by Naomi House, MLIS Non-Library Jobs & Advice on How to Get One : an introduction to INALJ’s series of interviews Welcome to INALJ’s 2020 series on non-library jobs for library workers and those with their MLIS. The purpose of this series is 1) to introduce LIS workers to job fields they might be qualified…
Baby Face in the Workplace by Veronica Leigh Milliner, Senior Editor “Oh, I thought you would be older! But you have work experience, right?” This is a greeting from a coworker I was once met with on the first day of a job. As abrupt as it sounds, I would have been more taken aback…
by Elinor Crosby previously published 5/17/13 & 6/19/14 & 12/9/15 Self-Care for Job-Seekers Job searching is a difficult task, and sometimes it seems Sisyphean. There are points in the process where even the toughest, most dedicated seeker becomes disheartened and begins to spiral into despair. Many factors contribute to this, and under- and over-employment are…
by Scottie Kapel, former Head Editor, INALJ Oregon previously published 6/20/13 & 9/26/14 Keeping your head above water: How to stay positive during a long job hunt For many of you reading, you may very well be on your fourth, fifth, or sixth month of your job hunt. For others, you may have passed that…
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…
My Husband: The Linebacker Librarian by Jaclyn Butz Jesse Butz is 6’2, 365 pounds and looks like a football linebacker. Once, forever ago, he DID play football, but that was many years and a broken back ago…now he’s a librarian. When people walk up to the reference desk at the public library where he works,…
By Karly Szczepkowski previously published 7/17/13 & 7/29/14 How I Found My Job: Moving On From Disappointment (and finding success!) After some time working as a Business Researcher I realized I was ready to move on. One of my LinkedIn connections recently posted a job to her newsfeed so I applied. My connection was the…
Ask a Special Librarian – July Edition What to Do With That Stack of Business Cards: Tips for Post-Conference Networking Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant – University of Connecticut @joshualaporte & https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshuaLaPorte In this installment of “Ask a Special Librarian,”…
Flexibility in job hunting means considering part-time positions by Crystal Bauer, INALJ Missouri A few months ago I was approaching graduation from my MLS program. As excited as I was at the prospect of graduating, in the back of my mind, I began dreading the job search within the library field. Having volunteered as an…
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…
Managing Student Employees in your 20s by Laura Birkenhauer Going from a being a student to managing students can be tough, especially when you still have the baby face and unbounded enthusiasm of a newbie 20-something. So, here are some of the upsides (and cons to steer clear of!) of managing student employees in your…
4 Tips for Making the Most of Your Project Archivist Position by Amanda Axel, INALJ Contributor Finding a job in an archive early in one’s career can be very difficult. For any given position, we may be competing against hundreds of candidates that are just as qualified as we are. We may also be up…
by Krystal Corbray, Managing Librarian with Yakima Valley Libraries in Washington State previously published 7/15/14 Avoiding Cinderella Syndrome: Why Every Job Doesn’t Have to be a ‘Perfect’ Fit Once you’ve been job hunting for a while, things can get a bit…intense. Many job-seekers talk about their employment search as if it’s a full-time job—which is an…
Cover Letters: They’re Kind of a BIG DEAL! by Natalie Browning, Senior Assistant, INALJ DC Cover Letter. Letter of Interest. I dare you to find a job posting that does not require you to write a letter about your qualifications. Sending in a resume is not enough; the hiring committee wants to see not only…
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…
Open thank you note to past search participants by Mary-Michelle Moore, Senior Editor It takes many people in the library to successfully hire a new librarian. While the head of the search committee (and sometimes the whole committee) gets a thank you note, many people involved in the interview day do not get much recognition.…
by Leigh Milligan, Senior Editor previously published 8/11/14 Jobs! Got to Catch Them All!! I love Pokémon games! I have been playing Pokémon since the red and blue editions were on Game Boy. I am now playing the newest one Pokémon X for 3DS and I can’t put it down. I love that there are so many…
Ask a Special Librarian – April Edition Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com No money, more problems? I once overheard someone lament, “I can’t even afford to job hunt right now.” It’s true that it could be a costly proposition to get new clothes, business cards and…
Four questions to ask before applying to a for-profit university library job by Rebekah Kati, Senior Assistant, INALJ North Carolina Libraries at for-profit universities are pretty mysterious. For-profit universities have libraries and some employ MLS-holding librarians, but accounts of for-profit librarianship are scarce. I spent four years working as a librarian at a large,…
Prepping for ALA Annual 2015: A Job Seeker’s Perspective by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor About 2 weeks before I wrote this blog post, I received an email from ALA asking me to confirm my hotel reservation for Annual in June. “Why are they sending this out so early?” I thought to myself. I then glanced…
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…
Off the Beaten Path: a Blueprint for LIS Career Moves Q&A with Dr. Sandra Hirsh by Alison Peters, INALJ Contributor As a San José State University iSchool student, I’d heard of Dr. Sandra Hirsh, iSchool Director, and her many, many accomplishments, projects and accolades. But I was not expecting to speak with such a happy,…
Taking Chances and Blooming Where You are Planted by Heidi Greathouse, Senior Assistant, INALJ New Mexico So, you may be in a situation in which you haven’t found your dream library job yet or even a library job at all and still are looking. You may be in library school and will be graduating…
By Katie Blake previously published 4/16/14 Which Boolean Search are you? Operator as Mantra Remember your delight when you really dug into how we search for information? Boolean terms are relevatory in providing tidy parameters for search patterns. They are so often applied in our everyday, we Information Professionals might forget to savor them. Let’s review: Or And…
Resume Missteps & Solutions by Amy Steinbauer, Senior Assistant, INALJ California The job search is a messy, complicated game of employment. It can seem like all of the hiring factors are out of your control. You get excited at job ads and prospects, send your resume and cover letter in, and wait, and wait, and wait.…