How I Got My First Job: Dr. Sarah Clark

How I Got My First Job: Dr. Sarah Clark

by Ellen Mehling ♥ 1 Comment

Interviewed by Ellen Mehling

EM: What was your first professional position?

SC: I was promoted from a paraprofessional position to Access Services and Distance Learning Librarian at Rogers State University, shortly after I finished my MLIS at the University of Oklahoma.

EM: How did you get it?

SC: I’d like to think most of it was being well known and respected by my library’s leadership, having already worked there for about a year and a half. However, that would have been irrelevant had it not been for a librarian retiring at the same time I finished my degree and opening up a position.

EM: To what do you attribute your job search success?

SC: Having no library experience when I started my degree, I began looking for any full-time library job on the first day of class. I also signed up for an internship with a local archive, which helped me look more attractive on the job market.

EM: What advice do you have for librarian/info-pro job hunters?

SC: Start looking as early as humanly possible. Better yet, get a job in the field before you start your MLIS. I had it ridiculously easy compared to many librarians who came after me (I graduated in 2006), and you need to have a battle plan. No matter how talented you are, there is always an element of luck. However, fortune favors the prepared.

Dr. Sarah Clark is host of Better Library Leaders, a podcast, blog, and Facebook community.

Q:How do you prepare for a phone interview?

Q:How do you prepare for a phone interview?

by Ellen Mehling ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Q: How do you prepare for a phone interview? Is the preparation different than for a face-to-face interview? Are phone interviews always just screening, to see who gets a face-to-face interview?

EM: The preparation is mostly the same – do research on the employer and salary for that kind of work in that area, and on the interviewer(s) too if you know who they are going to be, have ready answers for questions  you are likely to be asked, have questions of your own to ask them, and so on. The ways in which the phone interview itself differs from a face-to-face (F2F) interview offer some things to beware of and some things that are to your benefit.

Some disadvantages:

One of the biggest drawbacks of a phone interview is that there is no visual feedback (facial expression, eye contact, body language) from the interviewer(s). Until someone says something, you won’t be able to tell if they are happy or displeased with an answer you’ve given. Keep your answers on the brief side and to the point; don’t go on and on. Let them ask for more information if they want it, or say something like, “Do you want more details about that?”

You are also missing out on information you can gather during a visit to the workplace, including interactions between staff members, the physical set-up of the library and workspace, how happy and/or friendly the employees seem to be there, and how organized and prepared they are when you arrive.

Some advantages (with some preparation):

You can have a copy of the version of your resume you used to get the interview, and the job description, in front of you. These are the things the employer will be focused on, so you should be focused on them too. You can highlight or add notes for yourself of specific skills, experience and accomplishments you want to work into the conversation, if possible.

You can use your computer during the interview: to have the employer’s website open, look something up quickly, record the interviewer(s) name(s) and titles (which you’ll need later for “thank you”s), and/or take notes. Be sure that your attention is not hijacked by what is on the screen, though. Your use of the computer during the interview should be sporadic and brief. You may also need your calendar if all goes well and they want to schedule a follow-up interview.

You can have your questions for them in front of you.

You don’t have to worry about appearing nervous (although nervousness may still reveal itself in your voice).

No traveling, less worry about being late.

Tips:

Do a mock phone interview, or even better, multiple mock interviews, before the actual interview. If you know someone who has done real-life job interviewing and who is willing to give you honest feedback, that person will be a better mock interviewer than an inexperienced friend who is just asking random interview questions. What I tell clients when I am advising them and/or doing a mock interview is, “If you’re going to make a mistake, make it with me, when there is nothing at stake.”

Confirm the day and time and who will be calling whom, a day or two before the interview.

Make sure you are in a place that is quiet and where you will not be interrupted or distracted. Have a glass or bottle of water nearby to take a sip if your mouth gets dry, but otherwise don’t eat or drink during the interview.

Smile at least some of the time during the interview – it can help you to feel less nervous and the interviewer(s) will be able to hear it in your voice. Take a (silent) deep breath before answering a question, to give yourself a moment to think. Take care that you are speaking clearly and not too quickly.

Wear a suit, and sit at a table or desk rather than on a sofa or bed or comfy chair. Even though the interviewer(s) can’t see you, you will feel and behave in a way that is more professional, and this is to your advantage when you are being evaluated as a professional.

As for whether the phone interview is for screening: all first interviews are used to decide who moves ahead in the hiring process, but phone interviews may be briefer and used for big picture questions to make sure the employer and applicant are on the same page regarding things like basic qualifications and what you know about the position and the employer. While you as the applicant should not bring up salary until an offer is made, the employer may bring it up earlier, including during a phone interview. Usually this is to determine early on if your requirements are more than they are willing to pay, so you should be ready to discuss that.

