According to this article on Inside Higher Ed, plans are underway to create a body of freely available online course material, aimed at the high school or community college level. The clearinghouse would be hosted by the US government.
Media literacy and research courses, anyone?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Good economy for con artists
We get this question: are those make money at home offers good? Should I give them my banking information? Yikes! when we hear the last one.
There are some job boards for telework, like Virtual Vocations, that offer legitimate work--possibly the same rate for scams as a newspaper classifieds--but there are many, many scams. Six companies in Van Nuys (CA) were just charged for consumer fraud (story in LATimes), and yes, the scams they were running included job scams.
If you are running any training in Internet job searching or get asked questions about work at home jobs or even questions about repairing credit, you may want to stay up to date on Operation Short Change.
There are some job boards for telework, like Virtual Vocations, that offer legitimate work--possibly the same rate for scams as a newspaper classifieds--but there are many, many scams. Six companies in Van Nuys (CA) were just charged for consumer fraud (story in LATimes), and yes, the scams they were running included job scams.
If you are running any training in Internet job searching or get asked questions about work at home jobs or even questions about repairing credit, you may want to stay up to date on Operation Short Change.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Applicant Explorer
Thanks to Jobacle, I found out about a partnership between Bing, Microsoft's new search tool, and CareerBuilder, an online resume and job posting service, to offer Applicant Explorer.
Applicant Explorer will allow a resume database subscriber, an employer, to look at an applicant's digital footprint while examining their resume. It is meant as a tool to help decide if the applicant will fit into the corporate culture. According to the video that describes the service, Applicant Explorer will call up information from publicly available sites, including social networking, blogs, forums and other services that will give a "clear picture" of a candidate.
Alright, there are some problems with this, though a few can be overcome with a clear policy on how to run background checks. First, you can't run a background check on your favorite applicants--and just those applicants. Your background check may end up showing information that could be protected--like sexual orientation, race or a disability. The last two may be clearly visible in a profile picture, so if a candidate thinks that you have decided not to hire him or her based on the picture that you found. You have to check everybody--just like you would if you were conducting a real background check that had a policy behind it.
And just how do you know whose digital tracks you are following? Are we assuming, 1) that I gave up all my handles with my resume for the privilege of posting on CareerBuilder? (Ummm, go find Bozeman, MT and read what happened there.) And 2) if I don't give up my handles, and you just use my name, are you sure that is the real me you're reading about online?
Sometimes, I really wonder if people think this stuff through. What does sailing tell you about my "fit", if being nauti is not a bona fide job requirement?
Cross-posted on co-agitating.
Applicant Explorer will allow a resume database subscriber, an employer, to look at an applicant's digital footprint while examining their resume. It is meant as a tool to help decide if the applicant will fit into the corporate culture. According to the video that describes the service, Applicant Explorer will call up information from publicly available sites, including social networking, blogs, forums and other services that will give a "clear picture" of a candidate.
Alright, there are some problems with this, though a few can be overcome with a clear policy on how to run background checks. First, you can't run a background check on your favorite applicants--and just those applicants. Your background check may end up showing information that could be protected--like sexual orientation, race or a disability. The last two may be clearly visible in a profile picture, so if a candidate thinks that you have decided not to hire him or her based on the picture that you found. You have to check everybody--just like you would if you were conducting a real background check that had a policy behind it.
And just how do you know whose digital tracks you are following? Are we assuming, 1) that I gave up all my handles with my resume for the privilege of posting on CareerBuilder? (Ummm, go find Bozeman, MT and read what happened there.) And 2) if I don't give up my handles, and you just use my name, are you sure that is the real me you're reading about online?
Sometimes, I really wonder if people think this stuff through. What does sailing tell you about my "fit", if being nauti is not a bona fide job requirement?
Cross-posted on co-agitating.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Try not to think about work on the weekends
Andrew G.R. who writes for Jobacle has a post on US News and World Report about how our weekends are not for work.
Now the tendency when you are fresh in your job is to always identify yourself with your job title--sort of as if it had become your new last name. We like to show that we have realized our educational dream--heck, that we have a job is awesome. We are also proud of our work--usually--and rightly so. Librarians do lots of cool stuff and I won't write the epic of our awesomeness, especially when preaching to the choir. But Andrew is right about one thing:
Take some time off from your job.
