Strengths and Interests
As part of my chartership I have
been looking at my strengths and interests to make sure that my CPD is going in
the right direction. I conducted a SWOT analysis whilst writing my PPDP and
asked my line manager to contribute as well... very open to constructive
criticism.
Since studying at Sheffield and
writing my dissertation I have taken a keen interest in reader development but
this seems to be the part of librarianship that is slowly dying. If you look at
organisational charts of ten years ago you would see a full time post of reader
development librarian but these roles have now been watered down and folded in
to librarian positions. I spent a day shadowing Wiltshire Council’s library
operations manager who as part of his role is responsible for reader
development from everything to reading lists to the running of the six book challenge,
author events and more. I have written about this before and so will not go
into too much detail here (Reflections on Shadowing). I have been very lucky that
since this shadowing experience an expressing an interest in reader
development, colleagues higher in the library service have given me opportunities
to work in this field; creating reading lists, helping with stock selection and
working on the national reading well
campaign collection (part of the four core services set out by the SCL).
Interests outside of
librarianship have helped to influence displays and events including dramatic
readings of favourite poets and read the film displays. Looking at your strength
and interests and updating your CV whilst in a positive mood can be very
beneficial. In terms of interview tips the best I can say is be yourself,
prepare well and don’t act your way through an interview. Remember it’s as much
about making sure it’s a good fit for you as much as the company you’re
interviewing for.
Volunteering Experience
In the blog post for thing 22, Bronagh
McCrudden spoke about the idea of experience catch22 and she could not be more
right. Especially in this job market young people are finding it harder and
harder to get breaks into employment and not everyone can afford to volunteer
for free.
A lot of the experience I have in
the library sector has come from volunteering opportunities. When I went to
library school I had no specific library experience and felt that I was going
in behind everyone else. I have volunteered in a local studies library and a
public library whilst studying and job hunting and it was not until I had these
experiences that some of the theory I learnt made sense.
After a talk given by David Smith
of the Hull Local Studies Library as part of my degree studies I approached him
about work experience at the library. This was at a time when the library was
moving into its new facility and so a lot of my time was spent cataloguing
stock. At this time the library wasn’t open to customers which was a shame but I
learnt a lot about the different stock the library held and anecdotes about
research undertaken on behalf of customers. I spent a day a week at the library
for six months before having to focus on my dissertation.
I strongly believe that the six
months I volunteered at Catford Public Library helped me to get the job I have
today. By experiencing the day to day running of a library I had a database of
knowledge at my disposal for interview scenarios. Again this was a day a week
in which I got to shadow library staff, take part in baby rhyme times and
activities, learnt weeding policy and helped with school assemblies. This was
invaluable experience that helped me talk more openly during interviews and
gave me the confidence to go after jobs that I thought I was ill qualified for
previously.
I am a strong believer in
volunteering as work experience and giving people the opportunity to learn more
about a profession that they are passionate about. As staffing gets tighter and
budgets are cut it gets harder to find the time to devote to younger
professionals who are the future of librarianship but it is one of the easiest
ways to promote the profession to a younger generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment