU for over 20 years, I didn’t know many people in the Irish Library World and they didn’t know me. When my children were young, I decided that having a good work-life balance was a priority for me. I worked hard at doing my best in my job, but I didn’t put myself forward to be on any committees. I didn’t go to many conferences.  I avoided situations that made collecting my children from school awkward, and consequently didn’t really get to network with the larger library community. I needed to get myself out there, and so was delighted when I was able to represent DCU Library on the CONUL Conference organising committee. This was a great experience and a real opportunity to meet lots of people from academic libraries across the country, and for people to get to know me too!  

Updating my CV after such a long time seemed like a mammoth task and a little daunting, but once I sat down and focussed on what I had done and achieved over the years it wasn’t so difficult. Over the last few years I have managed a number of large projects in DCU Library and this was something I highlighted in my CV. Through the projects I was able to demonstrate that I had many skills, and also some experience of managing people. 

I applied for the post in Maynooth University Library in February 2020 and was invited to an interview in March. Unfortunately, the interview was postponed as we had to go into lockdown due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The interview took place in April via Zoom, which was definitely a new experience. I actually liked doing the interview via Zoom as it meant I was sitting in my own living room and I liked the little bit of distance that online gave me. It made me feel quite comfortable, so I was able to relax and answered all the questions with confidence. I put a lot of preparation into the interview. It felt like I was preparing for an exam.  At DCU Library I had the opportunity to do an online course on “Preparing for an Interview”. I studied the job specification and identified all of the required and desired competencies. I made sure that I had two examples of each so that I could pull on these easily in the interview. I identified the key topics that I thought would shape the questions that the panel would ask. I got my sister and my husband to conduct mock interviews. On reflection, I think that this thorough preparation was of huge benefit to me.

 

I am now two months in my new job and I love it. Everyone has been very welcoming. The role is very different to my old one, but also reassuringly familiar at the same time. Starting a new job during a pandemic is very strange, to say the least. At the moment I have a mix of working from home and being on site. Most of the other library staff are not on site which means that I haven’t met a lot of my new colleagues in person yet. I have moved from managing a small team of two people to managing a team of twenty plus. The job can be very challenging at times, but that’s good. I know that I have good people around me for support should I need it. Changing jobs after 20 years has, for me, been a great experience and I would strongly recommend it for anyone considering a similar move.

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Reflections from a late-career librarian

Beach outside Freetown courtesy of author

Guest post from Helen Fallon Helen began her library career as a student shelver over 40 years ago. She is currently Deputy Librarian at Maynooth University. Her professional interests include libraries and access to information in the Global South, professional development, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and academic writing. 

James Barnett’s blog post The Accidental Librarian: Career Progression Advice for Early Career Librarians offers lots of useful advice. I’ve used his themes/topics as a framework for this blog post and added suggestions and additional themes, from my perspective as a late career librarian. 

To Qualify or Not to Qualify
James started working in libraries in 2008 and began studying part-time via distance learning for his library qualification in 2015. He notes the value of this work experience for his studies and the development of his awareness of the library profession and the higher education sector. I began working as a part-time student shelver at what is now Maynooth University (MU) in 1978. After graduating, I worked fulltime as a library assistant for one year in the Acquisitions section, before undertaking a fulltime postgraduate diploma in librarianship at University College Dublin (UCD). I worked in a branch of the University library in the evenings.  I graduated in 1982, 33 years before James. 

Vary Your Experience
James is now an Academic Liaison Librarian at Coventry University. He advises changing roles and gaining as much experience as possible in the early years. After qualifying in 1982, in an economically depressed Ireland, I worked for two years as an Assistant Librarian in health science libraries in Saudi Arabia, followed by a year in Bord na Mona (Irish Peat Authority), before I took up what was to be my first permanent post as a Subject Librarian in what is now Dublin City University (DCU) in January 1986. During the first ten years of my career at DCU, I made sideways moves and took on extra responsibilities to build up my work experience.  I also availed of a two-year career break, when I worked with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) lecturing in librarianship at the University of Sierra Leone.  I learned a lot from these experiences and am glad that I didn’t restrict myself to Health Sciences Librarianship, the sector where I first worked as librarian, much as I enjoyed the area. In 1996 I was promoted in DCU and took on the role of leading a team of 16. This experience helped me when I applied for the post of Deputy Librarian at Maynooth University in 2000. I’ve remained in that post for twenty years and it has been an ongoing learning experience.

