by Sean O’Brien, Head Editor, INALJ Colorado 5 Reasons Why I’m Starting the Job Hunt Early This week is kind of an exciting time for me. Why? Because I’m finishing up the last of my summer classes, which means that I only have a single semester left before I finish grad school. But, with excitement…
by Brad McNally, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Being Prepared: Building a Better Application Portfolio “Be Prepared” – it is the motto of the scouts and no doubt you have heard it countless times throughout your life. For any job related situation, from application submission to interview and job offer, it is better to have more…
by Elena Bubelich, Head Editor, INALJ Quebec Resuming Free Online Tools for Job Searches In my previous blog postings, I’ve presented some free tools for searching for jobs, so in this article I would like to resume this theme and to tell a little bit about other tools. So, 1. One of the most usual…
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri Knowing is Power: How I organize my job search As of June 23, 2013, I have applied for over 70 jobs and have had 15 interviews. How do I know all this? I keep a record of it. When I first started searching for jobs, I asked some…
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas Location, Location, Relocation? My Journey. Sometime last year, I read a short article about relocating to a city in order to find a job in a specific area. I remember thinking this was kind of backwards. Job first, relocation second. I had always planned on relocating when I…
Reflections on Library Journal’s Lead the Change by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama “Librarians are human change agents. Their product is a child who learns, a young person grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether.” –Peter Drucker Last month I attended Library Journal’s Lead the Change Leadership Event Series at Alabama…
by Courtney Baron, Head Editor, INALJ Georgia My Library Bucket List: Summer Edition I’m in my second semester of library school now and still do not have a library job (nor am I planning on looking for one just yet). I try to stay connected to the field through INALJ and my collection development internship,…
by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island Advice on Finding Career Advice Right now as you are reading this there are thousands of articles, books and blogs out there waiting to provide you with all of the career advice you would ever need. Unfortunately just sticking a couple of words into the google search…
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Soon-to-be grads: have you considered an internship? One of the most frustrating aspects of being a recent graduate in any field is the how-do-I-get-a-job-without-experience-but-how-do-I-get-experience-without-a-job conundrum. Well, if you’re still in your LIS program (not that it’s impossible to do an internship outside of school, but it’s harder and…
by Alexis Stapp, Head Editor, INALJ Minnesota What (not) to do while job hunting Here is my tongue-in-cheek guide to what you should do while job hunting: Take longer than a week to complete a single job application. Complain endlessly – especially to library school friends who are in the same boat. Be super disorganized…
by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee Sharing My (Jobs) Sources I go to many websites to locate open positions to share with Tennessee job hunters. I would like to share a few of my favorite local and national resources here for you. Each is also linked on the INALJ-TN page. 1. ATLA American Theological…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont 10 Takeaways from #SLA2013 With more than 200 programs and 2,800 attendees the Special Libraries Association recently finished up their annual conference. The 2013 conference occurred in San Diego, CA and included an unofficial INALJ meet up! If you are not yet involved in SLA, please consider it…
by Nena Schvaneveldt, Head Editor, INALJ Utah Believe (that you will get a library job) I had a rough start to my professional life. I was quickly laid off my first job out of college and was fired from my first librarian job. In hindsight, I can see that I wasn’t quite ready to handle…
Jill Olsen, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada There are no jobs, there are needs to be filled! Recently I attended a workshop facilitated by an Executive Recruiter. One thing he said really struck me and changed how I approach every aspect of my job search. It’s really simple but powerful. “There are no jobs, there are…
by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming What I Should Have Learned in Library School Like me, my sister is a librarian. Unlike me, she’s gainfully employed (minor detail), and so I like to live my librarian life vicariously through her. She was recently telling me that her boss wanted to put something together entitled,…
by Gabrielle Spiers, Head Editor, INALJ Montana Dealing with Rejection Let’s face it: rejection sucks. Rejection for your carefully composed cover letter and tailored resume stings but it hurts even more when it is after an interview. It makes it feel more personal somehow. Since I have dealt with a few job rejections in my…
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey The Cover Letter, Demystified I must confess that, not all that long ago, I did not enjoy writing cover letters. Or, more precisely, I did not enjoy writing about myself. My lackluster self-selling skills made the cover letter writing process excruciating. I’d hem and haw, do Internet…
by Sarah Porter, Head Editor, INALJ California Failing to Succeed It’s easy to feel like a failure when entering or attempting to enter the LIS field. When applying for jobs, it’s not uncommon to be rejected by job after job. Even when you land a job it’s likely that you will fumble in the beginning.…
by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky 4 Ps of writing and publishing Many librarians use blogging as a means to express opinions and ideas about library programs and services. We blog about books, we blog about our angst with library systems, we blog about our wardrobe, we blog library and information trends. While blogging…
by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi Living Through the Oopsies Librarians live a Hannah Montana life. By day, they’re librarian professionals and information superstars; by night, they’re just normal, laid-back, and relaxed readers in bed. Even in their most shining moments, every librarian is human. Disney’s Hannah Montana sang in “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Everyone makes…
