{"id":40370,"date":"2013-10-02T10:30:31","date_gmt":"2013-10-02T14:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=40370"},"modified":"2013-10-03T00:29:39","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T04:29:39","slug":"how-to-prepare-now-for-your-future-dream-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=40370","title":{"rendered":"How to Prepare (Now) for Your Future Dream Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

How to Prepare (Now) for Your Future Dream Job<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"TiffanyNewton\"<\/a>So you have a professional goal or a dream job. The only problem is that you\u2019re not qualified at this time for that job. Either you want to be a library director at a small public library or an awesome instruction librarian at a large university. Maybe you have an interest in archives or even special libraries. Here are just a few steps to preparing yourself now, so that when the time comes, you\u2019ll have all the required skills for your dream job.<\/p>\n

Start looking for jobs NOW.\u00a0<\/b>Look at job postings now of what your dream title is. How many of those qualifications do you have? How many do you still need? You don\u2019t have to apply right now, but it won\u2019t hurt. You might even get an interview to see what kinds of questions they\u2019ll be asking. And who knows, you might get your dream job sooner than you thought!<\/p>\n

In my case, I\u2019d like to be a library director, and many of the openings I see require several years of experience as a supervisor, previous experience working with library boards, advocacy, marketing, grant writing, and even budgeting. I don\u2019t have many of those skills. I have had a few interviews and learned, through the questions search committees ask,\u00a0what kinds of things they are really looking for.<\/p>\n

Try to get the skills you need at your existing job\u00a0 – or find a job that will help you get those skills<\/b>.\u00a0If you are currently employed, talk to your supervisor. Explain that you\u2019d like to get more experience in your desired skill, then ask if you can do X to help get that skill. Whether it\u2019s serving on the search committee next time someone is hired to get experience hiring people, or teaching a few classes at your library, it will help you get the experience you need. If you don\u2019t work at an organization that has what you\u2019d like to do, then volunteer at your local library, school, or other similar organization. Depending on the skill you would like, you might even be able to take a class, Webinar, or MOOC and learn more that way.<\/p>\n

When you do finally apply your dream job, you\u2019ll be able to ace the interview and hopefully get the job!\u00a0<\/b>Write an awesome cover letter, explaining how you\u2019ve been working to get the needed skills the past few years through various avenues.\u00a0And, if you don\u2019t get the first one you apply for, don\u2019t lose heart, keep trying!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri How to Prepare (Now) for Your Future Dream Job So you have a professional goal or a dream job. The only problem is that you\u2019re not qualified at this time for that job. Either you want to be a library director at a small public library or an…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,4994,3640,5119,3837],"class_list":["post-40370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-dream-job","tag-inalj-missouri","tag-job-skills","tag-tiffany-newton"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-av8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}