University of Sierra Leone courtesy of author

Consult Job Descriptions of Roles You find interesting

James suggests consulting job descriptions of posts that you think are potentially interesting and identifying the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience needed. As a Librarian who regularly interviews, I notice applicants frequently use a standard CV, rather than preparing a CV for a specific post. The process of looking at the requirements of the post and working out what in your work experience or education is relevant to each of the specified requirements, is in itself a useful exercise in identifying your strengths and your skills gaps. I suggest updating your CV every year, even if you are not applying for a post. If nothing has changed, apart from the date, consider why that might be and what you would like to learn in the coming year.

Embrace CPD Opportunities
James suggests getting involved in projects and activities at work, that are outside your regular day-to-day duties.  This is sound advice. In addition to learning new skills by working in cross sectional teams, you get to know your colleagues better and to learn from them.  If attending courses or conferences share the knowledge gained with others. The process of writing up key learning points soon after an event is a good discipline.  In addition to encouraging you to reflect on your learning, it offers a way of sharing your learning with others and this is very much in keeping with the spirit of librarianship.  There are CPD opportunities in reading library journals, in writing and in participating in events that don’t require extensive investment. An example that comes to mind is the Library Ireland Job Swap scheme. This takes place during Library Ireland Week in November each year.  MU Library staff have gone on one-day exchanges to local libraries and facilitated return visits. In addition to gaining new insights some have published about their experience (Gardiner, 2013; Finn et al, 2016).

Change is constant in the world of work and the library landscape has totally transformed since I began work as a student assistant 42 years ago.  The skillset required for librarians is now different to what it was then and there are new and emerging roles. Two articles by John Cox, Librarian at NUI Galway, are illuminating in that regard (Cox, J. 2016, Cox, J. 2017).   Consider asking more senior members of library staff questions like What skills do you think I need to develop in order to progress my career?

courtesy of author 

Get involved with your Professional Association
I’ve changed James’ title to “professional association” rather than CILIP and here I focus on the Library Association of Ireland (LAI).  This voluntary body represents all library sectors. Serving on an LAI committee, you can gain valuable skills, including minute taking, budget management, project and event planning and enhanced communication skills.  Being on a committee, and perhaps having a role such as secretary or Treasurer, will also look good on your CV.

The LAI now offers three  professional awards: Associate, Senior Associate and Fellow.  I undertook the Fellowship in 2010 and found it a really useful way to reflect on my career to date and to consider going forward and to publish an article on the topic (Burns & Fallon, 2012). The LAI also offers the Professional Knowledge Skills Base (PKSB), developed by CILIP, to help you identify skills gaps. Laura Connaughton’s article offers useful insights on the programme (Connaughton, 2016).

Beyond James’ six areas of advice, I would add the following, particularly for mid-career librarians.

Get experience managing people
This is key to advancing your library career. In the early stages, it may be quite basic management experience, such as managing work experience students or an ERASMUS or Transition Year placement. Grab those opportunities. If you can’t get the opportunity to manage people, take on the management of projects, particularly cross-sectional projects, where you get to co-ordinate and perhaps lead activities and deal with issues which will arise from time to time. 

Network
Move out of your comfort zone, invite people for coffee/lunch. If you are in a University, meet with academic colleagues and ask about their teaching/research.  Get their opinions on matters of mutual concern, such as reading lists and information skills. In addition to being on committees within the Library, participate in committees relating to the wider organisation. Try to contribute something at every meeting, though this may be daunting at first. Committees are a great way to market the Library as well as increasing your visibility in the organisation.  Sometimes, if you are new to a committee, it can be useful to take on a very specific role, such as secretary/note taker.  I find that helps me learn quickly about what is going on.

Undertake Further Formal Qualifications
As you move further into your career think about what additional qualifications might be of benefit for career progression.  In 1996, I completed a part-time Master’s degree in Women’s Studies at UCD. I was able to align parts of the course with my work. My thesis was on gender and the internet, a timely topic as the internet was in its infancy. The department published the thesis as the book Wow: Women on the Web (Fallon, 1998.) Having the MA and the book enhanced my CV substantially and I believe helped me, in 1996, to progress to a more senior post in DCU. Later, in 2015, I completed a certificate in Adult & Community Education at MU.  This had a strong focus on group work and the adult learning principles of Paulo Freire. I run occasional world cafés and other group activities and again was able to align my projects to my day-to-day work. My main presentation was on using social media effectively. 

