Bring Your Hobbies to Work!

by Elinor Crosby, Head Editor, INALJ Nova Scotia

Bring Your Hobbies to Work!

elinorcrosby01As a recent graduate and a recent hire at a local public library, I am still learning the ropes at my job. In order to learn as much as possible during my part-time hours every week, I have been taking as much training as possible, and taking on responsibilities and tasks that give me an opportunity to grow in my role.

During my explorations, one of the things I noticed was that my branch didn’t have any library programs for knitting, crocheting or other needlework. As an avid knitter, I attend knit nights at a café weekly with friends, and I saw that some other libraries in our system also had knit nights. So, I suggested a program for my library, and over the summer I have helped develop by writing our ad copy for our library guide, collecting volunteers to show up every week and help us facilitate it, and I will also be volunteering for it myself when it starts happening this fall.

By showing initiative I have also been given some other responsibilities that leverage my other skills as well. I have since gotten tapped to lead a belly dance program for the teen summer program because my coworkers know that that is another of my professions. I have also leveraged my bilingualism to get asked to help put on a French puppet show sometime this fall and also to weed our French fiction and non-fiction collections.

What makes you unique from your colleagues, or even other job applicants? How do you get noticed? What special talents and skills can you use to put on a program? These are great things to think about when going into a job interview!

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