by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Job Hunter, Know Thyself One of the more interesting and enlightening things that I’ve done recently is take the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). I had heard about the MBTI a few times, but never really thought much about it or its implications. For those of you who don’t already know,…
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey Second Time Around: Staying Positive during My Job Search, or I’m a Recovering Debbie Downer Last month, a lively thread began on the INALJ LinkedIn group’s discussion board. It started when our intrepid leader Naomi House shared an article and some insights about job seekers who are…
by Emma Pinault, Head Editor, INALJ Delaware Staying Sharp While You Search If you don’t find a librarian position soon after you finish library school, it can be a challenge to keep your skills sharp and your knowledge of the field up to date during an extended job search. This can be even harder if…
by Courtney Baron, Head Editor, INALJ Georgia 5 Things I’ve Learned as a INALJ Head Editor I’ve served as the Head Editor of Georgia since the state pages went live early last year, so I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned. 1) It’s hard to get a library job. You probably know…
by Brad McNally, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio The importance of confidence in a job search (or, how I changed my job search by changing my outlook) I’ve been to many interviews and talked to a large number of potential employers during the last job search I completed. I noticed a strong change at one point…
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska 3 Articles on Job Searching During the Holiday Season We’re all so busy during the holiday season, it can be tempting to take some time off from the job hunt to relax, catch up with friends and family, or simply to keep up with all the craziness. No…
Matching Needs with Wants: or how job hunting makes sense to me by Naomi House, MLIS We all need to work to pay the bills, or at least most of us do. We do not think to apply to every single job out there because we (as info pros) have degrees (MLS, MLIS) and skillsets…
I spoke a little while back at an SLA MD Job Searching event and one of the questions I received inspired me to make a list of Keywords For Job Hunting which can be found on every single page of INALJ.com in the right sidebar. I have included the most recent list below. As library…
by Shayna Monnens, Head Editor, INALJ South Dakota Spotted the Perfect Job? So Did Your Friend – The SAME Perfect Job This is it. You are at the stage where you are looking at open positions. Your head is 100% in the game. You have scoured the job market. The market is plumb for the…
by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Rejected Two months ago I tentatively dipped my toe in the job market. I applied for a job. So, now it has been two months and I haven’t heard anything from the employer. No call. No email. Nothing. Now I know I shouldn’t take it personally. In fact, several…
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 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…
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 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 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…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Kristen Jaques, Head Editor, INALJ Maine Sarah Lauderdale, Head of Reference at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library Sarah Lauderdale is a seasoned library professional who has been happily employed in her dream job for over…
by Elena Bubelich, Head Editor, INALJ Quebec Searching for Jobs Using Apps (for smartphones and tablets) Over the last few years, smartphones and tablets have become accessible for most people. For owners of these devices they have even become an essential tool, especially after many useful applications appeared (here application means software for a mobile…
by Joy Rodriguez, Head Editor, INALJ Delaware Casting a Wide Net in your Job Search I recently accepted a position as a temporary part-time medical librarian at a local hospital even though I don’t have a health sciences or medical background. My focus in library school was on digital libraries and information organization and when…
by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario How I try to compete with Masters holding Librarians as a Library Technician As someone actively looking for a full time position, preferably in a library related to education in some way, I’ve noticed something about the current job market in our industry. It’s not a new piece…
by Nicole Usiondek, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan Broadening Your Job Search Horizons As many in the library field are aware, you have to be flexible in terms of job location if you would like to increase your chances for finding employment. I was recently in this situation. I was looking for a full time librarian…
Ask Naomi: expecting different results I really do believe that you cannot keep doing what you have always done and expect different results- this applies to the job hunting world as well. If you only apply to one type of job (librarian) or at one type of place (public library, university, etc) and you aren’t…
by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island What to do while you’re looking for a library job… As many of you browsing this blog are aware, finding a good LIS job can be quite difficult and time consuming. Recent grads struggle to find low level positions, and those that are employed often are on…
by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi The 4 Ps to Pleasing Your Potential Employer For the past three months, I served on a search committee for a children’s minister at my church. Through this experience, I have learned many new insights into what it takes to get the job. The top four areas I…
by Rebecca Crago, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia Why, If You’re Willing to Relocate, You Should Consider the DC Metro Area It’s easy to get cynical when you hear the Library and Congress and Smithsonian are preparing for furloughs and a reduction of acquisitions over the coming fiscal year, but that doesn’t mean the job-creating grants…
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Open Minds Open Doors Recently there were some complaints on INALJ that some editors were posting too many “out of the box” jobs. The disregard for Head Editors’ time and efforts aside, I had a lot of trouble understanding why such a complaint would ever exist. In Support…
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas The Library Job Search: A Trip Upstream Recently I went kayaking on the Wakulla River in north Florida. The day was beautiful, and I was so optimistic. As I started paddling upstream, as the tide was going out and making it rather difficult, I was struck by just…
by Karly Szczepkowski Taking the Road Less Traveled I was always drawn to the non-traditional aspects of our profession. For me, it was never about working in a building with the letter L on it or in a position with L in the job title. No, for me, it was about using those L skills:…
Career Counselor by Kelly Quaye I just returned from the ALA Midwinter Meeting (this was 2012) so my mind is still abuzz with the many great programs and services on offer. Did you know that ALA has a Conference Placement Service where you can meet with a professional career counselor during conference? I highly recommend…
Reposted from 12/15/11 Back a few months ago I asked fans on FB and the Music Librarians group on LinkedIn what songs they listened to while job hunting. I got a fabulously eclectic group of responses and created this radio station: Grooveshark Music to Job Hunt By. I am happy to intermittently add more songs-…