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What Color Is Your Library Parachute?
by Eve Miller
I initially considered myself one of the lucky ones. Straight out of graduate school, I landed the "perfect job" I had looked high and low to find -- assistant librarian at a K-12 private school. So why, after spending only one year in the job, did I find myself feeling restless and bored? I still loved some parts of the job, but I couldn't help feeling there just had to be more out there.
Questions kept popping into my head: Was I wrong in choosing this career? Is librarianship what I really want to do with the rest of my life? Was it a good idea to switch careers so soon after beginning another? What could I do, go back to school and start another Master's program? I was still paying off the first one!
Stop me if this sounds all too familiar.
A large percentage of librarians and information professionals today are asking themselves these same questions. Some have gone on to other professions, and I'm sure some of them are even happy they left librarianship. However, if you, like me, are one of those who isn't quite ready to test the cold waters of a completely different profession, perhaps you need to reevaluate what type of library career fits your needs.
In my case, I determined I didn't necessarily desire a new career -- but I needed a new mental model to shape my old one. I needed a way to develop an awareness of how my professional job skills could be applied in different job settings. After spending a lot of time reading career books and administering a large dose of self examination, I developed what a regime to rejuvenate a waning career, which is outlined below. I hope it helps you as it has me. Be warned: it takes time, creativity, persistence and energy to follow this plan. Remember, though, that the payoff can be immense.
Steps to Career Rejuvenation
- Check library-related e-mail lists and job sites for interesting
job listings. Remember to not just look at the titles, but also at
the required skills and accompanying descriptive narratives.
I make a habit of doing this first thing every Monday morning. If you have these sites bookmarked, searching only takes five to ten minutes. By doing this I not only learn what is happening in the field, but where and how. I also find a virtual yardstick by which to measure my own professional growth.
- Keep your resume current. There is no better way to gain an
understanding of how your career is growing than by having to put
details down on paper. Each year, I make sure to redraft my resume.
This ensures I'm ready for any interesting job prospect that may
come along, while also allowing me to identify what I learned and
accomplished over the past year. This also inevitably instills a
sense of personal pride in my recent accomplishments.
- Keep learning about all disciplines within library and
information science, not just the one in which you are currently
working. Go to conferences, sit in on classes, take an online
course. Make sure to take the time to really explore other
fields of expertise; especially those about which you know very
little. If I had become complacent about my current knowledge of the
library field, I would still be a children's librarian, reading
Harry Potter to 3rd graders. (Not that there is anything wrong with
Harry -- Go Hogwarts!)
- Never stop reevaluating your professional priorities, goals and
desires. Make a list of what you like and don't like about your
current job. Next, try to imagine the perfect job for you. Make a
list of what you would like about that job. In what ways do the
perfect job's daily tasks differ from your current job duties? If
you can't imagine what your perfect job would be, think back to the
topics or classes you liked and disliked in school. What skill set
were they attempting to teach? What made you like or dislike them so
much that you still remember them today?
- Finally, searching general Internet job sites such as Monster.com is a quick way to learn about interesting, different, and seemingly non-library related, jobs and their required skills. You might be surprised what you find and what you learn. This method does work: I should know, this is how I found my current position.
The idea is to discover your best professional qualities and find ways to practice them in your day-to-day work. The greatest challenge is to know where to focus your attention so opportunities don't pass you by.
Eve has worked in many library jobs. She currently rides on the beach to her work as Library Systems Specialist at the California State University, Chancellor's Office.