Doing further formal education programmes can be a great learning experience. It also demonstrates to prospective employers that you are motivated and have the commitment and drive to complete a programme, and by thinking creatively you can generally align your learning with aspects of your work.  

Be Visible
In addition to being visible in your organisation, be visible nationally and if possible internationally. Be active in your professional body, present at conferences, have a social media presence, publish. As you progress through your career it is likely you will specialise in certain areas. Develop expertise and a reputation in those areas and keep up to date with new developments.

Ideally move library
I’m immensely grateful I have had the opportunity to work in a number of different libraries. The longest periods were twelve years in DCU and twenty years (so far) at Maynooth University. The former had its origins in the 1980s, the latter in 1796 and have very different cultures.

It’s Your Career!
Don’t forget that. Your Library can offer opportunities, both formal and informal, to help you learn and develop in your career, but ultimately it’s up to you to take ownership of your career development.

Finally, enjoy work. I feel enormously privileged to belong to such an interesting and transforming profession in a time, and in a part of the world, where there is so much opportunity.

Burns, Jane and Fallon, Helen (2012). The Fellowship of the Library Association of Ireland (FLAI): Reflections and Guidelines. An Leabharlann. The Irish Library, 21 (2). pp. 6-9
http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/4269/
Connaughton, Laura (2016). Library Association of Ireland launches Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB). An Leabharlann. The Irish Library, 25 (2), pp. 34-35
http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/7599/
Cox, J. (2016). Communicating New Library Roles to Enable Digital Scholarship: A Review Article.  New Review of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 22 (2-3), pp. 132-147
https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2016.1181665
Cox, J. (2017). New Directions for Academic Libraries in Research Staffing: A Case Study at National University of Ireland Galway. New Review of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 23(2-3), pp. 110-124
https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2017.1316748
Fallon, H. (1998 ). Women on the Web. Dublin: UCD
Gardiner, B. (2013)  Library Ireland Week Staff Exchange Scheme: Diary of an Exchange. An Leabharlann. The Irish Library, 22 (1). pp. 23-24
http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/4315/
Finn, M. et al. (2016) The Library Ireland Week (LIW) job swop initiative Experiences from Maynooth University Library. Sconul Focus, 67. pp. 68-74
http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/8615/

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Casted Librarians: Library Education in Bavaria, Germany

Guest post by Magdalena Rausch, academic librarian in training, Hochschule für den öffentlichen Dienst in Bayern, Munich, Germany, training at University Library of Bayreuth.

Courtesy of Author

(Magdalena recently undertook a three week internship at UCC Libary. She kindly presented to library staff on LIS education in Bavaria, Germany. Since it was such a fascinating eye opener of a talk I asked would she write up a short piece for Libfocus. She kindly did... now over to Magdalena...)


The library education programme of Bavaria is one of a kind – it is a dual system of education and integrated in the civil service system of the state. First of all, there are three levels of librarianship: level 2 (called “FAMI”), level 3 (called “QE3”) which requires you to have graduated from secondary school, level 4 (called “QE4”) which requires you to at least have a master`s degree in a subject of your choice. FAMIs can either train to work in public or academic libraries, as both areas are strictly separated, QE3 is studying to become trained academic librarians and QE4 will become subject librarians.

There are a series of steps you`ll be required to take to start your course of study in level 3 – I like to compare it to a casting: there are a number of jobs available in the state funded libraries of Bavaria, so the state will look for exactly as many people as are needed to fill all vacancies, therefore the number of candidates has to be reduced a couple of times, so you will need to pass a number of tests to advance to the next round of casting and finally be able to study library science.

Courtesy of Author

First, all candidates without A-Levels will not even be able to apply. Secondly, all candidate with A-Levels and German citizenship will need to take the civil servants test – a standardized exam everybody who wants to work for the state of Bavaria will have to take, future policemen and future librarians alike. Pass the test and you will be ranked according to your score and your A-Level grades. In the third round, the best candidates of each department will be invited to a structured interview of two hours where their social competence is put to test. Pass the interview, be ranked high enough and you will be able to study library science at the university of applied science for the Bavarian civil service in Munich.

