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Apr 12
From Our Guest Bloggers, On the Prowl interview, job, job hunt, job search, On the Prowl, resume, temp No Comments
Welcome back to the hunt. Before delving into some sage networking advice from ALA, I just want to share what a dear friend and librarian of mine said to me recently about temp agencies: they’re like being friends with benefits, only you’re not really friends and there are no benefits. I’ve worked a number of temp jobs over the years, and interviewed at even more, and I full heartedly agree. Temp agencies can be useful and they can be positive career moves, but the bottom line is that you are their product and it’s a buyer’s market.
So my initial idea for this column came to me during an ALA Webinar. I recently attended on job search skills. Here’s what the moderators, Tiffany Mair and Andromeda Yelton, discussed:
- go to happy hour early and close down the bars (at conferences and professional development events)
- don’t be an asshole—talk to people and be nice!
- know thyself (nobody wants someone who doesn’t know who they are)
- have a pick up line (or, the equivalent of an elevator speech)
- dress well! (werq it. Look sickening!)
- be open to adjusting your standards (be your own wingman!)
And perhaps the most important single piece of advice from this webinar: don’t go negative. Nobody likes a Debbie downer. Stay upbeat! Don’t broadcast your desperation.
The advice that Mair and Yelton dispense to help us early career librarians find jobs is the same kind of advice that can get you a date, get you some digits, or make a new friend.
Here is a sort of online job hunt library guide, a list of things I’ve found and liked:
Re.Vu – easily create an online resume and cool infographics
Glassdoor –mine facebook for networking possibilities
Resunate –find the ‘must-have’ jargon from a job description onto your cover letter
Huntsy –job tracking application that sends you reminders to follow up
Rezscore–grades your resume and identifies your worth to employers
And one last piece of job hunt inspiration: this is my new personal mantra.
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