If you’re an LIS student, you may be wondering what to read during the holiday break to help plot out your LIS career. Here are some good books to help you think through your moves from student to employed professional:
- The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career / Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, Crown Business, 2012.
Key idea: your best career is at the intersection of your assets (what you know), your aspirations and values, and the market realities (what the market will pay for). - The Economy of You: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur and Recession-Proof Your Life / Kimberly Palmer, AMACOM, 2014.
LIS skills are among the most adaptable you can have – which means they’re perfect for side-gigs, otherwise known as freelance projects. A great way to pursue a passion, provide additional revenue, or create backup income if you’re between LIS employers. - The New Information Professional: Your Guide to Careers in the Digital Age / Judy Lawson, Joanna Kroll, and Kelly Kowatch, Neal-Schuman, 2010.
If you’re even remotely interested in pursuing alternative LIS careers, and especially those that might involve aspects of technology, this is your must-read for the holiday break. Full of ideas for new digital careers, what they entail, skills required, and more. A terrific resource. - Career Q&A: A Librarian’s Real-Life, Practical Guide to Managing a Successful Career / Susanne Markgren and Tiffany Eatman Allen, Information Today, 2013.
Smart, practical, been-there-done-that coaching from two LIS career experts who’ve been delivering excellent career advice for librarians and other information professionals for years through their Library Career People website columns. - The Librarian’s Skillbook: 51 Essential Career Skills for Information Professionals / Deborah Hunt and David Grossman, Librarian’s Skillbook, 2013.
For each skill listed, Hunt and Grossman provide a definition, description, tips to acquire the skill, common job titles, and further reading. As much about alternative LIS career paths as about specific LIS skills, so a great way to jumpstart your thinking about possible careers.
Yep, you probably want to doing some serious GOT, sleep, and Haagen-Daz bingeing, too, but while you’re at it, see if you can make time for at least a couple of these books – they’ll give you a serious competitive edge when it comes to figuring out your career and going after it!