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Informational interview? Don’t miss these 5 benefits

Q and A Block LettersInformational interviews can be a terrific way to explore career paths, companies of potential interest, and specific types of work. But they’re also a great opportunity to build your network, professional reputation, and insider insights about specific employers while – if you approach them thoughtfully and with advance preparation.

How to Make the Most of Your Interview
You know that you never, ever use an informational interview as a sideways approach to landing a job interview – basically, that’s the fastest way to get bounced out the door. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t reap other cool benefits from your informational interviews. (more…)

Smart moves for stealth job hunting

It’s time.

Perhaps it was a new (and somewhat crazy-making) library director. Or a change in management policies. Or a redefinition of your job responsibilities. Or the company’s move away from the values that had originally brought you onboard.

Or maybe you’ve just outgrown a job that you loved.

No matter the reason, it’s time to move on.

But like all smart professionals, you know it’s a lot easier to get a new job while you’re still employed. Solution: time for a stealth job search. (more…)

Lousy internship or practicum? 5 ways to make it work for you

If you’re in an LIS grad program, you’ll probably end up doing an internship or practicum before you graduate. Internships can be a great opportunity to apply theory to practice, letting you test out those LIS skills you’ve been diligently working on throughout your studies.

Sometimes, however, students land in a less than stellar internship situation through no fault of their own, with the result being a waste of time, effort, and serious tuition dollars.

Happily, there are ways to turn things around so that you can still salvage some major career-building benefits. Assume in this case you’re going to create a “self-directed” internship that will progress alongside your official one. Essentially, your focus will be on four outcomes: (more…)

LIS freelancing – where to start (and how)

When I recently asked a young MLIS student about her career goals, she very matter-of-factly laid out a future of LIS work comprising multiple employer/clients based on her various skill sets.

Kate possesses a rich suite of in-demand skills, ones that might previously have led to being quickly hired by a lucky organization. But as a realistic monitor of today’s LIS employment environment, she’s hoping for the best (she’ll find a great job) but planning for the worst. If no job materializes, she’ll be able to create multiple revenue streams to support herself based on her LIS skills.

In fact, Kate is actively seeking out work projects and courses to broaden and deepen the skills she may be able to offer to a diverse range of employers – or clients. She’s positioning herself to be able to contribute value over a lifetime of information work. And one of the most effective ways to do that is to consider adding freelance work or projects to your worklife and portfolio. (more…)