{"id":62682,"date":"2015-08-17T12:05:53","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T17:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=62682"},"modified":"2015-08-17T12:04:05","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T17:04:05","slug":"a-few-tips-for-transitioning-into-the-private-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=62682","title":{"rendered":"A Few Tips for Transitioning into the Private Sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sarah Roark Schott, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Arizona
\npreviously published 2\/26\/14<\/em><\/p>\n

A Few Tips for Transitioning into the Private Sector<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"SarahRoarkSchottINALJ\"<\/a>In October I accepted a position as an Aircraft Records Analyst with a company based in\u00a0Oregon. I applied for the job on a whim because it looked interesting, it was in the town I wanted\u00a0to live in, and did not require a background in aviation. I figured with my background in archives\u00a0and record management I could play up my organization and research skills if I got an interview.\u00a0A few days later I was contacted by the Records Department Manager for an interview, which I\u00a0quickly accepted. Before the interview I did all of my usual research on the company, made sure\u00a0my suit was cleaned, and of course did some Power Posing<\/a> right before the meeting.<\/p>\n

Here is a tip for an interview with someone who might not know what an Archivist or\u00a0Information Professional is: in very simple and straightforward terms tell them what you did at\u00a0your last job on a daily basis. For instance, I worked as a Contract Project Archivist for the\u00a0National Park Service, and every day I read documents and booklets and condensed that\u00a0information into snippets so that researchers could look at my descriptions and understand what\u00a0the documents are about. I also organized the documents and online collections in ways that\u00a0made them quick and easy to find. Making information accessible and understandable is a huge\u00a0part of the role we play as Information Professionals. Businesses and companies want people\u00a0who can simplify and streamline the process of records management. You can do that!<\/p>\n

The interview was a success, I was offered the job that day. Tip #2 is to go into work on\u00a0your first day with a \u201cfake it until you become it\u201d attitude.1\u00a0organizing the aircraft records almost immediately, and set to work learning the lingo of the\u00a0industry to help me get more comfortable with the information I would be working with 8 hours a\u00a0day. Unfortunately despite my best efforts to fake it, I was and still am often asked if I have a\u00a0background in aviation by some people who question my ability to make it with the company.\u00a0This can be a downer for any new employee (even if you have praise and confidence from\u00a0direct supervisors). So, a tip for anyone experiencing mean spirited questions from others is to\u00a0be polite (maybe even nice) to that person, and tell them you might not have a background in\u00a0(say industry here), but you are learning something new everyday. Then maybe ask that person\u00a0if they have any pointers for you. You can tell your mom, bff or spouse about what a jerk that\u00a0person was when you get home later if you want, but your best bet is to always be professional\u00a0and polite.<\/p>\n

My last tip is to ask as many questions as you can think of. I ask at least four or five\u00a0questions an hour even at 3-ish months in. In the beginning I asked at least twenty questions an\u00a0hour. Asking questions gives my manager and supervisor a sense of if I am understanding what\u00a0I am working on or if I am completely lost. Even if I think I know the answer to a question, I will\u00a0still ask that question until I am 100% sure I know the answer. I enjoy working in the private\u00a0sector. Sure, you do not get as many holidays off, and student loans will not be forgiven in 10\u00a0years if I continue working where I am at, but it is interesting to be a part of a company that is\u00a0involved in industries all over the world.<\/p>\n

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Amy Cuddy, \u2018Your body language shapes who you are\u2019 TED Talk. June, 2012 http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/<\/a>amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html?quote=1924<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sarah Roark Schott, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Arizona previously published 2\/26\/14 A Few Tips for Transitioning into the Private Sector In October I accepted a position as an Aircraft Records Analyst with a company based in\u00a0Oregon. I applied for the job on a whim because it looked interesting, it was in the town I wanted\u00a0to…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60180,"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":[69,5986,3592,4757,4758,4659,5985,4658,111,5984],"class_list":["post-62682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-ask-questions","tag-blog","tag-first-day","tag-first-day-on-the-job","tag-inalj-arizona","tag-private-sector","tag-sarah-roark-schott","tag-tips","tag-transitioning-to-the-private-sector"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/SarahRoarkSchottINALJ.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-gj0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62682","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=62682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}