Leveraging You: Developing an Online Presence for the Job Search and Beyond
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Leveraging You! Developing an Online Presence for the Job Search and Beyond Online Webinar for Drexl University College of Information Science and Technology – Student Chapter of ALA, May 31, 2011. http://drexelscala.blogspot.com/2011/05/webcast-may-31-leveraging-you.html
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Leveraging You: Developing an Online Presence for the Job Search and Beyond
- 1. Leveraging You! Developing an Online Presence for the Job Search and Beyond Bohyun Kim Erin Dorney Kiyomi Deards Online Webinar presented to the Drexel University Student Chapter of ALA May 31, 2011
- 2. Topics For Today: 1. Leveraging you and online presence - Bohyun 2. Job search tips & tricks - Kiyomi 3. Beyond the job search - Erin 4. Questions & discussion
- 4. Know how you are being perceived Rene Magritte, Le Pelerin , 1966
- 5. Do you have a... Facebook profile? LinkedIn account? Personal blog? Personal website? Twitter account?
- 7. Concerns
- 8. Brand = A true representation of You Rene Magritte, La Condition Humaine , 1933
- 9. Job Search Tips & Tricks
- 11. Keep reaching for the horizon
- 12. Be yourself
- 13. The job search... and beyond!
- 18. Best to you all! Expand your network! Contact us: Bohyun Kim - @bohyunkim - http://bohyunkim.net/ Erin Dorney - @libscenester - http://libraryscenester.wordpress.com/ Kiyomi Deards - @KiyomiD - http://libraryadventures.com/ Slides & Notes: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dddgc635_9458h853fp Presentation Photo Credits: CC BY-SA 2.0 by Unhindered by Talent CC BY 2.0 by epredator CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by Hans Pama CC BY 2.0 by 2.0 gill_penny CC BY 2.0 by Ozrix CC BY-SA 2.0 by Micah Taylor CC BY-NC 2.0 by KClvey CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 by bpixch CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by Oberazzi CC BY 2.0 by Cale Bruckner CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by ludwig van standard CC BY-ND 2.0 by Kara Allyson CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by Leonard John Matthews CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by louisvolant
Editor's Notes
- Leveraging you and online presence - Bohyun Job search tips & tricks - Kiyomi Beyond the job search - Erin
- What does Leveraging You mean? Previously the norm was physical face to face networking. Most effective and powerful form of networking. But it's not so great for library school students due to time constraints, work, classes, and accessibility issues. Now you can network a lot using social networking tools. You can reap the same benefits as traditional networking even when in a library school: interact with your peers, share your ideas, learn about new ideas. It's a great way to get your foot in the door in the large and very active community of librarians. You can start networking right now and there is no reason for you to postpone or wait until you get the first professional job.
- You are going to have some sort reputation even if you are still in library school and work as a library paraprofessional. No matter what your position is, you will always have a professional reputation that is the perception of you by others. People will get to know you, what kind of work you do, what you are like to work with, what type of peer or colleague you are like. So take time to think about how people would describe you. If the way they would describe you is different than the way you would describe yourself, you might want to change those perceptions. This is the first step in building your brand. Whether you like the term 'brand' of not, you will end up with one since others will always have a certain idea about who you are. So try to build your brand to be a true and accurate representation of you,
- You can choose one or multiple social media channels for online networking. You can put up a simple online profile of your work and accomplishments using LinkedIn or a personal website. Blogs can be great for exploring various professional topics, deepening your thoughts, and participating in the current conversation of librarianship. Twitter is a great tool because librarians are very strong and active there. It is a wonderful way to get a feel for what current librarians work on and discuss every day. Facebook can be a great tool but it's important to stay on top of the privacy settings to separate your personal and professional network. These are the tools you can use to build your online presence and brand. You want to be a good librarians by networking, sharing, and collaborating with your peers. Networking isn't an end in and of itself, you network because you want something out of it.
- Concerns: If you have questions we will address them later.
- Tips for effective online networking: Have very clear interests when you chose your online networking tools. People will only remember a few things about you so make sure they can see what's important to you. Identify what are you looking for before investing time in online networking activities (such as mentor/colleagues/what's it like to be a librarian) Find out what you can contribute to others. Always try to adapt the tools to yourself not the other way.