A phone interview is rarely the only interview before an offer is made; in fact that is so unusual that it would be a red flag for you as the applicant – you’ll want to meet them in person before making the big decision to accept a job offer, and they should want to meet you and get to know you better before making an offer.

How I Got My First Job: Kim Dority

How I Got My First Job: Kim Dority

by Ellen Mehling ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Interviewed by Ellen Mehling

EM: What was your first professional position?

KD: I was a copy editor and copywriter for Libraries Unlimited, a publisher of reference books and textbooks for the library profession.

EM: How did you get it?

KD: Libraries Unlimited was located where I lived and where I was completing my MLIS (Denver), and the company had called the grad program to see if they could recommend someone with good writing and editing skills who was looking for an entry-level position. I’d attended the Publishing Institute as part of my MLIS coursework, and was known to the program administration, so they recommended me.

EM: To what do you attribute your job search success?

KD: At that point in my career, I would attribute my success to the three things that have opened up every job opportunity I’ve had since: 1) build good relationships with as many people as possible, 2) become visible for the type of work you want to do (the MLIS administrators knew how interested I was in publishing), and 3) try to be in the right place at the right time, what I would describe as putting yourself in the path of opportunity. You never know what skill or connection or contribution will open up opportunities for you, so just keep engaging, talking with people, volunteering, helping others, and doing everything you can to be standing in the middle of the road when an opportunity comes rolling through. Every job or project I’ve taken on since has been the result of this type of “happy happenstance,” but it only happens when you’ve created the conditions for it.

EM: What advice do you have for librarian/info-pro job hunters?

KD: Let everyone know what type of job you’re looking for, ask for their advice/counsel/recommendations, and then get active. Make sure you have a killer online presence (especially a solid LinkedIn profile) so that if someone casually recommends you in a conversation with a potential employer, that potential employer can immediately check you out (and be dazzled by you). Volunteer in some way or on some project that lets you use your information skills to create value – this not only extends your network and professional visibility, it also gives you good stuff to talk about in an interview. Don’t focus so much on sending out 100 resumes to online job postings every day; instead, do several information interviews a week (be sure not to ask for a job!), work on cool information projects that interest you and could help others, and remain active and professionally engaged. And if a part-time gig or temp job helps you get a foot in the door and demonstrate how amazing you are, go for it!

I’d also recommend that job-seekers think of potential jobs from a broader career perspective. With every new job, you want to be able to continue to build what I would call your “professional equity” – that is, what you know (skills and domain knowledge), who you know (your professional community or network), and who knows what about you (your professional reputation and visibility, also known as your brand). Sometimes a job may not be the perfect match at first blush, but when you consider a position from the broader perspective of your career lifecycle, it may turn out to provide substantial benefits.

I think this is especially the case in an era where people may be changing jobs (voluntarily or not) more frequently. Going into a new job knowing 1) that it may not last ten years, but 2) that’s okay, because you’ve put together an agenda for what career goals you intend to accomplish while you’re there, tends to make it much easier to become professionally independent. The reality is that regardless of where we work today, we’re all self-employed, and need to look at our careers from that sense of self-management. That said, who could imagine a cooler, more interesting, or more infinitely adaptable skill set than we’ve got?!

 
Kim Dority is President, Dority & Associates, Inc. and author, Rethinking Information Work, 2d ed. (Libraries Unlimited, 2016)

Advice I Give All The Time…

Advice I Give All The Time…

by Ellen Mehling ♥ 2 Comments

(…to which there is sometimes resistance!)

By Ellen Mehling

I’ve been advising job hunters, including librarians and library school students, for over ten years. As you might imagine, there are pieces of advice I give again and again, whether in an individual advising session or during a workshop for a group, and for some of this advice there is resistance at times, or a misconception that these things are not that important. Disregarding these things, though, can result in missed opportunities or a job search that is more difficult and/or longer than it needs to be.

Networking

Many people are uncomfortable with networking. It really is necessary though, and not just for job search success, but for continuing career success. Students should begin networking before graduation, with their professors and classmates, supervisors and other staff at internships, co-workers if they are employed in the field, and other members of professional organizations. Being known in the profession and by hiring decision-makers can greatly increase your chances of finding employment.

Relevant Experience/Skills

Having the specific, required skills and experience for the job is crucial. On a regular basis, though, I talk to MLS students who have the idea that the degree alone will get them interviews and job offers. Even some job hunters who are not new to the field will discount the need for specific experience, thinking they can just talk their way in and they’ll “wing it” and figure things out on the job. If you can’t convey that you have something of value (relevant experience and skills) to offer the employer, though, you are very unlikely to even get a chance to bluff your way in.

