{"id":40555,"date":"2014-04-24T10:11:09","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T15:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=40555"},"modified":"2014-04-27T20:44:36","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T01:44:36","slug":"when-the-job-wave-wanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=40555","title":{"rendered":"4 Things to Do When the Job Wave Wanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas<\/a>
\n<\/a>previously published 9\/25\/13<\/em><\/p>\n

4 Things to Do When the Job Wave Wanes<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"saradixon\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lately, it\u2019s been a bit slow on the Kansas page<\/a>. I\u2019ve noticed that jobs seem to come in waves<\/strong> \u2013 sometimes they to pour in, and then it tapers down to slight sprinkling. So what\u2019s there to do when job wave wanes? Sometimes it\u2019s so frustrating that you just want to go on a Netflix binge of [insert your favorite television show here]. But there are lots of other, more productive ways to spend that time. There may not always be a ton of jobs to apply for, but here are a few things you can do to keep sharp in the interlude.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Take a Massive Open Online Course.<\/b>\u00a0During my job search, I started the <\/span>New Librarianship Master Class<\/a> MOOC. I wasn\u2019t able to finish it unfortunately, but it gave me a lot of great ideas and new ways to look at the profession. Ideas that I mentioned in my last job interview (the one that landed my current job), and I still consider the New Librarianship worldview in everything I do at my new library job. Even though the course officially ended in September, you can still access all of the lectures. And there are many other MOOCs out there. Check out <\/span>Coursera<\/a> or <\/span>Udacity<\/a>. You can find a course that will supplement your library experience and make you that much more desirable! Do you have a place you use to take online courses? Share it in the comments!<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n2.\u00a0 Brush up on a foreign language:<\/b> I don\u2019t know about you, but I took six years of Spanish through high school and college, and because I don\u2019t speak it on a regular basis, could not hold a conversation to save my life. But if I just did some review, I would pick it back up (fingers crossed). Many jobs in many areas are looking for librarians that can speak Spanish. Mango is a subscription-based service that offers language courses. Several libraries already subscribe and patrons can use this service for free! In Kansas, the State Library offers it. For. Free. It\u2019s awesome. <\/span>See if a library near you offers this service<\/a>.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n3.\u00a0 Attend webinars:<\/b> INALJ\u2019s own Sarah Deringer (former Head Editor of INALJ Mississippi<\/a>) keeps a <\/span>calendar of free webinars<\/a>\u00a0on her personal blog! I\u2019ve participated in a few and found them very informative and helpful. They cover a range of topics interesting to information professionals. Just make sure to double check the time zone so you don\u2019t show up an hour or two late. Oops.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n4.\u00a0 Network:<\/b> Go to conferences! Join online discussion groups! Join library associations in your area! Take the slow time to really invest in working relationships with other librarians. There are countless ways to do this; you just have to be willing to put yourself out there. Get yourself a set of business cards, and start shaking some hands. You\u2019ll meet some wonderful colleagues and, hey, it really is about who you know!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas previously published 9\/25\/13 4 Things to Do When the Job Wave Wanes Lately, it\u2019s been a bit slow on the Kansas page. I\u2019ve noticed that jobs seem to come in waves \u2013 sometimes they to pour in, and then it tapers down to slight sprinkling. So what\u2019s there…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":58555,"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":[69,3592,3708,4963,5071,4325,356,5378,3836],"class_list":["post-40555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-kansas","tag-job-applications","tag-language","tag-moocs","tag-networking","tag-new-skills","tag-sara-dixon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/saradixon.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-ay7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40555","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=40555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}