- Like a cat hunting it's prey, searching for a job requires patience and skill. I hope these tips and tricks will make the process a little less stressful for you. Quick Tips: Online people can't see you or hear your tone of voice. Most people don't get sarcasm and you need to indicate when you are joking online because people can't see you smiling. Your reputation is all about perception, it's important to make sure that the perception people form of you is what you want to convey.
- Let others help you. If people don't know you're looking they won't pass you job leads. Let them know what you are interested in and ask their advice. Check in with old teachers and librarians you've met every 2-3 months and let them know how your search is going. Ask these people for advice. Mailing Lists ALA Joblist LibGig Weigh all advice with a grain of salt but followup and act on the good advice, or there's no point in asking. Librarians like to help people, they'll want to help you when they can so give them the opportunity.
- CVs and Resumes should match your linked in profile. You can also use linked in to ask for advice, read about other's job searches and find job listings. Online Applications: Position Descriptions, what they really mean. Required: You must have these skills, you can often substitute other experience using the same skills. Preferred: These are the icing on the cake requirements, they are often so long only an experienced person could have experience in all these areas address as many as you can, but don't worry if you don't hit them all. Retail Experience Example: Through my job at XYZ I acquired multi-tasking skills balancing stocking, cash register, and customer service duties. From my teaching/retail/volunteer work I gained valuable interpersonal skills and a reputation for working efficiently and honestly with a wide variety of people.
- Don't focus on the negative. Online comments last forever and negativity always floats to the top of search results. Be genuine and professional at all times. Whether you are dealing with people online or in person never snap at people, write in Word or notepad to prevent emotional outbursts online. Think about what you're saying before you put it out there. Make sure what you say represents who you want to be. Being yourself is vital to a successful job search. You need to accurately portray yourself online so that how you come across on the phone and in person matches your online presence. Describe yourself in 3-5 words. Remember you are your skills and passions, not a job description! Let what is important to you dictate how you interact with others.
- The job search… and beyond! Once you secure a position, forgive my language, but shit hits the fan. You’re going to be on your toes for six months to a year, learning your new job, acclimating to the institutional culture, getting to know your colleagues and trying not to look stupid. But leveraging your online presence doesn’t have to end with the job offer. It’s something that can sustain your personal and professional sanity during the stressful period of adjusting to a new job. It can also build momentum for the future in terms of career and professional development opportunities. For example, I’m sure everyone has been telling you to be geographically mobile when looking for a job, right? I was in that same situation, looking for jobs on both the east and west coast during my last year in the Syracuse University iSchool in upstate New York. Once I received a job offer for the position I’m in now (Outreach Librarian at Millersville University), I emailed the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Library Association. I told him that I was moving to the area in a few months, that I was interested in joining and getting involved with the state association, sent him the link to my blog, etc. He immediately wrote back and it turns out that his daughter was attending Syracuse for her BA. So that gave us some common ground to stand on. In return, I have become deeply involved with PaLA, I was their first sponsored ALA Emerging Leader, I am on the Executive Board of the College & Research Division and have served in other leadership positions within the association. Every time I see him I ask about his daughter and he introduces me, remembers that I went to Syracuse, etc. PRO TIP: Once you know you are moving, make time to connect with local associations, divisions and other contacts that can help you. Make sure they know your blog, Twitter, etc. Tell them you want to get involved, volunteer your time. You never know what connections you might have in common.
- Interrogate the status quo… with professionalism, and have fun! I want you to consider the job market. It is literally swamped with librarians. Many of them are fresh out of school like you are or will be soon. But there are also a lot of people out there who are experienced (I’m talking 10+ years of experience) who are looking for jobs. The competition is truly staggering. If you do secure a position, there’s probably a darn good reason why they want you. I truly think that some libraries are looking for individuals straight out of library school to bring unique perspectives and a different outlook to the organization. They want to shake things up, get some new blood in, some new ideas. Because the competition is so stiff and because we have been chosen to fill these slots, I believe new librarians have an obligation to interrogate the status quo within the organization. If the library who hired you wanted things to stay the same, they could have hired someone who already knows how everything works, is familiar with the philosophy and process, and has been a librarian for 15 years. Those people are out there and looking for jobs. But if you’re the one who gets the job, you should not just try to blend in with the crowd. You should question the way things are done but at all times remain professional (you don’t want to irk your new colleagues, embarrass the search committee who selected you, give new librarians a bad rap). Also, if you don’t remain professional, experienced librarians won’t respect you. And you need their respect for things like project or idea buy-in in order to roc the proverbial boat. So how does leveraging your online presence play into this mix? It helps you have fun. If you have developed a strong and supportive personal network, be it on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, those individuals will be there for you to vent to, bounce ideas off of, learn about innovative techniques and technologies, etc. PRO TIP: Continue to develop your online presence even after you have secured a job because those individuals can support you as you help to revitalize your organization from the inside out. I’m not saying you have to be a rebel. I’m just saying that you’re there for a reason and you should have the confidence to mold librarianship into a brand new iteration that maybe none of us have ever even dreamed of.
