{"id":80424,"date":"2014-09-03T07:50:31","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T12:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80424"},"modified":"2014-09-04T08:51:06","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T13:51:06","slug":"you-want-to-work-but-where","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80424","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou want to work, but where?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amy Steinbauer, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ California<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to work, but where?\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"AmySteinbauer\"<\/a>Dear Desperate Job Searchers,<\/p>\n

I know you want a job, badly. You\u2019ve applied for what feels like millions and millions\u00a0of jobs. You\u2019ve chatted awkwardly with alumni from your program, trying not to ask for\u00a0leads, and smiling when they describe how much they love their job. You\u2019ve spent hours\u00a0on social media or listservs or Linkedin trying to connect with the world of librarians,\u00a0like a Muggle would approach Hogwarts! You\u2019ve taken extra steps and sharpened your\u00a0skills with self-taught or volunteer work. It seems like jobs are eluding you. You\u2019re\u00a0getting desperate- you\u2019ve been looking for weeks, months, and years. At this point, you\u00a0would take anything, as long as it had the world library in it.<\/p>\n

Try to relax. Take a moment, and take a deep breath! Whew.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s chat instead about these library environments that you desperately want to find\u00a0yourself in.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In grad school I had the opportunity to host a reception for students with a representative\u00a0from a major database company, who was on campus to give a presentation to my\u00a0database searching class. I saw it as a great opportunity to present a nontraditional library\u00a0job, especially because she had gotten her MS in Information Science and then went to\u00a0work in the private sector. Her job search story sounded similar to many people- tons\u00a0of job applications, very little feedback, and a few interviews and offers. She said that it\u00a0came down to three choices for her. One was in a traditional library setting, one was her\u00a0current work place, and I forget the other option. She had always seen herself go the more\u00a0traditional route, but when she went in for the interview, something seemed off at the\u00a0place. She didn\u2019t spend a long time there, but she could sense some hostility between two\u00a0of the workers that she would come into a lot of contact with. When it was time to make\u00a0a decision, environment became a huge decider for her.<\/strong> She could tell if she worked there\u00a0she would get caught up in the problems. At the time, I thought that that was a trivial\u00a0factor in deciding which job to take. I was in my last semester of grad school, and I just\u00a0wanted a job!<\/p>\n

However, she was correct.<\/strong><\/span> Environment is a highly underrated factor in our job searches.\u00a0Which seems silly considering we will be spending about 40 hours a week at a place,\u00a0and most likely way more when you factor in your commute, and any extra hours that\u00a0librarians tend to pick up.<\/p>\n

Where you work should matter to you as much as what you are going to be doing there.\u00a0You can\u2019t do your best work when you work in a negative work environment. And we\u00a0aren\u2019t in the kind of field that pays so well that you can ignore a tyrannical director or\u00a0sabotaging coworkers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to think of job searching like trying to find the golden ticket to the chocolate\u00a0factory, but it\u2019s important to reverse that thinking and realize that you are the golden\u00a0ticket<\/strong>– you are talented, skilled, motivated, friendly, helpful, etc. Any library or\u00a0organization would be lucky to have you!<\/p>\n

While your job-searching think about the kind of worker you are. In what environments\u00a0do you work best? Can you work in shared spaces? How much interaction do you want\u00a0or need with your supervisor\/ director? Do you see coworkers as new potential friends,\u00a0or would you rather just focus on your work? Do you like sharing ideas with others or\u00a0do you prefer to work alone? I\u2019m sure you can think of additional questions of your own\u00a0to consider. Talk to your friends for more ideas, or think about past work environments\u00a0where you flourished.<\/p>\n

Here are some random job style quizzes I found and took. These are all factors to\u00a0consider as you examine potential work environments.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.elearners.com\/online-education-resources\/careers\/quiz-are-you-a-good-employee\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/cutting-edge-leadership\/201408\/are-you-type-b-or-d-personality<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.proprofs.com\/quiz-school\/story.php?title=what-kind-employee-are-you_1<\/a><\/p>\n

