{"id":57662,"date":"2015-01-08T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T13:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=57662"},"modified":"2015-01-07T20:12:48","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T02:12:48","slug":"the-art-of-finding-room-to-grow-in-your-current-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=57662","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Finding Room to Grow in Your Current Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kristen Jaques, former Head Editor, INALJ Maine
\n<\/a>previously published 1\/16\/14<\/em><\/p>\n

The Art of Finding Room to Grow in Your Current Job<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"kristen<\/a>While those of us who currently have jobs in or related to our field are fortunate, many underemployed librarians and information professionals will tell you that this can be a mixed blessing.\u00a0 Harsh realities for emerging professionals may include: too few hours, too little pay, and having a position in a specialty or field that is not part of the person\u2019s envisioned career path.\u00a0 There are considerable benefits to having one\u2019s foot in the door, but even jobseekers with solid professional experience can find that promotions and better jobs are competitive and hard to come by.\u00a0 Regardless of whether you are underemployed or adequately employed in a position that is a good fit for you, at some point you will probably want to take it to the next level.\u00a0 How can you get the most out of where you are working now and find opportunities to gain the skills needed to advance?\u00a0 Here are some guidelines:<\/p>\n

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First, know how to do your job.\u00a0 <\/b>By truly mastering the basics and the more complex aspects of the position you were hired to fill, you demonstrate to your employer, and more importantly, to yourself, that you are ready to handle more challenging work.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to do tasks that might be considered to be beneath you if the tasks enhance the overall mission of the library (or organization or company) and need to get done.\u00a0 This is your chance to showcase how dependable, detail-oriented, and competent you are.\u00a0 Until you are ready to move on or up, and find the opportunity to do so, hang in there, even when it feels like nothing new is happening: some changes occur gradually, and it takes time to become experienced.\u00a0 Though many of my days seem the same in my current position, when I look back over the past couple years, I can see that what I\u2019ve learned from the time I started until the present day is immeasurable, and that I have been able to take on new responsibilities as trust has been built.<\/p>\n

Know your strengths.<\/b>\u00a0 The best way to ensure that you take full advantage of your time at any job is to be familiar with the more extraordinary qualities you bring to the table. \u00a0These are the assets that will open doors for you, and they grow even stronger when you use them.\u00a0 In my workplace, I eventually became the go to person for troubleshooting computer issues, and I have been encouraged to handle many of the library\u2019s written communications. \u00a0Opportunities such as these allow me to serve my employer\u2019s needs, while gaining experiences that will benefit me as a professional.<\/p>\n

If you are currently in a position where you are not finding meaningful chances to demonstrate or build upon your strengths, don\u2019t panic just yet.\u00a0 Your strengths may be benefitting you in less obvious ways for the time being.\u00a0 Keep up the good work and don\u2019t stop searching for better work.\u00a0 Most of us have to use a job as a stepping stone at one point or another in order to get to where we are trying to go.<\/p>\n

Know what your employer wants (and doesn\u2019t want).\u00a0 <\/b>Keep a line of communication open with your supervisors.\u00a0 Are there projects they would like to see taken on that they haven\u2019t quite gotten around to assigning yet?\u00a0 Is there a gap in library services that you feel like you are able to address?\u00a0 Try to help your supervisors see your initiative and the full dimensions of what you can do for them, and you may be surprised at how often you find yourself acquiring new duties.\u00a0 However, it\u2019s important to make sure you are not pestering your boss if you see they are resistant to a particular change, or if they state that they are too bogged down in other business matters to oversee another thing at the moment.\u00a0 While it is great to find opportunities to explore new challenges, the unfortunate truth is that not every position is structured to allow for it.\u00a0 Sometimes all you will be able to do is deliver the best work you can for your own job while storing your ideas until you can make your next move.<\/p>\n

Know your other options.\u00a0 <\/b>Regardless of whether you feel you are flourishing or stagnating in your current job, it\u2019s never a bad idea to supplement your work experiences with outside professional development activities. \u00a0Ours is a profession providing a vast array of helpful and fun professional organizations, conferences, blogs, and volunteer opportunities to choose from.\u00a0 Consider volunteering for INALJ\u2026over the past year, it has given me an incredible chance to teach and learn about the great big world of job hunting, librarianship, and other exciting information careers.\u00a0 No matter where you are in the process of building your dream career, you have many options that will help you succeed.\u00a0 Keep working hard, and good luck, everyone.<\/p>\n

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

by Kristen Jaques, former Head Editor, INALJ Maine previously published 1\/16\/14 The Art of Finding Room to Grow in Your Current Job While those of us who currently have jobs in or related to our field are fortunate, many underemployed librarians and information professionals will tell you that this can be a mixed blessing.\u00a0 Harsh…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57663,"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":[5864,69,3592,3605,3866],"class_list":["post-57662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-art-of-job-hunting","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-maine","tag-kristen-jaques"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/kristen-jaques.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-f02","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57662","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}