by R.C. Miessler, former Head Editor, INALJ Indiana republished from 12/4/13 & 11/24/14 A Thank You Post to the Rejection Phone Call It might be that my favorite season is upon us, that I’m just feeling the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, or maybe the cynic in me is getting soft, but I feel…
I Survived Rejection after an Internal Interview, and So Can You! by Laura Birkenhauer It’s a worst case scenario for most, combining some of our greatest fears: fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of being inadequate. Imagine: Your dream job opens up at the library where you already work. You interview for the position…
7 Tips for Moving Past Job Search Rejection by Erin Kinney, Senior Assistant, INALJ Wyoming There are several strategies for coping with rejection of any kind, not just during the job hunt. Rejection on the job hunt has been covered on INALJ, but a refresher is always good. Process Your Emotions It is natural to feel angry…
by Veda Darby Soberman, former Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii previously published 8/7/13 Response to Rejection: A Networking Opportunity All job seekers will have been rejected for a position or two…or many. Those letters, phone calls or emails can each feel like a stab in the heart of to one’s hopes and dreams, but it doesn’t…
by Rebekah Kati, Senior Assistant, INALJ North Carolina Dealing with Rejection During the Job Search One of the few certainties in the job hunt is that you will receive a rejection letter. Or two. Or hundreds. These polite but ultimately vague missives can be discouraging to even the most seasoned job hunter. As the rejection letters pile…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 7/8/13 A Rejection Letter to the Rejection Letter Dear HR Departments, I regret to inform you that getting four job rejection letters last week was a bit of a downer. My applications weren’t really close to each other timewise, but I figure that since the new…
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 is an interview with Natasha S. Chowdory, a User Researcher Consultant at Methods in the UK, done by Naomi House of INALJ. This is part of INALJ’s 2020 series on non-library jobs for library workers. On User Researcher Work : an Interview with Natasha S. Chowdory Q1: Thanks so much for taking the time…
by Aisha Conner-Gaten Traveling While Broke: Library Conferences and Scholarships For librarians and information folks, conference attendance can provide essential opportunities for networking, professional development, and, of course, gainful employment. Unfortunately, those seeking new jobs or just better pay cannot often afford conference housing and air travel that accompany exorbitant registration fees. Some conferences totals…
by Sarah Deringer, former Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi Respectfully Declining a Job Offer There are times when you cannot accept a job offer. Whether it is because you do not feel like you fit into the culture, the job does not fit into your life goals, or the salary or benefits are not enough, you…
15 million page views! What a great month! December stats often get overlooked as everyone looks at their end of year stats, but we had a darn good December! Our busiest day in December had 20,964 views on 12/1, and our busiest week had 106,365 views, and our month had 402,184 views! We reached 15 million page…
by Ruth Harries, Content Editor, INALJ Alaska How Not to Impress a Hiring Manager: Lessons I’ve Learned from Hiring Student Assistants I’ve been supervising student employees in academic libraries for around five years, during which time I’ve had to hire one or more employees almost every semester. Going through this process on a regular basis…
14.5 million page views! What a great month! On a personal note I celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary to my husband, Sana, and we decided to relocate, temporarily back to Washington, DC. Our busiest day in November had 21,081 views on 11/3, and our busiest week had 105,070 views, and our month had 415,565 views! We reached…
by R.C. Miessler, former Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 8/16/13 & 9/25/14 Highly Desired: Straightforward Library Job Ads When searching for jobs, sometimes the requirements seem ridiculous. Some job listings appear to be a list of all the library buzzwords and trends over the past 10 years, which can be a bit discouraging when trying…
The (Pregnant) Elephant in the Room by Jen Park My husband and I had tried for a long time to have a baby. When I finally became pregnant I was in my last term of library school. I was thrilled and very, very nervous about applying for positions. Although I was working part-time in a…
Resilience During (and Beyond) the Job Hunt by Julia Feerrar I once applied for a job that, in many ways, felt like it had been made just for me. I progressed through a phone interview and then an on-campus interview, feeling confident and excited. While of course I knew that there must be quite a…
Ask and (Hopefully) You Shall Receive: Advocating for Yourself at Work by Alphild Dick, Senior Editor Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are our careers. Both in the cases of empires and professional credibility, you often have to construct from the ground up. That means that no matter how insightful, innovative, or just…
by Naomi House, MLIS Top 25 INALJ Articles of 2014 We are very lucky at INALJ to have some amazing bloggers and guest bloggers. In 2014 these were the most widely read articles/blog posts. At the very end of this posting you will find the top 125 blog posts for 2014 along with their page…
by Angela Piccola, Assistant, INALJ Virtual Work Gaining New Perspectives During Hiring Woes When I found INALJ, the amount of resources and overall camaraderie almost overwhelmed me because it showed there is hope in this field. With the lists of alternative career keywords that fit within our skillset and the pages of updated jobs, it means so…
Another fantastic month! 8.5 million page views in total! What a great month! Another fantastic October! Our busiest day in October was 20,482 views on 10/14, and our busiest week had 111,599 views, and our month was 486,486 views! We also hit 8.5 million page views in total. Fantastic! Also some big news, I was appointed to a…