Of course that seems like a lot of requirements but as soon as you’ve passed those tests and begin your course of study you will be a civil servant of Bavaria and will be paid accordingly even while you`re still studying (this will also result in you having to stay in Bavaria for five years, if you don’t want to have to pay back your debts).

Now this course of study will take you 3 years, 1 of which is spend working at your training library (which you unfortunately might not get to choose) – either one of the University Libraries of Bavaria or the Bavarian State Library – you will be able to learn the theoretical basics of librarianship, make experiences abroad during internships and finally graduate as a trained academic librarian!

Courtesy of Author

More good news: you also will most certainly get a job as an academic librarian because they have only casted as many people as they need to fill the vacancies!

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New Professionals Day Ireland 2016 : The First Rung on the ladder: Part 1 (Maynooth, November 19th 2016)

Guest post by Siobhan McGuinness Siobhan has presented at library conferences such as ASL and CDG. In addition, she enjoys writing blog posts for library organisations.

The team that run New Professionals Day Ireland deliver very important and relevant events for New Professionals. The focus this year being “Applications, Interviews & First Experiences of New Professionals”. The job hunt is tough, something akin to the hunger games in my experience which of course is played out in my mind, not reality.

Library and Information Professionals know they have a wide range of skills, not all of those skills get the proper use in college. You are thought the theory and the practice yet with only a limited amount of experience when you graduate, it is difficult to secure that first job.

If you know what you want during the college term, really dedicate your time to finding out the sector or skill you wish to advance in and you will succeed. Like Caroline Rowan our first speaker, she carefully planned where she wished to see herself, a medical librarian. The advice Caroline gives is one of an action plan, take a step back, look at where you see yourself, think about the plan ahead. When applying for jobs that are short term contracts always ask yourself where will this job take me on my long-term goal? Have these answers ready before you apply.

The application is a long and tedious road, and they are all different. Be aware of the different formats, inform yourself of things like Garda vetting, all the addresses you lived in will need to be identified. Different jobs require different CV’s, so be prepared to rewrite everything. Have that master CV, it will help you in the long run.

The next step is the interview, this is a huge pat on the back. It means your CV works and is what the organisation wanted. Now it is for you to prepare, hold on to the job descriptions as this is vital information to you. Prepare yourself more, forearmed is forewarned as they say. Email (very nicely) to the HR personnel and ask them the interview process, information like how many will be on the panel and who they are, what type of interview will it be?

Next up was the first of four lighting presentations, Gary LaCumbre led the way with his presentation “The elusive middle ground: over qualified and under experienced”. This is where I sit, in nearly all my interviews the lack of actual library experience is always a disadvantage to me. It is disheartening to have a Master’s degree and still find yourself applying for jobs at an entry level, because you don’t have the necessary experience. It is even more difficult to be told that you are over qualified for posts, because the organisation do not accept qualified professionals at entry level posts. Gary says, no matter what post you are successful in always make sure you get involved with other projects, maximise your skillset so that when you find yourself once again job searching you “have travelled outside of your own job description”.  A wonderful presentation and very heart-warming for those of us who are constantly searching.

Niall O’Brien followed with “Learning at the Information desk”. Here Niall teaches us to build a relationship with your users, get to know them, their interests. In essence even though you are doing a “job” you are doing the job you love so let that show when dealing with users, this is such an important message and one that we often forget, so thank you Niall. While you build this relationship, you teach them how to answer their own research queries, you give them the tools. Assess how you interact with your users, does the information desk look like a wall, a barrier, or is it a welcoming space an informal space that makes the user comfortable. Always make the experience something that the user will use and learn from.

Anita Cooper began her presentation with the fab title “A librarian gets into a taxi…and guess what happens next? Anita tells us the story of how in the most unexpected circumstances she secured an internship with Dublin Business School Library, with the lovely Marie O’Neill. Now that she has graduated and is on her search to secure a library job, she says to keep an open mind. You need to always believe that when you are in the right place at the right time things do happen. Anita says if her husband had not met Marie and told her the story of the difficult choice Anita was making regarding changing careers and becoming a librarian. If happenstance had not occurred she would hate to think where she would have ended up, or even worse abandoned her dreams. Don’t lose faith, we all know this is what we want so keep going, because we will get there.

