Naomi: How did you find your current job? Jonathan: Scouring my current workplace’s job page. Already being a worker, even though I was quarter time, got me an interview which lead to me being hired.
Naomi: Favorite library you have been to? Jonathan: I would say the downtown public library in Nashville TN. I worked there for a year and half but the classic beauty of the building never got old.
Naomi: Favorite book? Jonathan:All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Naomi: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology? Jonathan: Personally I love physical books. I wish I could live in an age where they were the only source of information, but I realize that’s more or less a pipe dream.
Naomi: Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following? Jonathan:INALJ seems to be the most comprehensive job feed that I could find, but I also searched libgig quite frequently and any library/information job page in my general area.
Naomi: Best piece of job hunting advice? Jonathan: I think every job searcher should read “Know the Difference: Identifying Obstacles to Employment by Ellen Mehling” an article that was posted on INALJ a few months back. A sense of entitlement destroyed my job search in the beginning, but when I learned I deserved nothing I started to see consistent results. Also before every interview, I would ask myself “What is everyone else not doing?” and then I would try to do it. I started sending thank you notes to employers for reviewing my application and by my last month of job searching I was averaging two interviews a week. For my current position’s second interview, I wrote a six month strategic plan which I’m pretty sure earned me the position.
I graduated with an English degree from Lipscomb University in 2007. After teaching English in China for a few months, I worked retail for two years before deciding that I needed a career path, so I decided to earn my MLIS from Florida State University entirely online. I graduated in December 2011. After eight or nine months job searching, I found a position as an assessment manager at my alma mater, and I’ve been working there for a little over a month.