Angela J.A. Kent, Head Editor, INALJ-Virtual Work Talking It Out: Thoughts On Professional Writing The dreaded blank screen and blinking cursor. Whether it’s preparing a cover letter, writing a paper for class, creating a work presentation, or drafting a report for your boss, professional writing can be tough. Sometimes the link between your thoughts in your…
89 search results for "confidence"
Articles
Technology-Related Career Trajectory: What’s Your Plan?
by Sheryl L. Christensen, Head Editor, INALJ California Technology-Related Career Trajectory: What’s Your Plan? Many insiders in the field of web-based projects, both library-focused as well as business-related, are no longer quite as enamored as they once were of programming certifications, or even, in some instances, IT degrees. There are still fields that absolutely require specialty certification…
Articles
Networking on LinkedIn: Informational Interviews vs. Librarianesque Stalking
by Kasia Piasecka reposting from 1/26/12 and 3/28/12 Networking on LinkedIn: Informational Interviews vs. Librarianesque Stalking Personally, I enjoy meeting new people online in the interest of making new friends, business associates, tennis partners, pals to toss hackey sack, and yes, you guessed it, for the purpose of gaining knowledge from an informational interview. I…
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The Learning Curve
by Heidi Greathouse, Head Editor, INALJ Utah The Learning Curve Since my last post, I accepted a job as a Cataloging Librarian at an academic library. I’ve had to make many adjustments such as moving to a different state, making new friends, and being in a new environment. One major adjustment is of course the job I am…
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Zen and the Art of Unemployment-or-Catcher in the Wry
Articles
Soft Skills = Success: Self Awareness
by Julie Watson, former Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania Soft Skills = Success: Self-Awareness This is the second in a series of articles on soft skills. Employers are looking for soft skills in their in prospective employees and having these skills often makes the difference between who can do a job and who gets a job. Since…
Articles
Introverts Can Network, Too!
by Emma Pinault, Head Editor, INALJ Delaware Introverts Can Network, Too! Networking and making connections in your field is vital to career success, whether you’re just starting out and looking for a job or looking to move up into a more challenging position. We all know this. But not everyone is a people person, and the field of…
Articles
How I Recovered From Being Fired
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Who ARE You (choosing to be)?
by Sheryl L. Christensen, Head Editor, INALJ California Who ARE You (choosing to be)? Many of you have probably seen this TedTalk by Shawn Achor. In this video, he very entertainingly tells stories and offers information about how our happiness and positive, self-affirming outlook oftentimes precedes or even brings about what we distinguish as success. …
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Networking: From Dirty Word to Mantra
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Having A Positive Perspective
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Second Time Around: Staying Positive during My Job Search, or I’m a Recovering Debbie Downer
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey Second Time Around: Staying Positive during My Job Search, or I’m a Recovering Debbie Downer Last month, a lively thread began on the INALJ LinkedIn group’s discussion board. It started when our intrepid leader Naomi House shared an article and some insights about job seekers who are…
Articles
An Ideas List (in 6) for your New Year
by Sarah Roark Schott, Head Editor, INALJ Arizona An Ideas List (in 6) for your New Year For many of us the thought of beginning a new year looking for a new library job is daunting. Instead of a list of tips to get healthy, I thought I would come up with a list of…
Articles
Go Ahead, Be a Little Bossy
by Fallon Zschiegner-Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Arkansas Go Ahead, Be a Little Bossy If you had told me a year ago that I would not only be doing metadata in my non-library job but that I would WANT to do metadata…well, I would have laughed in your face. Yet, in the three months since I’ve…
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A Customer Service Cheat Sheet
by Kristen Jaques, Head Editor, INALJ Maine A Customer Service Cheat Sheet If you’ve been browsing job postings lately, you’ve probably observed that for many library positions, excellent customer service skills are expected, if not required. The ability to work well with the public can be developed with experience, but for some of us, it…
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The Many Sides of Reference: Special Collections versus Academic Libraries
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho The Many Sides of Reference: Special Collections versus Academic Libraries I recently accepted two different part-time positions that both require that I man the reference desk for a significant portion of each shift I work. One position is in a special collections department within a public library and…
Interviews, Success Stories
Matt Thorenz …Success Story
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions Naomi House’s interview with success story Matt. Naomi: How did you find your current job? Matt: I contacted my local library to see if there was a need for help. It turned out they were…
Articles
Networking Nerves
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Networking Nerves I know there have been a huge number of articles on the web (including on INALJ) that contain testimonials as to why it is, in fact, worthwhile to go to conferences and other continuing education type events. Spoiler alert: this is another one of those articles.…
Articles
Stop Focusing on your Career! (Soft Skills = Success)
by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania Stop Focusing on your Career! (Soft Skills = Success) This is the fifth in a series of articles on soft skills. Ladies (especially), listen up: Are you anxious for that big breakthrough promotion or that dream job offer? Do you worry that you don’t know what you’re doing…
Interviews
When Archiving and Comics Collide
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Sandra Hoyer, Head Editor, INALJ Washington When Archiving and Comics Collide: Tess McCarthy on Incorporating Creativity in Librarianship Tess McCarthy is the archivist at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco, California. She…
Interviews, Success Stories
Fallon Bleich …Success Story
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions Naomi House’s interview with success story and INALJ Arkansas Head Editor, Fallon. Naomi: How did you find your current job? Fallon: I actually just happened to use my networking and bragging on myself skills to…
Articles
Overcoming Procrastination
by Elinor Crosby, Head Editor, INALJ Nova Scotia Overcoming Procrastination Hello, my name is Elinor and I am a procrastinator. I’ve been getting better as I get older, but I’ve always been an at-the-last-possible-minute kinda gal. As a child I found my schoolwork easy, so I spent my time reading instead, and then did my work…
Articles
Informational Interview
by Chelsea Jordan-Makely . . . . .Informational Interview These past few months, I’ve been practicing off-road job searching, pursuing a library job through unconventional means. I live in Oregon, a slow library job market, and days would pass when no new jobs were posted. So, I took it upon myself to “knock on some…
Articles
What are your Weaknesses?
by Ashley Crace, Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia What are your Weaknesses? When I practiced for job interviews, I used notecards with common interview questions, gathered from varied sources. I started doing this on recommendation from a friend and it worked well for me. I felt more prepared and articulate in the actual interview. One…
Articles
Keeping Track of Your Accomplishments
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina Keeping Track of Your Accomplishments I’m learning a lot in my current administrative position, and not necessarily what I thought I’d be learning. It’s exhausting (I’m either traveling to or at work 14 hours out of the day) and I find the position really uncomfortable, but…