(I\u2019ll share my results with you on twitter<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

We would like to think that we could work anywhere or do anything in any kind of\u00a0environment. But we all have idiosyncrasies that influence our work style. When we\u00a0know what they are ahead of time, it can help us make the best choices for ourselves. I\u00a0know your Desperation says \u201cJust hire me, I\u2019ll take anything\u201d, but I think ultimately we\u00a0don\u2019t want just any job. We want a job in which we can do good work at, explore our\u00a0interests, build up our skills, etc. And we all deserve that.<\/p>\n

It may still seem like a trivial decider to you, but I am implore you to consider it. The\u00a0libraries or instuitions that you may work for have been operating for years with people\u00a0in charge who have been there for most likely decades. It already runs a certain way,\u00a0and it\u2019s hard to come in as the new person and try to change it. Most people like to keep\u00a0working the same way that they have been working; you will be expected to blend in- to\u00a0a degree.<\/p>\n

Libraries and other organizations are looking for people who fit their work style. They\u00a0need to impress you and show you that your needs are going to be met, just as you should\u00a0be doing with them. Ideally, you will work there for a few years, maybe even the rest of\u00a0your employed life. So maybe 40 hours a week seems like nothing… but let\u2019s do some\u00a0math (don\u2019t worry I\u2019m using a calculator): 40 hours a week for a year is 2,080 hours in\u00a0the year. If you work there for three years that\u2019s 6,240 hours of your life. That\u2019s a lot of\u00a0time.<\/p>\n

My advice? Pick a place that fits you. One of the biggest selling points for my job was\u00a0that it was advertised as being 75% outside the physical library. I loved that. I am not a\u00a0traditional librarian type. I\u2019m loud, outspoken, and don\u2019t love sitting behind a desk for\u00a0hours. In that 75% I drive the bookmobile, I directly connect with childcare providers and\u00a0businesses, I spend hours reorganizing the shelves in the van (I love spending time in the\u00a0stacks!), and I do storytimes on the road! Not every person would like my job. Before I\u00a0came around, they had trained a few librarians for the job, but no one liked the constant\u00a0commuting and pressures of on the road literacy and reader\u2019s advisory. It is what works\u00a0for me, and has attributed to both my success and happiness here.<\/p>\n

So, job seekers. Add one more task to your endless list for career fulfillment, task\u00a0yourself with looking for places that you can do your best work in, with people that you\u00a0can count on and work with. Put being happy on your list for job requirements. It should\u00a0be there already, but take a moment to recheck. It\u2019s just as important as all your other\u00a0wishes and requirements. You won\u2019t be able to get your goals met and dreams achieved if\u00a0you settle for any space that wants you.<\/p>\n

You are talented, you are skilled, and you will succeed! Let me know if I can help!<\/p>\n

Sincerely,
\nAmy Steinbauer
\nEarly Childhood Outreach Librarian &
\nMostly Satisfied Employee<\/p>\n

Amy Steinbauer is the Early Childhood Outreach Librarian at Beaumont\u00a0Library District in Beaumont, CA. It took her six months to find a job. She drives\u00a0a bookmobile; which is one of her favorite things! Amy has a B.A. in English from\u00a0Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA and an MLISc from the University of Hawaii.\u00a0She loves mermaids, and advocating for libraries; and will one day combine them\u00a0both to take over the world! Until then, follow her on twitter @merbrarian<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Amy Steinbauer, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ California \u201cYou want to work, but where?\u201d Dear Desperate Job Searchers, I know you want a job, badly. You\u2019ve applied for what feels like millions and millions\u00a0of jobs. You\u2019ve chatted awkwardly with alumni from your program, trying not to ask for\u00a0leads, and smiling when they describe how much they love…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":78533,"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":[146,6438,69,3592,3629,3860,266,6503,5961,4340,111],"class_list":["post-80424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-amy-steinbauer","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-california","tag-job-hunt","tag-job-search","tag-job-search-advice","tag-job-search-tips","tag-job-searching","tag-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/AmySteinbauer.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-kVa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80424","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=80424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/78533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}