By Karly Szczepkowski previously published 7/17/13 & 7/29/14 How I Found My Job: Moving On From Disappointment (and finding success!) After some time working as a Business Researcher I realized I was ready to move on. One of my LinkedIn connections recently posted a job to her newsfeed so I applied. My connection was the…
Ask a Special Librarian – July Edition What to Do With That Stack of Business Cards: Tips for Post-Conference Networking Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant – University of Connecticut @joshualaporte & https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshuaLaPorte In this installment of “Ask a Special Librarian,”…
Heidi Taylor-Caudill, former Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky previously published 5/13/14 Four Things I Wish I Had Done in Library School Next week, I’m graduating with an MSLS from the University of Kentucky’s School of Library and Information Science. As with any milestone, one has a chance to reflect on successes and failures, things done right, and things that…
by Claire Schmieder, Volunteer Manager Previously published 11/11/14 The Job Hunter’s Guide to Positivity Just about one year ago, I started working at my current job. Hooray! This upcoming anniversary has gotten me reflecting on the time BEFORE I started working, when I was a verging-on-desperate job hunter. After I earned my MLIS, I spent nearly…
Flexibility in job hunting means considering part-time positions by Crystal Bauer, INALJ Missouri A few months ago I was approaching graduation from my MLS program. As excited as I was at the prospect of graduating, in the back of my mind, I began dreading the job search within the library field. Having volunteered as an…
Wanted: The Next Librarian of Congress by Andy Woodworth The next Librarian of Congress will be the most important job placement in our career lifetimes. Originally, I had written “may be” instead of “will be” because I thought the latter would be a bit hyperbolic. Upon further reflection, I made the decision to remove any…
Library Bucket List: On loving all libraries by Jen Li, INALJ Contributor I have a ‘library bucket list’. Although my PhD research focuses on three case study libraries in Sydney, my reading and travels have taken me beyond Sydney and those three libraries. I have a mental list of libraries that I would like to…
by Alphild Dick, former Head Editor, INALJ Washington previously published 6/9/14 You and Me and Library Makes Three: Negotiating Dual-Career Households When I started library school, I was under few illusions that finding the traditional librarian position that I wanted would be easy. And time consuming. And frustrating. It was the reality of pursuing work that I was…
by Rebekah Kati, former Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina previously published 6/5/14 Secrets of a Tech Therapist My previous job was the Information Technology Librarian for an online university. One of the most difficult aspects of this job was helping patrons troubleshoot technical problems with the online databases. At times, I felt like a therapist as I listened…
by Rebecca Kluberdanz, former Senior Editor previously published 11/11/14 Avoiding the Resume Black Hole As job seekers in an increasing technological world we are all familiar with the dreaded online job application. You’re asked to fill about everything you could ever know about yourself, insert your resume in five different places, take a questionnaire that lasts 24…
Library Maker Fest! June 18, 2015 by Michele LeSure Hey, guess what? I’m going to go to the Library Maker Fest this Thursday, June 18th, from 9:00am to 3:00pm at the Plant City Strawberry Festival Arthur Boring Civic Center. And, if you were going to tell me that Plant City has a drive-in restaurant, I…
Resilience During (and Beyond) the Job Hunt by Julia Feerrar I once applied for a job that, in many ways, felt like it had been made just for me. I progressed through a phone interview and then an on-campus interview, feeling confident and excited. While of course I knew that there must be quite a…
Managing Student Employees in your 20s by Laura Birkenhauer Going from a being a student to managing students can be tough, especially when you still have the baby face and unbounded enthusiasm of a newbie 20-something. So, here are some of the upsides (and cons to steer clear of!) of managing student employees in your…
Libraries, hey? That could be a dissertation topic by Jen Li, INALJ Contributor I begin with a confession. I claim to be a lover of books, reading, and libraries, and indeed during the course of my PhD research, I have visited over seventy libraries in several countries, amassed a number of library cards, and borrowed…
4 Tips for Making the Most of Your Project Archivist Position by Amanda Axel, INALJ Contributor Finding a job in an archive early in one’s career can be very difficult. For any given position, we may be competing against hundreds of candidates that are just as qualified as we are. We may also be up…
by Ruth Lincoln, former Senior Assistant, INALJ Washington, DC previously published 10/4/13 & 8/29/14 Conflict in the Job Interview: How to Approach the Tricky Questions A job interview isn’t complete without a little conflict. That is, questions about how you handle conflict. A great employee knows how to stay calm when plans go awry, attitudes clash,…
by Christina Wilson, former Head Editor of INALJ Alberta and INALJ Manitoba previously published 2/27/14 Your Career Statement Of Purpose: a SOP Story At a recent library conference, l learned a new approach towards the all-important career summary that all job seekers are expected to deliver during an interview. Typically, interviews begin with a request to provide a career overview. Most…
Ask a Special Librarian – May Edition (Part 2 of 2) Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant – University of Connecticut @joshualaporte & https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshuaLaPorte It’s a banner month for all you INALJ.com readers. You get not one but two editions of…
Ask a Special Librarian – May Edition (Part 1 of 2) Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Mentoring. It’s a word that seems to strike fear in the hearts of new and experienced professionals alike. If you are just starting out, you probably often hear…
by Ryan Nitz, former Head Editor, INALJ Alaska previously published 5/14/14 Professional Shadowing for Your Toolbox As part of a training program at work, I recently had the opportunity to spend a day shadowing someone in a leadership position in my organization. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be one of the…
5 tips for telecommuting (and how to find a library job that will let you do it) by Brad McNally, Senior Editor Some positions require that a person be physically on site, and librarianship is one career field that typically is seen as an in-person job choice. With new technology, however, and positions such as…
by Samantha Read, former Head Editor, INALJ New Brunswick previously published 6/10/14 Avoiding that “Conference Itch” Well, folks, we’re in full conference season now. A relative newbie to this scene (I just started in my position as Archives Advisor at CANB in February), I attended the CNSA conference the other week and will be at the APLA conference…
by Rossy Mendez, former Head Editor, INALJ Puerto Rico previously published 6/11/14 Turning Disaster into Brownie Points Like many people I have had my share of crappy jobs. I have worked in places where people lacked ethics, in places where I have questioned my sanity and lost my dignity, places where I spent many afternoons in tears and…
by Kathleen Kosiec previously published 11/8/13 & 6/30/14 Taking the TARDIS back to the Start of My MLIS Program My fellow Doctor Who fans know the British sci-fi show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. For those unfamiliar with the show, it’s about a time-traveling alien with a time machine that resembles an old telephone…
Cover Letters: They’re Kind of a BIG DEAL! by Natalie Browning, Senior Assistant, INALJ DC Cover Letter. Letter of Interest. I dare you to find a job posting that does not require you to write a letter about your qualifications. Sending in a resume is not enough; the hiring committee wants to see not only…