LibGig

As part of the new movement or dispersal of online networking, there is now a social networking site for librarians: LibGig. Currently available in beta, LibGig has clean lines, a bit of an antiquated logo, a blog front page and suggests that librarians could work and network here for library jobs. I think the success of this site depends not on how many users--though populous is good--but on how well people are tagged or the ease of the search: how quickly can I find jobs, find candidates or find intelligence using LibGig?

Presentation Masters

Inspired by How to Make a Presentation Like Al Gore.

The dreaded presentation, the dreaded hair puller and teeth gnasher for all library interviews. The easiest way to get ready is to, well, practice public speaking, but it also helps to watch the masters. Here are two of the presenters that I enjoy watching.

Steve Jobs is highly regarded for his presentation style, with just a dollop of Barnum. He is casually dressed, uses the whole of the stage and has very simple and eloquent slides (I hope we are moving in that direction) and people are mesmerized by him, usually because he can make people sigh with joy at the sight of a manila envelope. A sample, the WWDC keynote, is available for viewing.

You could decide to move to a more folksy, mellow evangelist style--without the ladders--and present like Al Gore. He has a very relaxed style, but I think his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, won people over, not only for his reputation, but also because of his down home, pass-the-salvation-preacher speaking style. Possibly the most kick-ass Power Point to win an Oscar.

Now both of these presenters have highly theatrical styles, as well as the leisure and incentive to rehearse, since they know every flinch will be discussed on YouTube (or viciously captioned Nico Nico Douga-style) and their styles may not appeal to you. There are endless samples of good speakers who engage their audiences and make tough ideas simple and/or engaging, such as Helen Fisher, Susan Blackmore, or Erin McKean. You should also notice that these speakers do not hide behind a pedestal podium (Holy Dr. Freud!) or a table--they have other props: Simple slides.

If you would like to use slides, I suggest moving to the format used by Jobs, since they are simple, plain and memorable. Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen--who has done some really cool presentations on Slideshare where he booktalks the practical uses he found in two business books, Brain Rules for Presenters and Career Advice--has excellent ideas on how to make great, clear slides in the jobs style. Or maybe Jobs borrowed from Reynolds?

You can improve your presentation style through practice, but also through good models.

Punctured

Ah, interview time: time to fluff out your hair, iron your underwear and carry your Tide stain stick concealed. But is it also the time to take out your piercings or cover your body art?

Because body art is usually voluntary, there are limited protections for possessors of body art.

• Cover Up the Body Art, from Job Dig
• Tattoos & Body Piercing: Avoiding Employment Discrimination Claims, appeared in New Hampshire Business Review, October 2004, By Andrea K. Johnstone and Laurel A. Van Buskirk
• A Piercing Question in the Workplace, from the OC Register. I like how they suggest that a low unemployment rate can mean more tolerance toward body modification, since I think that is a valid issue to consider.
  
• And check out some of the links about the US military policies in regards to body art/modification.
  

I don't know if anyone can definitively say that a voluntary body modification would be the straw that broke the library job offer. But there are a few ways you can deal with this issue:

• Check to see if there is a dress code policy for the organization that you are applying to. Piercings, as well as other art and modifications, may be listed in this policy.
  
• Search in your local newspaper for stories about body modification and the workplace, looking for local decisions or statements (some of these stories may not be local, but may still be useful).
  
• Check the websites for state or provincial guidelines in regards to dress codes and see if there are statements about body art or modifications (this could be important if you are relocating for work from a more tolerant to less body art tolerant clime).
  
• Prepare a copy of this research showing with omissions or insertions, just in case, whether you are interviewing for a position or have decided to come in and impress your colleagues with your pain tolerance on Monday morning.

IMHO: constantly talking about people's piercings and other assorted body art and referring to them with a winky-nudge-nudge about how discreet/discrete (in both senses) they are and how the possessors of such strange magic cannot be talked about as if they were, well, people, makes me nuts. Quit looking at shallow, surface differences and actually look at the person's abilities. I guess because the piercing is voluntary some people in charge of hiring--and library patrons, too--just don't want to be bothered with looking past the surface. However, this is one group that should be capable of looking past the cover, or at least be willing to read the blurb on the back.

Yes, I too have my moments: I really want to ask those guys with metal doughnuts in their lobes if walking into the wind makes them hear bells. But I hope that I wouldn't turn anyone down for a public service position--nor relegate them to a back room--if they had any piercings or body art. Though I might change my mind about a really ill-advised facial Nazi swastika. And if someone can tell me about the chiming, I really want to know.