Lastly, we have Jesse Waters “My first year out of Library School” these amazing achievements in just one year goes to show that dedication and drive really does pay off. Jesse says in order to keep your mental health healthy in between jobs, job searching and the mountain of rejections, is to concentrate on your Continuing Professional Development. Look for seminars and conferences that you can present at, be a lightning talk or a poster presentation it helps you focus on your profession, and reminds you that you love what you are doing. While looking after your mental health, network and this keeps you in touch with everyone, opportunities arise from these meet up’s. 

The high standard of presentations at npdi16 was incredible, to all of the brand-new, new library and informational professionals keep doing what you are doing because it will stand to you. All you need is patience and time, just remember to have fun along the way!


Part two can be read here .

A Storify of the event has been created and can be seen here

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How to Become a Library Director

When I was just starting out in libraries, I took advantage of resume review workshops, attended career fairs at my library school, asked my professors to talk about the job market, and reached out to working librarians for career advice. A few years later, I've reviewed resumes at workshops, spoken at career fairs, devoted class time to job search strategies as a library school instructor, and been approached by young librarians looking for career advice.

Having now been on both sides of the job search education issue, I have realized that what would have been most useful to me when I was just starting out is if librarians were willing to spend time considering what job search strategies worked for them and then shared those strategies.

I'll start. Here's how I landed my dream job, broken down into five broad steps.

1. Read lots of job ads.

Job ads don't just tell you what positions are available, they also tell you what skills, experiences, and traits are needed in order to get the job. As soon as I realized I wanted to be a library director, but long before I was qualified to become one, I began spending time each week reading job ads, and I made of list of the qualifications I saw most often.

2. Build your resume.

Once I had a list of qualifications, I went about earning them. I could earn some items on my own outside of work – technology skills, for example. Other items could be practiced constantly, like being cool under pressure or being an excellent communicator. But the process to earn the biggest items – like facilities, budget, and staff management – was more prescribed: I had to start with tiny projects in order to earn small projects in order to earn medium projects in order to earn large projects. For example, a minor facilities project at one library – having a built-in bookshelf removed and the plaster behind it repaired – led to a larger facilities project at another: planning and overseeing the installation of new electrical and data ports in order to update an older building without a major renovation. This larger project helped convince my supervisors at that same library to let me take point when the roof sprung a leak.

This was a time-consuming and somewhat daunting process – the list of qualifications I had put together was long – but it was also a fun, or at least a satisfying, process. My enjoyment of the work and the time it took to earn these qualifications made me more confident that I wanted to be a library director, and that I would be a good one.

3. Have a specialty.

While gathering the qualifications I identified by looking at job ads, I also established a specialty that would both set me apart as a candidate and help me succeed as a director. I worked to become skilled at library assessment – gathering and interpreting data, both qualitative and quantitative, to identify where a library is doing well and where it has room to improve. I paired my assessment skills with my experience teaching to become someone who can not only gather and interpret data, but also explain it in a compelling way to a non-expert audience.

I enjoy assessment and I enjoy teaching, so it made sense for me to concentrate on these areas. To identify a specialty that might work for you, I recommend staying on top of our field: Read LibFocus, LibraryJournal, In the Library with the Lead Pipe, and INALJ. Follow librarians on Twitter. Join ALA Think Tank on Facebook. Subscribe to /r/libraries on Reddit. Identify libraries and librarians doing exciting things and keep an eye on them for inspiration. Go to conferences. Find something in libraries that you're interested in and become an expert.

4. Apply.

Don't wait until you've gathered all your qualifications and have become the perfect candidate before applying for your dream job. We're never finished building our resumes (how boring would that be?) and no candidate is perfect. So when you find a job you're interested in, apply for it. You might get it. But even if you don't get it, the application process is enormously helpful. Like anything else, applying takes practice. Tailoring your resume and cover letter to specific jobs, knowing what to wear, becoming confident in your skills, listening and speaking well during your interview – all of these are skills that you need in order to become a library director, just like facilities, budget, and staff management.

5. Ask for advice.

The most useful thing I did when I was about to apply for my first directorship was ask a director at another library to look over my resume and cover letter and give me feedback. I had met this director only once before – we traded cards at a conference – and I was a little nervous to ask her for help; we were essentially strangers. But librarians are a generous and helpful group, used to answering questions and giving advice. And the advice I received from my now-colleague was invaluable. When you are applying for your dream job, ask a librarian for help. And, when you are in a position to help someone else, do so.

If you'd like me to take a look at your resume or cover letter, connect with me on Twitter.

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