Review job postings to see what skills employers are seeking for the positions you are interested in, and figure out how to get them however you can, including part- or full-time work, internships, and volunteering. If you are reluctant to volunteer, know that employers will always prefer job candidates with experience to those without. (FWIW, I started volunteering while still in graduate school, I still volunteer and do pro bono work, and expect to continue to do so for the rest of my career.)

Customized application documents

Having one version of your resume and cover letter that you send in application to all positions is simply not effective in getting interviews. You can be sure that others applying for that same position are tailoring those documents to each position to catch the attention of the hiring manager reading them. Employers want to see that you are putting more than minimal effort into your application documents, and that you are very interested in that specific job that they have open.

Realistic expectations

Job searching, writing effective application documents, and networking take time, effort, and perseverance. When you are applying for jobs, you won’t hear back from all employers. In fact, it may be a rare thing to get any kind of a response, no matter how strong a candidate you feel you are. An interview is not a job offer, and having an interview (even a second or third interview) does not mean that the job is “yours to lose”. Until you are formally offered the job, negotiate and accept it, and begin your first day, the job is not yours and you should continue your active search for employment.

Trust your gut when deciding to accept a job. Accepting a job when you have doubts or serious concerns about fit, or that you would not accept if not for desperation, is a recipe for disaster. Consider all of the aspects of the job offer, and use your intuition as well as your head in making the decision to accept or decline.

Other unrealistic expectations include anticipating a salary that is out of line with job requirements (do your homework), thinking that interview preparation is unnecessary (mock interviews with honest feedback can make a huge difference) and thinking that gimmicky tactics like “pain letters” will impress a hiring manager (they won’t).

References

Before a hire, employers will want references (usually three) and references in the field are preferable to those doing a different type of work (another reason to get library-related experience, as you will be connecting with others who may be willing to recommend you to a potential employer).

Keep resume up to date

This one is like flossing your teeth daily: everyone knows they should do it, but some people just don’t. So many of the resume reviews I do are under time pressure because someone who hasn’t looked at his/her resume in many months (or years!) needs to send a current version that same day or the next day. Your resume should always be up to date or so near to current that it could be updated quickly. You never know when an opportunity may arise, and it really isn’t difficult to spend a few minutes reviewing it every couple of months or whenever you have something to change or add, and keep it ready to go.

How I Got My First Job: Jackie Kilberg

How I Got My First Job: Jackie Kilberg

by Ellen Mehling ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Interviewer: Ellen Mehling

EM: What was your first professional position?

JK: Accounting Librarian at Price Waterhouse now called PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

EM: How did you get it?

JK: I built a relationship with the individual who ran the Career Services department at the library school I was attending. It was then called Rutgers University – School of Library and Information Services (now called School of Communication and Information). The department was manned by one person and she needed someone to run the office while she was out on summer vacation. I was going to graduate in August, so I covered for her and was able to see the job opportunities before I posted them on the bulletin board for the rest of the students to view. In 1984, there wasn’t any online job sites like there are today. A few business librarian positions came in. One for Price Waterhouse (PW) and one for Deloitte Haskins & Sells (now called Deloitte). A position also came in to work at the New York Public Library’s (NYPL) Mid-Manhattan branch.

I applied for all three and interviewed at NYPL and PW. Two weeks later PW called me and offered me the position. NYPL called me back nearly four weeks after the interview and offered me the position but I told them “the early bird gets the Jackie”. I remained a business librarian working at PWC and then McGraw-Hill Financial until 2011 when I started a new life with my family in North Carolina. I wanted to continue working in a library but not in a high-stress corporate library environment. A part-time position opened at a community college library in 2012 and have been here nearly four years.

EM:  To what do you attribute your job search success?

JK: On the day of my first year anniversary at PW, I asked the person who hired me what made me stand out apart from all the other candidates. She was honest and told me “It was the suit”. No one else interviewed in corporate attire. I was puzzled. This is a Big 8 accounting firm, everyone wears suits [I thought,] but according to her that was not the case. I also showed confidence and most importantly technical expertise in the “new field” of online research. I told her I beta-tested the Dow Jones News Retrieval database in library school and had been using the Dialog databases since I was a library student worker at Fordham University.

EM: What advice do you have for librarian/info-pro job hunters?

JK: I was fortunate to find employment during the recession recoveries of 1984 and 2012 respectively but it is still a challenge to look for employment in the library field.

My advice is to convince yourself that you are better than anyone else competing for the position.

Do due diligence by researching the organization and the position you are applying for.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to utilize your library association memberships. Many have job search strategy classes, resume review services and job support groups.