- Strategies for saying no If you do a good job at developing your online presence, the opportunities will literally start rolling in. Once people know that you are responsible, accountable, and excited to contribute to the field, they all want you on their side. It’s pretty awesome! People will invite you to serve on committees, pitch publication and presentation collaborations to you, ask you to speak, write a book chapter, etc. However, you need to keep in mind that you only have so much time in the day. You can’t be a part of everything and you need to choose wisely. Things to keep in mind when new opportunities present themselves: · Your new job responsibilities – it takes a while to adjust and if you commit yourself to too many outside of work obligations, you might find yourself slipping in your main responsibility – being a librarian! · Your health – If you are bouncing from one thing to the next without stopping to breathe, your health may become compromised. You need to eat, exercise, and do something to relieve stress. · Your relationships – with family, significant other, children. · Everything else in the hopper – that article sitting half-written in Google Docs, your neglected blog, your presentation for ALA, your verbal agreement to serve on the campus tenure and promotion committee, your tenure requirement to earn a second master’s degree… Keep track of what you sign up for because you might become overwhelmed. I used to think it was impossible to serve on an ALA Committee. I have served on a variety now, and have even had to turn down nominations and pass on ALA Council twice. If you position yourself as a responsible contributor to the field, the opportunities will come quickly (and I can’t speak highly enough about the New Member Roundtable, an amazing place and group of people to start getting to know if you are interested in becoming involved in ALA). So how can you turn down these amazing opportunities that you’ve worked so hard to cultivate without alienating your contacts? PRO TIP: When turning down an opportunity, make sure THEY know what else you have on your plate. Although your life may look bursting to the brim with activity to YOU, you may be doing a good job of hiding it from outsiders. That will help them understand why you can’t take up their cause. Always thank them for thinking of you. Offer to reconsider once X task is completed. Make a recommendation of someone else who might be interested or who you think might be a good fit (this helps you with networking, too!). Be honest and they will appreciate you saying that you are not in a position to commit 100% to the opportunity and you don’t want to cheapen it by only giving it 50% effort.
- Surround yourself So, my tips for leveraging your online presence beyond the job search include: · Once you know you are moving, make time to connect with local associations, divisions and other contacts that can help you. · Continue to develop your online presence even after you have secured a job because those individuals can support you as you help to revitalize your organization from the inside out. · Be aware of your responsibilities, explain why you have to say no and be honest. In addition, I would recommend that you surround yourself with positive and supportive individuals. This can be in person or through virtual networks, but it is imperative to sharing information and making the best of your first job. You can crowd source ideas, gain from collective wisdom, see how other people are dealing with certain tasks (how is your library implementing Google Voice? How do you put together your yearly evaluation packet, etc). Making sure you have a genuine, professional, positive presence online makes all of these things easier, and you are positioning yourself to be someone sought after and knowledgeable about librarianship. You will inevitably encounter people who want to make your life harder, shoot down your ideas (maliciously or constructively), or are just difficult to work with. If you have a network of supporters, dealing with these types of situations will be easier to swallow, less stressful, and will likely turn into learning experiences instead of nightmares.
- Questions to spark discussion: 1. What are barriers to managing your personal brand? 2. What the long term benefits you can see from managing your brand? 3. Do all library school students need to be active social media users? 4. Are library school students without a well-developed online presence at a disadvantage? 5. Is it desirable to list social media channels in which one actively participates on a resume? 6. Should library school students’ activities in social media be regarded as a new types of services and contributions to librarianship or as extra curricular activities within librarianship? 7. What constitutes an online presence and how much of a time investment is necessary to be considered an active user? 8. Where does one draw the line between being open, sharing information and opinions, and protecting one’s own privacy?