My interview with success story Dina!
Naomi: How did you find your current job?
Dina: I found my job the old fashioned way – my mother told me to email a friend of hers who had a friend in the DC area who’s sister was a librarian (seriously). Basically, I sent a networking email to a complete stranger and he alerted me of a posting to the job. I applied and went on an interview. The other thing that helped was having a second MA. The work I do right now is on Hebrew and Jewish texts, so having the second masters in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages probably put me at the top of the pile. I’m fluent in Hebrew (biblical and modern), and have a knowledge of Syriac, Aramaic and Akkadian.
Naomi: Favorite library you have been to?
Dina: I actually haven’t been to too many libraries. I oddly don’t seek them out when on vacation. I’d say it’s a tie between Butler Library at Columbia University and the main New York Public Library branch (the one with the lions). I loved the old stacks at Butler.
Naomi: Favorite book?
Dina: I like to say I’m more of the Nobel than the Pulitzer – I tend to like authors more than individual books. So, I’d say my favorite authors are Philip Roth, Margaret Atwood, and recently Isabel Allende. I would also be remiss to not mention the Harry Potter Series, although they went downhill after 3.
Naomi: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Dina: I love OPACs. Maybe I love them defensively; I’m sick of people feeling nostalgic for card catalogs.
Naomi: Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following?
Dina: Obviously, INALJ. And your mother/father. Listen to them and their cockamamie networking ideas. Also, another blog I really like that isn’t about job searching or libraries is http://corporette.com/. It’s really for lawyers and people in the corporate world, but it incorporates fashion advice, how to ask for a raise, how to properly dress for an interview, etc. I think it’s a really great resource for young working women.
Dina is currently the Librarian for the Iraqi Jewish Archive project at the National Archives. She is working at her dream job – a 2 year stint preserving Jewish books and documents found in Iraq (stay tuned for the exhibit in October 2013 at the Archives downtown!). Originally from New York, she has a BA from Columbia University in Ancient Studies, a BA and MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages and a MLS from University of Maryland. She loves all the stereotypical librarian hobbies: cooking, knitting, reading. She lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband (a lawyer who has a surprisingly librarian-y job) and misses NY pizza and bagels.