by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario Professional Associations for Canadian LIS Professionals Professional Associations (PAs) are something we’ve all heard about, if only in that we’ve heard about the American Library Association (ALA) because of the fact that all MLIS programs in North America have to be accredited by them. PAs aren’t just about…
Interviews
Changing Library Career Tracks After Graduation, Britt Foster . . . Solo Librarian
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Joy Rodriguez, Head Editor, INALJ Delaware Changing Library Career Tracks After Graduation, Britt Foster . . . Solo Librarian When she graduated from library school in 2011, Britt Foster planned on working as a…
Articles
Library 101: The Missing Course that You Wish You Could Have Taken
by Shayna Monnens, Head Editor, INALJ South Dakota Library 101: The Missing Course that You Wish You Could Have Taken When we go to library school, we learn all kinds of different techniques. How to provide reader advisory, how to do original cataloging, database creation, and reference work are all topics that are covered in…
Articles
Desk Yoga: Job searching & stretching
by Melanie Masserant, Head Editor, INALJ NYC Desk Yoga: Job searching & stretching (Simple stretches to sooth the seated body) How many hours are you seated at your desk every day on average? The total of hours spent searching, online networking, and resume tailoring is a modern-day desk sentence for job seekers. Since our bodies…
Articles
5 Basic Tips for Doing Well in the Interview
by Sean O’Brien, Head Editor, INALJ Colorado 5 Basic Tips for Doing Well in the Interview So you got the interview! Congratulations! But now, you realize, you still have to get through the scariest part; the interview. But hey, don’t worry, we’re here this month to give you a few basic tips that will help…
Articles
Library Superstar Dream Jobs
by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming Library Superstar Dream Jobs Often, I’ll see a news story about a cool space and know that a librarian is the unsung superstar. That’s right, I said superstar. The following is a list of some dream jobs: 1) GM Heritage Center, http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/about-gm-heritage-center/. I heard about this archive on…
Articles
Looking Towards the New Mexico Library Association Conference: April 17-19, 2013
by Mychal Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico Looking Towards the New Mexico Library Association Conference: April 17-19, 2013 Here in Albuquerque New Mexico, it’s the first day (pre-conference sessions) of the annual New Mexico Library Association Conference. I thought I’d share some of the interesting sessions and talks that I plan on attending, over…
Articles
Opt In
by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky Opt In Guess what friends? It may not seem like it, but you are in charge of your career, personal development, and advancement. The career website Careerealism has a tagline, Because Every Job is Temporary. Sure it’s somewhat disconcerting, but these days it’s true. You can’t rely on…
Articles
How to build a custom RSS (to help you to save time during your job search)
by Elena Bubelich, Head Editor, INALJ Quebec How to build a custom RSS (to help you to save time during your job search) Everyone knows how long it could be to search in or to check a multitude of sites offering information about jobs. For example, almost every day I check near 30 sites with…
Articles
The Buddy System
by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana The Buddy System Job hunting is exhausting. Job hunting is life-consuming. Job hunting can eat up your entire identity until you cannot think or talk about anything else. And here’s a hint: your friends and family will get sick of hearing about that awesome job you hope will…
Articles
Give a little, receive so much! Donate to INALJ
INALJ mini-pledge drive Hi Everyone! If you are a regular INALJ.com visitor you’ll know that I don’t ask for donations very often. The last time would have been sometime last year. I can’t even remember when. This is an entirely volunteer project so all hosting and costs come out of my pocket. Even a small…
Articles
Frequently Asked Interview Questions
by Stephanie Altbier, MSLS, ERMp I recently had a job interview where the interview panel asked several personality questions. Here are my suggestions for how to answer the questions. “What is your hobby?” Give a professional response by talking about your volunteering activities and how you grow your professional skills. “What would your supervisor say…
Interviews, Success Stories
Matt Berlyant …Success Story
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions My interview with success story Matt (from 2012) Naomi: How did you find your current job? Matt: I found my current job via the job board of the iSchool at Drexel University. Note that I…
Articles
Career Counselor
Career Counselor by Kelly Quaye I just returned from the ALA Midwinter Meeting (this was 2012) so my mind is still abuzz with the many great programs and services on offer. Did you know that ALA has a Conference Placement Service where you can meet with a professional career counselor during conference? I highly recommend…
Interviews
Susanne Markgren of LISJobs Career Q&A …In Six
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions My interview with Susanne of LISJobs Career Q&A Naomi: What made you interested in starting your online Career Q&A? Susanne: Career Q&A with the Library Career People began as a column in the online newsletter…
Articles
IWALJ – I Want A Library Job by Qraig De Groot
Here’s the sad fact – I’ve been looking for a meaningful and rewarding job since graduating college…in 1993. Now, I don’t mention that as a scare tactic or to imply that I haven’t worked at all since 1993. Quite the contrary. I’ve held down numerous positions in many exciting and interesting fields. Sadly, some never…
Articles
On Finding Stealth Library Jobs (must read)
I was happy to find a posting on finding outside the box or stealth library jobs. ALAJobList originally shared the link and I re-shared it 🙂 Written by Holly the Librarian, Stealth Library Jobs, covers a very important topic, jobs that are perfect for librarians posted employers who don’t know they need us (librarians) for…
Interviews
R. David Lankes …In Six
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions I discovered R. David Lankes wonderful Virtual Dave…Real Blog through The Unquiet Librarian’s blog. From 1/3/2012 Naomi: What is your dream job and why? R. David: Honestly, I have my dream job. As a professor I…
Articles
The Road Less Traveled By Chelsea Jordan-Makely
The Road Less Traveled (Postcards from a Library Job Seeker) By Chelsea Jordan-Makely reposted from 9/26/2012 It has been a busy month. Less than four weeks ago, I resigned from two library jobs I adored, received my MLIS, and moved to Oregon with my husband, who accepted a faculty position at a small university here.…
Articles
Thank You Notes = Ace in Hand
by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania Think thank you notes are just for your grandmother? Think again. According to a 2011 CareerBuilder survey, 22 % of hiring managers say that thank you notes matter. Why do they matter? Neglecting to thank your interviewers shows a lack of follow-through and sends the message that you…
Articles
So How Do I Get Experience?