Some of us are breaking our student habits where weekends meant work. We did our paid labor on weekends, and we weren't used to time off. We were used to finding a minute to not work at our two (or more) jobs, as students and workers. Very few students have days off and you hear them guiltily confessing, I took the night off. Good news, you aren't a student anymore. Unless you were smart enough to start scheduling your breaks, it takes time to break the habit of always running to the next assignment or to arrive on time for a shift at [paid] work.
A "weekend" is a luxury for many of us--we don't get two days off in a row. New librarians are usually given the weekend shift and know that they have arrived when they get their first Saturday off without begging for it. But we can find a period of time, longer than one day, to forget about our work, not develop ourselves and just watch TV, go to the gym or dancing, and not use our profession as our last name. This can give us some perspective and a mental break.
Heck, I'm blogging about libraries and work: I'm a work junkie. But I take days off from it when I can't find anything to write about, or when I need a rest period.
But being a librarian does creep into my leisure activities. I read a controversial book, which I picked up because of the buzz, not a true attraction to the book, and think, hmmm, someone will challenge this book for exactly this passage. I might even take notes, as opposed to just enjoying the book. It's homework, not pleasure. I think the author might agree that they wrote it to inform and please, not for me to feel it was my duty to read their book. (Unless it was William Bennett.) This means excluding books that include in their prefaces or dedications, the phrase for your edification.
Or I take my work home with me over the weekend to catch up--although I know my weekend is already packed with family stuff, or leisure activities. I bring the stuff along to read or write about while I'm waiting for my friends to show up at Starbucks--or feel guilty that I didn't read it on the train there and back. Carrying it with me doesn't mean I dealt with it, it just means that I packed it along.
How much work are you packing and not dealing with?
You should think about what it means that you can't get your work done during work hours: a) you need more time to get your work done, so you need to talk with your supervisor, b) you need to cut back on all of the extra projects that you have taken on in addition to your work, or c) get off Twitter, Mr. Mayer.
So, take a break. You need one.
Now the tendency when you are fresh in your job is to always identify yourself with your job title--sort of as if it had become your new last name. We like to show that we have realized our educational dream--heck, that we have a job is awesome. We are also proud of our work--usually--and rightly so. Librarians do lots of cool stuff and I won't write the epic of our awesomeness, especially when preaching to the choir. But Andrew is right about one thing:
Take some time off from your job.
Some of us are breaking our student habits where weekends meant work. We did our paid labor on weekends, and we weren't used to time off. We were used to finding a minute to not work at our two (or more) jobs, as students and workers. Very few students have days off and you hear them guiltily confessing, I took the night off. Good news, you aren't a student anymore. Unless you were smart enough to start scheduling your breaks, it takes time to break the habit of always running to the next assignment or to arrive on time for a shift at [paid] work.
A "weekend" is a luxury for many of us--we don't get two days off in a row. New librarians are usually given the weekend shift and know that they have arrived when they get their first Saturday off without begging for it. But we can find a period of time, longer than one day, to forget about our work, not develop ourselves and just watch TV, go to the gym or dancing, and not use our profession as our last name. This can give us some perspective and a mental break.
Heck, I'm blogging about libraries and work: I'm a work junkie. But I take days off from it when I can't find anything to write about, or when I need a rest period.
But being a librarian does creep into my leisure activities. I read a controversial book, which I picked up because of the buzz, not a true attraction to the book, and think, hmmm, someone will challenge this book for exactly this passage. I might even take notes, as opposed to just enjoying the book. It's homework, not pleasure. I think the author might agree that they wrote it to inform and please, not for me to feel it was my duty to read their book. (Unless it was William Bennett.) This means excluding books that include in their prefaces or dedications, the phrase for your edification.
Or I take my work home with me over the weekend to catch up--although I know my weekend is already packed with family stuff, or leisure activities. I bring the stuff along to read or write about while I'm waiting for my friends to show up at Starbucks--or feel guilty that I didn't read it on the train there and back. Carrying it with me doesn't mean I dealt with it, it just means that I packed it along.
How much work are you packing and not dealing with?
