by Naomi House, MLIS For the Love of “Librarian” Anyone who has been following INALJ even for a short period of time will have come to know just how passionate I can be about outside-the-box and non-traditional jobs for librarians and library staff. I even have a list of mostly non-Librarian Keywords for Job Searching…
by Naomi House, MLIS The Day I Was a Mover (not a Shaker) I have done many odd and not-so-odd jobs over the years. I sold vacuum cleaners by phone and door to door for all of 3 days in the mid-1990s. I worked food service twice and have no stomach for the smell of…
by Naomi House, MLIS Naomi House, Appointed to the iSchool at UMD Inaugural MLS Advisory Board I am happy to finally be able to announce that I have been asked and have accepted a three year appointment to the iSchool at the University of Maryland’s Inaugural MLS Advisory Board. I am excited to serve the…
by Naomi House, MLIS Health and the Job Hunt: On Blood Sugar & Carbs & Me One of the things I admire about many LIS professionals and librarians on social media is that they often discuss their own physical and mental health challenges. Their candor helps others. I have learned more from their stories and…
by Naomi House, MLIS It is Never too Early to Job Hunt: Some Resources for New & Returning LIS students One frequently asked question that I get from new MLS/MLIS/LIS and soon to graduate students is how early should they begin to apply for jobs? I say start looking (even just to get familiar with…
by Naomi House, MLIS Why I Quit My Library Job and Why I No Longer Want One I have worked in libraries for the last ten years but as of December 2013 I have been working only outside of libraries doing my other job, renovating and selling old houses, and forming a new partnership. I have…
by Naomi House, MLIS, INALJ Founder and Editor Strategizing for the Job Hunt In October 2013 I was not only furloughed but also lost my job in the great and tremendously stupid federal government shutdown. I wrote an article Furloughed & Job Hunting: why strategizing 1st is the key to success, with advice about what…
by Naomi House, MLIS A Change You Might Not Even Notice Next week INALJ will undergo a significant change in its volunteer structure…and if I was not sharing this with you you might not even notice once it happened. That is intentional. The change is to lesson the time each volunteer spends on INALJ, while concentrating…
by Naomi House, MLIS Why SLA is a ‘Must’ Membership for Me SLA or Special Libraries Association is an organization I really believe in. I like to call it the “Specialized” Libraries Association, because that is what it truly is; it is an organization for LIS professionals in any field who specialize in something. Divisions…
by Naomi House, MLIS Free Advice (Literally) for New Librarians INALJ along with many other jobs blogs out there, is full of great advice for new and transitioning professionals. Go to conferences! Tailor your resumés and cover letters each time! Take professional development classes! Network! Join associations! Actively participate IN associations! Volunteer! Take on an…
by Naomi House, MLIS Attitude Will Get You Hired (or Fired) I have two basic rules for all my volunteers: 1) do the work assigned and be honest about it and 2) be constructive, have a good attitude and treat each other with respect The first is pretty easy to understand and follow, and we…
by Naomi House, MLIS Approaching the job hunt by skill set
by Naomi House, MLIS A Job App a Day and Other Job Hunting Strategies One of my pet peeves about job hunting advice articles is that many of them seem to equate their advice with guaranteed success, when actually there is no one bit of advice out there that works for every person in every…
by Naomi House, MLIS The “In” Crowd: Librarian Jobs Beyond the Library As a long time member of SLA and someone who got their start in a specialized library I have been aware my entire library career that ‘librarian’ was just one title LIS grads can have. One thing I want to emphasize is that…
by Naomi House, MLIS Letting Go of “Librarian” I love discussing INALJ’s scope and strategy for finding jobs with anyone and everyone I meet. Often those who are familiar with our INALJ Jobs pages are curious as to why we post more than just the traditional librarian jobs. Either they are unfamiliar with some of…
by Naomi House, MLIS 7 (Must-Have) Tools for Your Job Hunting Kit Most of us already use tools in our job hunt but what we may not be doing is using them together. Tools are different from characteristics and attitudes because they are things that you use- not aspects of who you are. Especially where…
by Naomi House, MLIS We Built a Community! Presenting at the 5th annual OCLC EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Regional Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa, Feb. 24, 2014 “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” –African proverb ***** It was my pleasure to present…
by Naomi House, MLIS Every night during dinner my husband and I watch Seinfeld. There is an episode (the one where Elaine dances) in which she makes a toast. “Here’s to those who wish us well, and those who don’t can go to hell” Job hunting can be a very stressful time, especially for the…
by Naomi House, MLIS We Built a Community (on the rocky sea) Community building can happen at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. I was a breakout speaker at OCLC EMEA‘s regional conference in Cape Town, South Africa on February 24. I was speaking in a session called “We Built a Community” and the day…
It is my birthday and my wedding anniversary so I haven’t been on too much- never fear- post Thanksgiving I have tons planned and the volunteers are still hard at work. Here is a photo – me and my husband Sana celebrating from 2011! In 2012 it was Hawaii and in 2013 we are in…
by Naomi House, MLIS Services aren’t Servants: on personal responsibility in the job hunt INALJ aims to be one of the best jobs resources out there for information professionals of all stripes. When I came up with the name (I need a Library job) on October 16th, 2010 I wanted something my fellow classmates at…
by Naomi House, MLIS Reposted from 11/29/12 and 2/13/13 Lessons Learned: DC SLA & Careers in Federal Libraries event 9/27/12 by Naomi House On September 27 Leadership Directories sponsored the Careers in Federal Libraries DC SLA event held at the National Geographic Society Library. About the Program: Panelists working at the Library of Congress, National…
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…
* updated 10/20/13 – Sadly we had a miscarriage. Thanks for all your support. Now, to get healthy again! Hi everyone, Great news- my husband and I are expecting a baby in late April, early May 2014. This is a bit earlier than I wanted to tell everyone but we are very excited! Also…