by Alexis Rohlfing, former Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire previously published 7/29/13 Playing to the back row: too much, not enough and in between in the job hunt. Once you’ve been on the job market for long enough, it becomes difficult to not jump at every opportunity that looks like it may fit. The definitive…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Senior Editor previously published 8/29/13 The Job Hunter’s Lament Being a job hunter is not easy. In any economy, in any environment, this is one of the hardest things that you can undergo, job searching is tough. When you think about it, your job influences the rest of your life and relationships…
by Amy Steinbauer, Senior Assistant, INALJ California Supporting Your Friends Through Their Library Job Search Congrats- you have a job! Bonus points if you are actually working in the field that you wanted to! I am one of those lucky ones. I have a library job, which (mostly) I love. I get to feel that bittersweet glee when…
by Angie Solis, Senior Assistant, INALJ Missouri Acing the job interview: Post-interview tips (pt 4 of 4) I hope that throughout this series you have learned at least one thing to help you through the interview process. Since we started on this journey we have talked about pre-interview prep, personal and professional interview prep and surviving the interview.…
by Sean O’Brien, former Head Editor, INALJ Colorado previously published 10/10/13 4 Things to Keep in Mind during a Difficult Job Search I have been trying to avoid writing this sort of posting for some time, mostly because the other article authors have done a pretty good job discussing it. However, I know that the…
by Ruth Kitchin Tillman, previous Head Editor, INALJ Maryland previously published 12/19/13 Why Job-Hunting Isn’t Like Dating Sometimes, the hunt for a job and for a date can seem awfully similar. You scan websites looking for good matches. You visit networking events hoping to meet someone who has similar interests to your own. You exchange…
by Julie Watson, former Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania previously published on 10/29/13 The Art of Job Seeking It’s easy to feel stuck when you are job seeking in this economy. Try un-sticking yourself by tapping into your inner artist: Innovation – Artists think outside the box to overcome challenges and/or respond to opportunities. They don’t…
by Amanda Marie Yetter, former INALJ Maryland Head Editor previously published 5/20/13 What to Expect When You’re Interviewing: The Fabulous Five This blog posting was designed for individuals who already have their degree and are now trying to determine the best possible ways to market, flaunt, and gloat about having an MSLS. So, let me…
by Josh Rimmer, Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia Closing the Digital Educational Divide Whether your degree is obtained through online schooling, or acquired the traditional route in person is irrelevant in the end after you graduate –academic pitchforks up. What matters is being active in the professional librarian conversation. What do I mean by being active? Local…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Recovering from the Job Search I never thought I would say this, but I’m kind of sad the job search is over. Well, sad isn’t the best word, perhaps. It’s more of a void, almost a depression. Now that I’ve been offered, and accepted, a librarian job, I’m not…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 3/5/13 Applying for jobs isn’t fun Applying for jobs isn’t fun. Everyone has advice to give that supersedes what everyone else has to say about finding a job. And there’s the stress of filling out applications and waiting. And then, even worse than the “We’re Sorry”…
What: #inaljchat Where: Twitter.com When: Mondays at 9-10:30pm EDT (last Monday of the month is Noon EDT and international focus)- all four Qs asked each hr so our west coast and further fans can participate Why: Crowd-sourcing the best of the web from the best on the web (ie: librarians) on job hunting topics How:…
What: #inaljchat Where: Twitter.com When: Mondays at 9-11pm EDT (last Monday of the month is Noon EDT and international focus)- all four Qs asked each hr so our west coast and further fans can participate Why: Crowd-sourcing the best of the web from the best on the web (ie: librarians) on job hunting topics How:…
As of February 2016 #inaljchat founders Leigh & Lauren have grown the chat and changed it to #LISprochat follow them at @LISprochat —- What: #inaljchat Where: Twitter.com follow @inaljchat When: Mondays at 9-10:00pm EDT every other week Why: Crowd-sourcing the best of the web from the best on the web (ie: librarians) on job…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ California What to write after they’ve turned you down Finding a library job can be a difficult process. Even if you are qualified, the interview went well and you did everything in your power to show you are the best candidate, sometimes all of your efforts are not enough and the hiring…
by Naomi House, MLIS Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler, Everyday! (ie: #mih) It is cold and rainy in New Orleans this Mardi Gras 2014 but that has not dampened participation or spirits all that much. Revelers walked by our house near Bayou St John warmly dressed, masks on and umbrellas held high prepared for the…
by Grey Maixner, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Keep the Log Rolling As we all know, applying for jobs is a daunting task. Cover letters need written, resumes revised, and every 6 months or so you need to contact your references to ensure that they are still willing to vouch for you. Compounding these problems is…
by Heidi Greathouse, Head Editor, INALJ Utah Having A Positive Perspective Have you ever felt like life is going against you and things do not go as planned? I am sure many of us have felt this in the job search world such as when we get rejection after rejection, not getting the promotion we…
by Kristen Jaques, former Head Editor, INALJ Maine What I Learned During My Two and a Half Years on the Job Market I know that many librarians out there got their first professional jobs much more efficiently than I did. It took me two and a half years to get hired as a librarian. I…
by R.C.Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana A Year in Review: my own So, 2013 wasn’t the year I was hoping it would be. A year after graduating, I didn’t score a professional library gig (although I was able to turn my volunteer work into a part time job in a library). However, I had plenty…