You should think about what it means that you can't get your work done during work hours: a) you need more time to get your work done, so you need to talk with your supervisor, b) you need to cut back on all of the extra projects that you have taken on in addition to your work, or c) get off Twitter, Mr. Mayer.
So, take a break. You need one.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Looking for a job, into a job
ERE.net includes a post today about Daniel Seddiqui's project to work 50 jobs in 50 states, 50 job in 50 states in 50 weeks is his tagline on his Living the Map website. (You can see video and read more about the project in the ERE post.)
Now, of course, nothing would stop a librarian from taking a tour of library opportunities, or other jobs, to gather information and maybe spin it into a job. But it also means that at libraries, we will have an influx of career guides and manuals where people either do an immersive journalism piece, like Scratch Beginnings, or Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, or more reflective, personal writing, like Diary of a Job Search, which was on the WSJ site before it was made into a book.
Lone bloggers, some funny, some mundane, may get picked up by major papers or websites, though it is more likely that a media outlet will get a recommendation for a writer with a track record as a regular blogger, and spin their blog into a feature. The trick is to post with only a mild amount of bitter--which might get harder and harder, the longer you look.
The Huffington Post currently has a call for people in the New York area who are on UI but are looking for work. It might not lead to a gig, but might let you get on a national soap box.
Now, of course, nothing would stop a librarian from taking a tour of library opportunities, or other jobs, to gather information and maybe spin it into a job. But it also means that at libraries, we will have an influx of career guides and manuals where people either do an immersive journalism piece, like Scratch Beginnings, or Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, or more reflective, personal writing, like Diary of a Job Search, which was on the WSJ site before it was made into a book.
Lone bloggers, some funny, some mundane, may get picked up by major papers or websites, though it is more likely that a media outlet will get a recommendation for a writer with a track record as a regular blogger, and spin their blog into a feature. The trick is to post with only a mild amount of bitter--which might get harder and harder, the longer you look.
The Huffington Post currently has a call for people in the New York area who are on UI but are looking for work. It might not lead to a gig, but might let you get on a national soap box.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
More Yahoo! Pipes
I've made some more Yahoo! Pipes which include instructions on how to modify them to meet your needs. Enjoy!
And if you make more, please comment and add the address to your clones or revamps.
And if you make more, please comment and add the address to your clones or revamps.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Poster child
The First Librarian blog was a project that I started when I was invited to speak at a class about job search skills for librarians. The blog has held on to that focus, and I still write posts about librarians looking for work, but, just like the larger economic picture always affects the individual, the economy and the labor market has crept into this blog.
I also find myself writing sometimes about business and career books, which isn't a surprise because that is the type of library that I work in. I also find it difficult to some times find review sources for career books--and this means that there is a lot of crap on the ground. Or telling the same tired story over and over again to clients: oh, the best career book is What Color is your Parachute? Have you ever read, What Color is Your Parachute? And that is not to say that What Color is Your Parachute? is a bad book, just that it has become a cliche for people who don't know about other resources to always suggest that book. It's like picking a mystery novel for someone and saying, after Agatha Christie don't bother. You might even believe that, but it just reveals an ignorance of individual reading tastes. When it comes to career books, there are individual needs that are greater than a standard sized career book.
And then there is absolutely useless tripe like Don't Use a Resume, Send a Qualifications Brief which we keep in the library for comparison purposes and actually have a sticker on that says, don't follow the advice in this book, come to the desk and see a grown up for guidance. We can't leave it without the sticker because we don't want people who need to pay the rent to remain unemployed--but we also like to use it as a tool to show what not to do.
There are also career books that have an overtly Christian viewpoint, such as Suddenly Unemployed, which even gives guidance about workplace behavior or behavior when your laid off that includes scriptural references. That book really won't cut it for your clients who don't share that view of heaven. But there aren't that many books out there that deal with unemployment--yet, though there are more coming out all the time.
What this post is indicating is not that the blog will vanish, but just that I want to take a wider view of the world of careers and libraries. So I will still post about library career information and work search tools, but I am also going to post about the economy, especially when it affects the labor market, and include some career book reviews.