Having served on search committees I know one of the key things looked at on resumes is whether or not a candidate has experience (with the ILS, in libraries, etc). I know this can be a big challenge these days as many MLIS/MLS students work full time and take night classes or online classes. Also…
Interviews
Karly Szczepkowski …In Six
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions My interview with the author of INALJ’s Top 10 Job Sites for Librarians & Info Pro’s, Karly Naomi: What is your dream job and why? And if you could take any of your hobbies and…
Articles
Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Two days ago I was in Washington, DC and it was 97 degrees. Today I am in Montreal, Quebec and the weather outside is quite different, still lovely, though, and snowing 🙂 I am speaking at McGill this afternoon and the show must go on. So today I will be très très busy and I…
Articles
Pick Two
Pick Two by Naomi House Just a quick thought on getting involved and networking. There are tons of library and other related organizations you can join and volunteer with. Sometimes the number can be overwhelming so I recommend the strategy of Pick Two. By this I mean picking one national organization and getting involved with…
Articles
New look at the list of references
by Duda Trickovic, Head Editor, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick New look at the list of references When you are looking for job, list of references is a standard part of the hiring process. It is almost impossible to get a job if you don’t have a good reference. As I was conducting my…
Interviews
Meet Rachel Chenault: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama Meet Rachel Chenault: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor and Reference & Instruction Librarian at South University Rachael A: Favorite Library you have been to? Rachel C: The Erie County…
Articles
e-Portfolio Primer
by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii e-Portfolio Primer So, you’ve entered the job hunt armed with a basic arsenal of a well-crafted cover letter, polished resume and stellar references. Don’t think you are fully prepared yet. One more weapon which is making its way from auxiliary to essential is the e-Portfolio. An e-Portfolio…
Interviews
Sharon Miller…Mechanic’s Institute Library Director
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Kiersten Bryant, Head Editor, INALJ California Sharon Miller…Mechanic’s Institute Library Director Sharon Miller is the Director of the Mechanic’s Institute Library, a historic membership-based library in the heart of San Francisco, founded in 1854…
Articles
Support Staff Silos
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Support Staff Silos There’s a lot of talk in job searching about cross-industry skills. Employees and job seekers with skills that can be used in a number of different ways are more marketable and ultimately more useful to employers. Sometimes, however, I think this idea gets a bit…
Articles
Naomi House at McGill in Montreal April 12th!
Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know I will be speaking at McGill on April 12th from 13:00-15:00. Space is limited. Hoping to meet many of you so don’t be shy, come up and introduce yourselves 🙂
Articles
Downton Abbey and Dream Questions on the Ref Desk
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska Downton Abbey and Dream Questions on the Ref Desk I kid you not…I was sitting at the reference the desk the other day and a patron came up to me and said with a copy of Downton Abbey in her hands “I love, love, love this show. I…
Articles
Top 5 LinkedIn Groups for Library Job Seekers
There are many places you can interact online with other library job seekers. What I love about LinkedIn is that overall the discussions tend to lean towards being more professional than they do on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. In no particular order: INALJ- The I need a Library job Group : I founded this…
Interviews
Emily Ellis …Mover & Shaker & Teen Librarian
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions My interview with 2012 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, Emily Ellis Naomi: How did you come to work for your current position? Emily: I’m only 30, but I’ve been working in libraries for 15 years…
Articles
The Art of Down Time
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina The Art of Down Time Oofah, it’s been a busy month! My first INALJ blog post, Learn From My Mistakes, came out this morning. (Stay with me now, this is the segue.) I reread it to see how it came out and to get some inspiration…
Articles
Skype Your Way to Success
by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Skype Your Way to Success As a hiring manager, working in a public library I found Skype to be an effective tool when faced with the prospect of interviewing candidates from across this vast land. Although our city had an airport, service was “regional” and the next largest…
Interviews
Camille Salas… MLS Student and Intern with Viewshare.org
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 Camille Salas… MLS Student and Intern with Viewshare.org Sandra: Hi, Camille, tell us about yourself. Where are you from and how did you come to be a part…
Articles
Feed your RSS Reader – Blogs to follow for career advice
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Feed your RSS Reader – Blogs to follow for career advice Just because Google Reader is shutting down is no reason not to keep cultivating new RSS feeds for resume, cover letter and general interview advice. When I graduated from high school, I was told to always tell…
Articles
Work You Can’t Not Do?
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Work You Can’t Not Do? Since most people reading this are in the LIS field, I feel like it’s pretty safe to assume that we share a fascination with information and learning. TED talks are one of my favorite ways to come across new information, ideas, and perspectives.…
Articles
A Case for Learning HTML
by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina A Case for Learning HTML I remember sitting in a required technology class during my first semester of library school and wondering if I was ever going to use any of the information presented. I was so sure that I was going to be a reference librarian,…
Articles
March 2013 Roundup (INALJ Stats )
What a great month it has been! INALJ reached 1,000,000 page views on March 17, 2013!!! Fifty-three fans reported that they found jobs! In March the daily site visits jumped up 50%!!! Some fast stats for March 2013: 1,120,534 total INALJ.com page views (all time) and 239,353 in March alone over 12,830 Tweets milestone reached…