Networking sites such as LinkedIn are also critical in finding connections and contacting them about upcoming positions. I knew about my current position before it was even posted from a school media specialist in the middle school my daughter was attending. Network, network, network!

Don’t minimize [the importance of] your references. They are your brand managers. Have a proven track record of exceptional work at your past positions and your references will sell you.

Jackie Kilberg is Library Technical Assistant – Western Campus Library, Wake Technical Community College, Cary, North Carolina.

How I Got my First Job: Natalie Cannestra

How I Got my First Job: Natalie Cannestra

by Ellen Mehling ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

How I Got my First Job: Natalie Cannestra

We are pleased to announce a new series on Library Career People: “How I Got My First Job”, brief interviews with different kinds of info pros about their experiences (and advice!) re: landing that first professional position. Here’s our very first one:

Interviewer: Ellen Mehling

EM: What was your first professional position?

NC: I was a Librarian Trainee at New York Public Library, promoted to Librarian on completion of my MLS.

EM: How did you get it? To what do you attribute your job search success?

NC: After I graduated college, I continued working in my college library for a year, considering next steps. I liked the idea of becoming a librarian but had zero desire to go to graduate school. Then one day there was an ad in The New York Times. New York Public Library was holding a job fair and advertising a Librarian Trainee position in my hometown of Staten Island. For someone who had spent four years commuting from S.I. to the Upper East Side, this was a dream. To top it off, NYPL offered 75% tuition reimbursement for me to get my MLS. I knew I’d be a fool not to go for the opportunity. The job fair was overwhelming, with a line of candidates around the block. After a five minute HR interview, my resume was dumped into a cardboard box with hundreds of others. I asked if there was someone in attendance from Staten Island. Sure enough, the Borough Coordinator was there and I introduced myself. I think the introduction was the only reason my resume got plucked from the massive pile. I was offered the job soon thereafter.

EM: What advice do you have for librarian/info-pro job hunters?

NC: I’ve worked in public, academic, and corporate libraries. There’s a misconception that our skills are not transferrable between settings. I was told public librarians were never hired for special libraries and vice versa. Don’t believe it. If there’s something you want to do, you just have to convince someone you can do it. I left NYPL without another job and traveled for the first time in my life. I came back after two months in Europe and saw an ad in the Times for an Information Specialist at Forbes Magazine. I knew I wanted that job. SIBL had recently opened and I went there to practice searching LexisNexis software (these were the days of dot commands, before Nexis.com). I knew it was an important part of the job and I had no experience. Years later, I asked my boss (Anne Mintz, to whom I am forever indebted for taking a chance on me) why she hired me, someone from a public library with little experience searching databases, and she said it was the confidence I displayed on my interview. I spent 8 years at Forbes. That job taught me how to be a business researcher and continues to open doors for me.

Natalie Cannestra is a Senior Librarian at Brooklyn Public Library’s Business & Career Library.

Q: How do I know if I am ready to commit to an MLS program?

Q: How do I know if I am ready to commit to an MLS program?

by Carrie ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Q: I have been considering a library or archives career for many years now; during college, I had a brief internship at the Smithsonian in digitizing archival photography, plus I spent a year working the reserves and circulation desk at our university library. I loved both experiences (although different) and have always been a huge supporter of public libraries. I am now considering a career change after six years working in Silicon Valley in online community management, a job I started immediately upon graduation. I feel my experience would greatly benefit a local library, but I am not sure if I should dedicate myself to an MLIS degree yet. The good thing is: if I do decide to get my MLIS, I live in the same city as an ALA-accredited university.  What advice do you have for someone like me who has gotten my feet wet but is afraid to jump in?

CNW: Let’s see: you have been thinking about working in libraries for years, you love the work experiences you have had, but something is holding you back from committing to librarianship. That is very reasonable. An MLIS is an expensive investment to make if you aren’t sure you want to make a career of working in libraries. A career change, on the other hand,  is generally reversible.

Start by looking for job opportunities with your local public and academic libraries. Public libraries in particular often have community-oriented roles. You may find your path to career satisfaction bypasses the MLIS, at least for now. Be realistic in your expectations. Jobs usually require an MLS, and the salaries may be substantially lower than what you are accustomed to. If you find a job that is a good fit, you will probably find that an MLIS is required for advancement at some point in  your career. You will then know whether the investment is worth it. You may decide that supporting libraries with a Silicon Valley salary is a better way to fit for you, and that is a perfectly fine outcome as well.

As you look for job openings, you will want to network with professional librarian groups and request informational interviews. You can also consider auditing some MLIS classes at your local university to see if you’re interested in the theory as well as the practical aspects of library work. In the meantime, be honest with yourself about what is really holding you back from committing to a profession that you profess to love. That nagging feeling won’t magically disappear if it goes unacknowledged.