I also find myself writing sometimes about business and career books, which isn't a surprise because that is the type of library that I work in. I also find it difficult to some times find review sources for career books--and this means that there is a lot of crap on the ground. Or telling the same tired story over and over again to clients: oh, the best career book is What Color is your Parachute? Have you ever read, What Color is Your Parachute? And that is not to say that What Color is Your Parachute? is a bad book, just that it has become a cliche for people who don't know about other resources to always suggest that book. It's like picking a mystery novel for someone and saying, after Agatha Christie don't bother. You might even believe that, but it just reveals an ignorance of individual reading tastes. When it comes to career books, there are individual needs that are greater than a standard sized career book.
And then there is absolutely useless tripe like Don't Use a Resume, Send a Qualifications Brief which we keep in the library for comparison purposes and actually have a sticker on that says, don't follow the advice in this book, come to the desk and see a grown up for guidance. We can't leave it without the sticker because we don't want people who need to pay the rent to remain unemployed--but we also like to use it as a tool to show what not to do.
There are also career books that have an overtly Christian viewpoint, such as Suddenly Unemployed, which even gives guidance about workplace behavior or behavior when your laid off that includes scriptural references. That book really won't cut it for your clients who don't share that view of heaven. But there aren't that many books out there that deal with unemployment--yet, though there are more coming out all the time.
What this post is indicating is not that the blog will vanish, but just that I want to take a wider view of the world of careers and libraries. So I will still post about library career information and work search tools, but I am also going to post about the economy, especially when it affects the labor market, and include some career book reviews.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Don't include a cover letter?
This post from BNET refers to the advice from David Silverman, a business writing teacher, to not include a letter when you are applying for work. Here is the one reason you would not include a cover letter:
There aren't many library jobs (ok, there are no library jobs) where you would never have to write. You have to verbalize everything in libraries and articulate directions. The cover letter is how you show them you can do that, so you get into the interview and demonstrate your speaking and persuasive abilities.
Ignore people who tell you not to worry about the cover letter--unless the employer has directly told you to leave it off for some reason.
- The employer told you not to
- They put together their application at 11:58 when the posting closes at 12 midnight
- They think their name or their mother's brother's uncle will get them an interview
- They can't write
There aren't many library jobs (ok, there are no library jobs) where you would never have to write. You have to verbalize everything in libraries and articulate directions. The cover letter is how you show them you can do that, so you get into the interview and demonstrate your speaking and persuasive abilities.
Ignore people who tell you not to worry about the cover letter--unless the employer has directly told you to leave it off for some reason.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
New rules of job search
NPR's Business Story of the Day on June 17, 2009 was a story about the changing nature of job search. The tone isn't pro-technology so much as learn how to use web technology--especially online networking--better.
Seeks success stories
The ALA Emerging Leaders Group G is looking for success stories from librarians who have used ALA Human Resource services to find work:
If you found the perfect job thorough the ALA Placement Center, located the perfect candidate at a conference or successfully revamped your resume with the resume review service in the Placement Center, the group wants to hear about it. No story is too small, no story too large. (Original call with details on how to submit)
You can submit via email or on YouTube.
If you found the perfect job thorough the ALA Placement Center, located the perfect candidate at a conference or successfully revamped your resume with the resume review service in the Placement Center, the group wants to hear about it. No story is too small, no story too large. (Original call with details on how to submit)
You can submit via email or on YouTube.
People, not corporations
I came across the book Life Inc. while browsing on the 800 CEO Read Blog (which is a great blog for business books if you are a business librarian or thinking about specializing in business reference) and based on the movie, I think that this book might be the break-out book for business for this summer.
The movie is only 9 minutes and it is also available on the book's website for download.
Life Inc. may be the next step after The Corporation (you can watch the whole thing on YouTube) which if you haven't seen it, you should take the time to watch it.
Update: a colleague of mine pointed out that Life Inc also makes similar points to the Story of Stuff, her favorite YouTube Video:
The movie is only 9 minutes and it is also available on the book's website for download.
Life Inc. The Movie from Douglas Rushkoff on Vimeo.
Life Inc. may be the next step after The Corporation (you can watch the whole thing on YouTube) which if you haven't seen it, you should take the time to watch it.
Update: a colleague of mine pointed out that Life Inc also makes similar points to the Story of Stuff, her favorite YouTube Video:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)