by Elinor Crosby, Head Editor, INALJ Nova Scotia The Joy of Active Participation How do you participate in your community? Are you a member of your local, state/provincial, or national library and information professional organization? Do you attend meet and greets, fundraisers, or conferences? Do you keep in touch with your fellow alumni? During my…
by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina Four Free Useful Tech Tools I’ve downloaded many tech tools and apps over the years, but rarely use them. I seem to forget that I have them during the times that they would be the most useful. However, there are a few tools and apps that I…
by Shayna Monnens, Head Editor, INALJ South Dakota Teen Programming – The Biggest Gamble in the Library As everyone in the library/reading world knows, teen literature is the hottest thing since the invention of the sandwich. Every day it seems to be the best and hottest new YA release has come out, and everyone is…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Professional Organizations: Beyond ALA This is part three of a three part series on professional organizations. Part one was published on June 14, and part two was published on June 21. While ALA is the largest and best known of professional library associations, did you know that there…
Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor, INALJ Washington, DC 6 Tips for a Great Phone Interview Phone interviews are often a first stop on the road to your next library job. They’re a chance for the organization to screen applicants and narrow its choices. As much as we text and email, it’s easy to forget once-simple tasks…
by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana ALA’s Emerging Leaders program In 2007, American Library Association president Leslie Burger established the Emerging Leaders program, where librarians new to the profession could apply to participate in networking, problem solving and project completion, and ultimately work toward leadership positions within ALA. Each year there are about 50…
by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire A Midsummer’s Resolution Resolutions are something we usually associate with New Year’s: new year, new goals, a way to restart some aspect of our lives. By the time we hit midsummer, those resolutions are usually in the rearview mirror — we’ve abandoned the gym membership, the new…
by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama 15 restaurant recommendations for eating your way through ALA Chicago “Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.” – “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg Chicago. Chi-Town. The Windy City. Whatever you…
by Adrith Bedore Bicchieri, Head Editor, INALJ Maryland So You’re Going to Your First Big Conference! Are you getting ready to attend ALA’s Annual Conference tomorrow? My suitcase is already packed. If you are attending your first conference, be it ALA or any other organization, I want to share some helpful resources and personal suggestions…
by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Interviewing Tips for Introverts As an introvert, I dread the interview process. It feels awkward to sit in front of new people and talk about my accomplishments. Honestly, it feels like I am just bragging about myself. Many times, people would tell me to be more outgoing. …
by Kate Kosturski, Head Editor, INALJ New York State Kate Goes Conferencing, Part 2: Tips and Tricks In my last blog post, I talked about stretching out of your conference comfort zone and attending non-librarian conferences. Now that you have a list of conferences in your toolbox, and you’re getting ready to attend your first…
by Nicole Usiondek, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan Preparing for a Video Interview As I mentioned in my last post, I recently participated in a job interview conducted with Skype. I am going to share with you the steps I took to ensure that the interview was successful and not wrought with technical difficulties or other…
by Holly Lipschultz, Head Editor, INALJ Illinois In downtown Chicago for #ALA13? Take advice from this Chicagoan I moved to downtown Chicago 3 years ago, and since then, I’ve learned a lot about navigating Chicago, and what kind of free things there are to do. I’m focusing on the most common issues and concerns I’ve…
by Mychal R. Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico The Yangambi Research Station Library Belgian Colonial Congo (1908 – 1960) The Congo region that is now home to the African nation known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) became Belgium’s only colony on the African continent after its national assembly voted to take control…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Professional Organizations: Diversity in ALA This is part two of a three part series on professional organizations. Part one was published on June 14, and part three will be available on June 28. Librarians serve many different groups and interests – within the ALA there are several divisions…
by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania INALJ Summer Reads – you’ll love these books! I asked some of my favorite librarians, who also happen to be INALJ volunteers, what books they are recommending this summer. Here’s what they had to say (and my recommendation as well): Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy…
by Amanda Viana, Head Editor, INALJ Massachusetts My Librarian Origin Story Something I’ve discovered over the past five years or so is that every librarian has an origin story. They range wildly from the most deliberate to the almost accidental, and each of them is as unique as we are. I’ve just taken two major…
by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania and former Head Editor of INALJ Wisconsin Informational Interviewing: A Unique Way to Learn about Libraries and Network at the Same Time One technique in networking and job-hunting that I have been interested in as of late is informational interviewing. I read a blog post on INALJ last…
by Rebecca Crago, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia How to Negotiate a Raise Employed job seekers may be looking for the next best thing not because they don’t like their job, but because it doesn’t pay enough. While it can take months to complete the hiring process and even years to find that next job, if…
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey (Shameless Self-Promotion, Take One) Librarians Have Skills: Celebrating Librarianship on Spotify You are awesome, yes? Yes! You have theme songs, yes? Yes! Then…let’s play! I’ve created a Spotify playlist that celebrates our hard work, our tenacity, our creativity…I could go on (ad infinitum), but I won’t. Instead,…